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This week, former editor-in-chief of British Vogue, Edward Enninful, unveiled EE72, a media platform and consultancy which blends a print magazine, a “slow digital” publishing platform and creative agency which aims to tell stories across fashion and lifestyle through the lens of culture.
“EE72 for me is a combination of everything I've done in my career. It's really where I want to be now. I want to be free and be able to do whatever I want,” says Enninful. “I could have created something that was very avant-garde but I wanted something that anyone could pick up and feel welcomed. That was very important to me.”
Imran Amed, founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion, sat down with Enninful to discuss why he launched EE72, what it means to build a fashion media company at a time when both industries face existential challenges and how his newfound freedom informs his business strategy and creative decisions, from choosing a quarterly publishing cadence to selecting his first cover starJulia Roberts.
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This fashion month arrives after years of post-pandemic boom giving way to a sharp slowdown in luxury demand. Weaker consumer confidence in China, pressure on aspirational shoppers and a wave of price hikes have left many brands struggling to keep momentum. To win back customers and justify higher prices, luxury houses are turning to new creative leadership. Runway debuts won’t provide complete solutions, but they will offer early signals of strategy, with some brands leaning into craftsmanship and heritage while others chase louder fashion moments.
Alongside executive editor Brian Baskin and senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young, luxury editor Robert Williams details why the real test will come in the weeks after the shows, when follow-through determines whether excitement lasts.
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After a post-pandemic high, the fashion industry is facing a hard crisis. Growth has cooled, prices have surged, quality is under scrutiny and aspirational shoppers feel shut out, all while macro uncertainty dents confidence.
The industry is focused on a slew of shows where new designers are set to debut their visions, but this will not be enough to break out its malaise. Over the summer, the BoF editorial team has been working hard on a series of articles breaking down the various challenges that are facing fashion, from macroeconomic challenges, to trust issues and yes, a creative slump.
This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed switches roles, inviting executive editor Brian Baskin to lead the conversation. Amed shares his views on one of the most consequential fashion seasons in years, with the luxury industry in a phase of deep reflection and potential transformation.
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Ssense’s bankruptcy filing makes it the latest in a long line of online luxury retailers to find itself on the brink. In an internal memo, Ssense co-founder and CEO Rami Atallah blamed US tariffs for creating an “immediate liquidity crisis.” But as BoF correspondent Malique Morris details, the real damage pre-dated the latest trade shock: years of training a young audience to wait for markdowns, overexposure to the US market, and leadership inertia as luxury slowed industry-wide.
With hosts Brian Baskin and Sheena Butler-Young, Morris unpacks how Ssense won indie labels and cultural clout but dulled its edge as discounts became the default. They also explore whether Ssense can keep its cool factor while courting full-price shoppers, and which outcomes will best protect the fragile ecosystem of small brands that rely on the platform.
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Clare Waight Keller’s career in fashion has been defined by her versatility as a designer and desire to step outside her comfort zone. She started out specialising in knitwear at the Royal College of Art before taking on a role in knitwear at Calvin Klein, before moving on to Ralph Lauren. She returned to Europe to work at Gucci under Tom Ford, and then stepped into creative director roles at Pringle, Chloé and Givenchy. Last week, it was announced that she was becoming the creative director of Japanese clothing retailer Uniqlo, which is targeted at the masses, not the classes.
Seeing new challenges as an opportunity to learn and grow, has led Clare to make many unexpected decisions from the start of her career.
“Those moments when you are pushed to your boundaries and don't quite know how to navigate… bring a great sense of drive for me. I love the idea of being uncomfortable with what I'm working on because it makes me learn quickly,” she said. “I enjoy the process of change, and I guess that's why I've worked in so many different places.”
This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder Imran Amed sits down with Clare to discuss her varied career path and her experience working in American, Italian, British, French and now Japanese fashion companies and how this has shaped her outlook on the industry.
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On her award-winning podcast “Articles of Interest,” host and producer Avery Trufelman dives deep into the stories behind the clothes we wear. From the evolution of prep to the origins of wedding dresses, Avery guides her listeners through the multi-faceted layers behind the aesthetics of fashion.
“It's crops, it's the earth, it's handwork, it's culture, it's society. You tug on a thread and you get everything,” she said. “That's what I'm slowly realising [about fashion].”
This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with Trufelman to discuss her path into podcasting, taking her lifelong passion for clothes and what they mean into an audio format, and what she’s learned about fashion along the way.
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Born in Sardinia on a sailing boat to self-described “adventurous” parents, Francesco Risso grew up in an environment that fostered independence, spontaneity and a deep need to create. After formative years at Polimoda, FIT and Central Saint Martins — where he studied under the late Louise Wilson — he joined Prada, learning firsthand how to fuse conceptual exploration with a product that resonates in everyday life.
Now at Marni, Risso continues to embrace a method he likens to an artist’s studio, championing bold experimentation and surrounding himself with collaborators who push each other to new heights of creativity.
