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In conversation with Zandra Rhodes

Known for her fabulously bold prints, the iconic British designer, Dame Zandra Rhodes, launched her eponymous fashion brand 56 years ago. Nicknamed ‘The Princess of Punk’, Rhodes burst onto the fashion scene in the late 1960s and continues to work from her studio in London. Rhodes began as a printed textile designer and is renowned … Continued

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In conversation with Maria Grachvogel

Obsessed with the idea that clothing can transform your body, your mood and your confidence Maria experiments with innovative cutting always keeping the woman who wears the clothing front of mind. She is personally committed to preserving the craft of luxury fashion and is working with a technology partner to reimagine the future of fashion. … Continued

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In conversation with Adam Brand

Adam Brand is the 4th generation co-owner of M&S Schmalberg the flower makers in New York. M&S Schmalberg, founded in 1916, is the last remaining manufacturer of artificial flowers in the New York City garment district. Using the same vintage manufacturing process since 1916, they provide exquisite quality and a level of artisanal customization that is … Continued

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In conversation with Kathryn Sargent

Kathryn started her career in the wonderful world of tailoring at Gieves & Hawkes in 1996, rising to the position of Head Cutter, the first woman to do so in the entire history of Savile Row. She founded her own tailoring house in 2012 and is the world’s only female Master Tailor. Breaking tradition, she … Continued

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In conversation with Kenya Hunt

Kenya Hunt is the Editor-in-Chief of ELLE UK. Kenya’s career spans working for some of the most influential women’s titles on both sides of the Atlantic. From her post-graduate days as an Assistant Editor at the seminal magazine, Jane, to her time as Deputy Editor of Grazia UK and ELLE UK. She has written for … Continued

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In conversation with T Michael

T Michael is a bespoke tailor/ designer /artist with a conceptual approach to men’s tailoring inspired by his love of sartorial traditions and his passionate quest for a different narrative within tailoring, design and creativity, that celebrates stylistic and cultural diversities present in today’s zeitgeist. He is known for his meticulous attention to details and … Continued

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In conversation with Jenny King

Jenny King has run an established embroidery studio for 20 years. Specialising in free hand satin stitch embroidery created on Irish machines the studio offers all aspects of design and development , production and bespoke.  Jenny King Embroidery now counts amongst its clients and ever-growing list of high profile designers including Erdem, Vivienne Westwood, Aspinal … Continued

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In conversation with Jo Hooper

Having been at the forefront of women’s’ fashion for almost three decades, Jo Hooper has worked as a buying director and design director for some of the largest retailers including Freemans Debenhams and John Lewis. Her newish venture, NRBY, focuses on women who more than ever are working from home or part-time and are not … Continued

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In conversation with Gordon Ritchie

Crombie was founded in 1805 on the River Don in Aberdeenshire and it has been the choice of royalty, presidents and popstars ever since. It ceased trading at the start of the pandemic in 2020 and was acquired by Gordon and his partners early in 2022. Gordon has a history with the company, he was … Continued

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In conversation with Stefan Sagmeister (Pt.2)

Stefan Sagmeister has designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones and the Guggenheim Museum. He’s a two time Grammys winner and also earned practically every important international design award. While his work is steeped graphics, he has also directed a film, created furniture, made products, designed a watch and ventured into clothing. His books sell in the hundreds of thousands and … Continued

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In conversation with Stefan Sagmeister (Pt.1)

Stefan Sagmeister has designed for clients as diverse as the Rolling Stones and the Guggenheim Museum. He’s a two time Grammys winner and also earned practically every important international design award. While his work is steeped graphics, he has also directed a film, created furniture, made products, designed a watch and ventured into clothing. His books sell in the hundreds of thousands and … Continued

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In conversation with Clare Campbell

Clare Campbell, having found her inner rebel with a cause, founded the Prickly Thistle in 2015, a new purpose that would weave everything she cared about into a single passion. Clare’s rebel journey was clear to her despite the difficulties that she knew lay ahead. She had to restore a future for powerful story telling … Continued

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In conversation with Kathryn Sargent

Kathryn Sargent started her career in the wonderful world of tailoring at Gieves & Hawkes in 1996, rising to the position of Head Cutter, the first woman to do so in the entire history of Savile Row. She founded her own tailoring house in 2012 and is the world’s only female Master Tailor. Breaking tradition, … Continued

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In conversation with visionary women 02

This week’s episode of the IPOL Podcast is the second of our Special Visionary Women discussion panels recorded live at the IPOL conference. The panel, made up of 4 of our 8 Visionary Women have shaped our future in a creative and imaginative way, championing new ides that are both bold and empowering. Joining us … Continued

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In conversation with Visionary Women 01

Join Lydia Slater – Editor in Chief Harpers Bazaar, Catherine Scorey – Chief Operating Officer at All Saints and John Varvatos, Bijou Abiola – Director of Strategy and Consumer Insights at L’Oreal Luxe and the designer Maria Grachvogel for this, the first of two Special Issues of the Visionary Women Live podcasts recorded at the … Continued

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In conversation with Raffaella Grasso

As a child Raffaella spent a lot of time watching her father preparing the embroidery, organizing all the materials for the embroiderers, making technical artworks and checking the finished work for some of the biggest fashion houses in the world. She was well prepared for the world of fashion despite this not being her initial … Continued

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In conversation with Kyre Chenven

In this, the final episode of season two we meet Kyre Chenven one half of the duo who set up Pretziada a creative practice on the southwest corner of Sardinia. Kyre and her partner, Ivano Atzori, work with artisans on resuscitating local craft.  Together they work symbiotically as cultural translators: writing and photographing the particularities … Continued

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In conversation with Theodore Diehl

Theodore Diehl, horologist at Richard Mille. Theo has had a varied and exciting career. He was originally conservatory trained as a harpsichordist and Early music specialist and worked many years as an A&R manager and producer. In the 1990’s, he made a change to watch journalism, and worked with all the major watch magazines and … Continued

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In conversation with Sacha Rose

Sacha is 3rd generation Rose leading Derek Rose, a leisurewear company specialized in Feel-good Living. Sacha joined in 2003 and has transformed the business into one of the UKs leading leisurewear companies. It is refreshing to speak with someone who is so open about business, his passion for technology and how his business is about … Continued

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In conversation with Margaret Macleod

Margaret is the Sales Director for Harris Tweed Hebrides and has over 20-years experience working in textile manufacturing, retail, rural economic development, and community sustainability. As a proud Hebridean and a native Gaelic speaker, she has spent her life surrounded by the Harris Tweed Hebrides® industry which forms the backbone of the fragile island economy … Continued

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In conversation with Kevin Bethune

Kevin Bethune – An accomplished designer and innovator, Kevin started his career as a mechanical engineer working in the world of nuclear power plants. He then turned to work in a different kind of engineering, that is design engineering. Although quite different fields the thinking is much the same. Be innovative and come up with … Continued

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Catherine Scorey

In conversation with Catherine Scorey Jobling

Catherine is the Chief Operating Officer at Allsaints where she has overall responsibility for all product, men and women. There are many entrepreneurial women in the world of fashion, but very few make it to the highest level of management in publicly listed companies. Fewer still have contributed so much to the success of a British brand in the competitive world of the international fashion industry.

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Lydia Slater

In conversation with Lydia Slater

Lydia is the Editor-in-Chief of Harper’s Bazaar UK, overseeing it’s print, digital and experiential offering. She has expanded the Bazaar at Work programme and launched the Bazaar Summit, an annual conference that champions the career woman, bringing together Bazaar’s high-net worth readership with women leaders from around the world; an initiative that has become a pillar of the brand.

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Jessica Helfand

In conversation with Jessica Helfand

Jessica is internationally acclaimed in her area of work as a designer, writer, and educator. She received both her BA in graphic design and architectural theory in 1982 and her MFA in graphic design in 1989 from Yale University. With William Drenttel, she co-founded The Winterhouse Institute and with Michael Bierut, Design Observer. She has written for many national publications, including The Los Angeles Times Book Review, Aperture and The New Republic. She is the author of numerous books on design and cultural criticism, including Paul Rand: American Modernist (1998), Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media and Visual Culture (2001) and Reinventing the Wheel (2002). Her critically acclaimed Scrapbooks: An American History (Yale University Press, 2008) was named that year’s best visual book by the New York Times. Her most recent publications include Design: The Invention of Desire (2016), Culture is not Always Popular: Fifteen Years of Design Observer and Face; A Visual Odyssey (2019).

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Effie Kanyua

In conversation with Effie Kanyua

Effie Kanyua – Director of PR & Comms – Hearst UK.
Effie has a wealth of PR and communication experience having worked at some of the world’s leading agencies including: Shine, Weber Shandwick, Splendid Communications and M&C Saatchi on accounts for global brands in all sectors from drinks to tech including Diageo and Samsung.

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Alison-Lloyd

In conversation with Alison Lloyd

Alison Lloyd, designer – Ally Capellino
Ally started Ally Capellino in 1979 at the time when British Fashion was probably at its most edgy and ground-breaking. She was also one of the first British designers to break Japan. Famous for her understated style, she moved from clothing to bags almost 20 years ago continuing to design practical, long lasting pieces that are as discreet as they are functional and durable. Ally is and has always been a visionary and still one of the few successful women in fashion leading her own business

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In conversation with Helen Brocklebank

Helen Brocklebank – CEO Walpole
Helen is the CEO of Walpole the official sector body for UK luxury. Founded in 1992 as a not-for-profit organisation, it counts more than 250 British brands in its membership and is recognised as the voice of British luxury. Walpole’s purpose is to promote, protect and develop a sector worth £48 billion to the UK economy and the jewel in the crown of UK business.
Helen is prolific in her support for all things British and all things luxury. In addition to supporting and promoting some of the most internationally recognisable British brands she is also a champion for education and the role of women in the board room.

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In conversation with Maria Grachvogel

Maria Grachvogel, designer.
Obsessed with the idea that clothing can transform your body, your mood and your confidence Maria experiments with innovative cutting always keeping the woman who wears the clothing front of mind.
She is personally committed to preserving the craft of luxury fashion and is working with a technology partner to reimagine the future of fashion. One could easily describe Maria is a fashion architect instinctively interested in materials, shape, form and flow. Today we talk to Maria not only about her clothes but about embracing change in a changing world…

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In conversation with Bijou Abiola

Bijou Abiola – Director of Consumer Insights L’Oreal Luxe
Bijou is a proven innovator with over 10 years of driving growth in customer-centric businesses through creative strategies and compelling storytelling. Developing omni channel businesses for brands like Dior, Chanel, Bobbi Brown, Ralph Lauren and DVF, her collective experience across multiple retail categories produced a differentiation strategy that delivered over $220M in sales for a major department store in the U.S. In her current role, she partners with business leaders within L’Oréal’s Luxe division to convert data-driven insights into actionable customer acquisition and retention strategies.

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