“Creativity is … in the way we give love to the things that we make and then we give to people. I feel I don’t see so much of that love around,” says Risso. “We have to inject into products a strong and beautiful sense of making. That requires craft, it requires skills, it requires a lot of fatigue, it requires discipline.”
Risso joins BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed to explore how his unconventional childhood shaped his creative approach, why discipline and craft remain vital to fashion, and how meaningful collaboration can expand the boundaries of what’s possible.
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James Whitner — founder of The Whitaker Group and the visionary behind retailers such as A Ma Maniére and Social Status — reveals how culture, purpose, and empathy drive his approach to business. Whitner witnessed firsthand how marginalised communities often face limited options, shaping his commitment to serving communities typically overlooked by the fashion industry.
“I think what helped me understand life is difficult, it's just seeing a difficult life, right? Watching people struggle and seeing that there is privilege in pain,” says Whitner, about growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “When I look at what we’re creating now, it has purpose and is about standing up Black culture at the centre,” Whitner adds. “Everything is about real experiences and connections to people.”
This week on the BoF Podcast, founder and CEO Imran Amed sits down with Whitner to explore his journey, learn about the driving force behind The Whitaker Group’s community-centric retail experiences, and understand why authenticity and cultural connection are non-negotiables in today’s fashion landscape.
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Performance basketball shoes have long been embedded in fashion culture, from the iconic Air Jordans of the 1990s to the stylised sneakers worn in NBA tunnel walks. But over the last decade, interest in basketball shoes waned as sneakerheads turned to minimalist silhouettes, running shoes and fashion collabs.
Now, a new wave of signature athletes, innovative design from emerging and legacy brands and growing energy around the WNBA are bringing basketball sneakers back into the fashion spotlight.
In this episode of The Debrief, BoF correspondents Lei Takanashi and Mike Sykes join hosts Sheena Butler-Young and Brian Baskin to unpack what's changed, what's still missing and what the future might hold.
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In the five years since the pandemic, fashion and beauty workplaces have undergone seismic change. Amid mounting economic uncertainty, geopolitical instability and the ongoing climate crisis, a workplace reckoning is underway. Employees are re-evaluating what truly matters at work and for many, that means reassessing everything from their employers’ values to compensation and flexibility.
According to BoF Careers’ 2025 global survey of over 1,000 professionals in 74 countries, only 15 percent of respondents said they were satisfied in their current roles. Meanwhile, 45 percent are actively looking for new jobs and workers today are prioritising fair pay, career progression, flexibility, value alignment and transparency over legacy prestige or perks.
On this episode of The Debrief, senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young speaks with BoF’s commercial features director Sophie Soar to explore what talent really wants today and what employers need to do to attract and retain the best.
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From a very young age, Dutch designer Duran Lantink has been fascinated by the transformative power of fashion.
His journey began in his early teens, culminating in his first runway show at just 14 years old. That collection, made from repurposed Diesel jeans and his grandmother’s tablecloth, was picked up by a local multi-brand store. And the rest is history.
Today, Duran is known in the industry for his playful experimentation, innovative collections and provocative runway presentations.
"I'm all figuring it out now. For me, I am just doing it step by step,” he shared. “Later on I really fell in love with this sort of non-conformative thing and I feel that the House of Gautier is very much about freedom and about culture and about bringing artists in and all these things and I hope the freedom and the possibility to really bring that in and really bring back that vibe from the late 80s or the beginning of the 90s and that really excites me."
In Paris, for his first ever English-language podcast, BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed sat down with Lantink to talk to him about his personal fashion journey, understand the source of his creativity and how he’s thinking about stepping into the role of creative director at an iconic fashion brand.
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The luxury industry trades on a carefully constructed marketing image, deeply linked to artful claims of exclusivity, craftsmanship, and impeccable standards. But a slew of Milanese court cases linking some of luxury’s biggest names to sweatshops on the outskirts of the fashion capital have sent uncomfortable shockwaves through the sector. Last week, LVMH-owned cashmere brand Loro Piana became the latest company caught up in the scandal. According to prosecutors, inadequate supply chain controls meant thousands of the brand’s cashmere jackets were made under exploitative conditions in illegal workshops. The scandals raise critical questions about luxury’s supply-chain integrity at a time when trust in the sector’s value proposition is already eroding.
This week on the Debrief, chief sustainability correspondent Sarah Kent joins Sheena Butler-Young to unpack the investigation and what it means for brands and consumers.
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Jérôme Mage is the founder and creative force behind Jacques Marie Mage, the luxury eyewear brand known for its distinctive silhouettes, limited production runs and deep-rooted storytelling. Originally from the Auvergne region in France, Mage relocated to Los Angeles in pursuit of creative freedom and with a deep passion for California's outdoor culture.
His brand comes from a personal mission to reimagine luxury through the lens of collectibility, history and craft, starting with an obsession about sunglasses from a young age.
“When I was 10 years old, my brother was 15, he came back with a pair of Vuarnet in my house. … I've never really seen my brother with glasses before and I was like wow looks so cool,” says Mage. I think for a lot of people it is transformative. … We live in a modern world that can be quite intrusive. All day people’s lives are on display and I think it's very nice to hide behind a pair of sunglasses.”
With each design, Mage channels his vast array of influences — from American mythologies to Napoleonic tailoring and iconic personalities — and transforms them into expressive objects with enduring emotional power.
Hot on the heels of the brand’s latest retail opening, BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed sat down with Mage at his new gallery on Rue de la Paix in Paris to explore how he built a cult luxury eyewear brand rooted in rarity, storytelling and craftsmanship – and why having an outsider’s perspective is en his greatest creative strength.
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After turning to other matters for a few weeks, President Donald Trump has reignited his aggressive tariff strategy, threatening sweeping new duties on key fashion-producing nations starting Aug. 1, as well as a fresh set of new levies on the EU, Brazil, South Korea and other trade partners.
On this episode of The Debrief, correspondents Joan Kennedy and Marc Bain join hosts executive editor Brian Baskin and senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young to unpack how brands are reacting, where prices are headed, and why diversification may no longer be the solution it once was.
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The latest fashion season marked a period of significant transition with new creative leadership taking centre stage at some of luxury’s biggest houses. Highly anticipated debuts at Dior, Celine and Maison Margiela set the tone for a new direction, while designers like Rick Owens continued to redefine the emotional and aesthetic parameters of fashion. At Balenciaga, Demna bid farewell to his iconic aesthetic, setting the stage for his upcoming tenure at Gucci.
Against this backdrop, BoF’s editor-at-large Tim Blanks and editor-in-chief Imran Amed discuss the realities of a shifting luxury landscape and the growing tension around pricing, accessibility, and the future structure of the luxury market.
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Couture’s Age of Experience, Experience of Age | BoF
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In nearly two decades since the first “Real Housewives” franchise debuted, reality TV has moved from the fringes of entertainment to become a major cultural force. Today, “Housewives” stars are influencing fashion trends, driving sales, and making inroads into luxury circles that once ignored them. Brands previously wary of the stigma around reality TV are now leveraging the passionate and loyal fanbase of the franchise, positioning these women as both influencers and aspirational figures.
Senior news and features editor Diana Pearl joins The Debrief to explore this evolution, uncovering how and why fashion has finally learned to love “The Real Housewives.”
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Rachel Scott, founder of Diotima, has built a reputation for bringing a nuanced portrayal of Caribbean culture to the global fashion stage. Drawing on her Jamaican heritage and global experience, Scott seeks to foreground overlooked craft traditions and champion a narrative that moves beyond exoticised tropes.
“Craft doesn't have an aesthetic. Craft is technique and execution,” Scott says. “There are endless possibilities, and on a conceptual level, I think that craft is the most intimate form of fashion. Because it is made by hand, there is this energy exchange. So I kept thinking about intimacy, sensuality and desire.
This week on The BoF Podcast, Rachel Scott sits down with BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed to discuss how she is redefining craft and advocating for a more inclusive design industry.
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After years of disillusionment with fashion tech, investors are once again excited about its potential, but with a very different mindset to the hype-fuelled boom of the last decade.
From AI-powered personal styling apps to virtual try-on tools and personalised search engines, a wave of start-ups is gaining traction – and big backing – by offering real technological solutions to long-standing fashion industry problems.
In this episode, senior e-commerce correspondent Malique Morris joins The Debrief to explore how fashion tech is finally growing up, and which companies are leading this more grounded, results-driven wave of innovation.
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As a fashion buyer and creative force at retail institutions like Browns and Liberty, Yasmin Sewell has long been tuned into aesthetics and the power of intuition. But it was during a moment of personal reset, that her intuition propelled her from fashion into an entirely new world: the business of beauty.
Founded in 2021, her fragrance brand Vyrao blends traditional perfumery with spiritual practices like Reiki, kinesiology, and neuroscience.
“When I was in fashion, what made me successful was tapping into my intuition and tapping into energy, which is everything I’ve created now. I was born quite psychic; I’ve always been able to connect with many things, and I used that ability to discover the designers at Browns,” Sewell shared. “That feeling is what I’ve lived by my whole life. It’s what’s led me to where I am now. And actually, what I believe I’ve done is bottled that into fragrance.”
At The Business of Beauty Global Forum 2025, Sewell sat down with BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed to discuss why she built a business rooted in energy, how she learned to manufacture fragrance from scratch, and why intuition is an underrated superpower in business.
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As major luxury brands struggle to maintain momentum amid an industry-wide slowdown, one category is bucking the trend: jewellery. While demand for handbags and apparel softens, fine jewellery sales continue to rise, driven by consumer desire for lasting value, emotional resonance and self-expression.
Simone Stern Carbone and Joan Kennedy join The Debrief to discuss how independent jewellers are thriving with creativity and personality, the rising popularity of novelty pieces, and why jewellery is uniquely positioned to attract buyers in today's luxury market.
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