Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes

Wes Gordon, the Creative Director of Carolina Herrera, talks to Suzy about dressing Kamala Harris in a white suit on November 7th 2020, the historic evening she became the first female Vice-President Elect of the United States of America. The choice of designer and the fresh, bright white pants suit was a powerful symbol of the new attitude of President elect Joe Biden. As the Carolina Herrera com...

This week I am joined by by Andreas Kronthaler the designer, otherwise known as Vivienne Westwood’s husband. Andreas talks to me about transforming the story of sex, fun and punk into a thoughtful and successful brand. It now has a goal of activism, sustainability and a mission to persuade people to shop wisely and consciously. What did Andreas bring from his Austrian roots? Was he inspi...

Welcome to my third season of Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes. This week I am joined by Giancarlo Giammetti “Honorary President  of the Valentino Fashion House”.  Giancarlo has been so much more than a business partner, who shares with Valentino a passion for big boats, high mountains and creating the house of Valentino - which has earned a place in fashion history .  The hy...

In episode 4 of season 2, we go to Paris to speak with Bruno Pavlovsky, President of Chanel Fashion, who has worked with the famous Paris company for 30 years. Our conversation coincides with Chanel's SS/21 show at Paris Fashion Week. Bruno has been instrumental in expanding the company’s presence in the fashion arena, first with Karl Lagerfeld and subsequently with the late designer’s right hand,...

In episode 3 of season 2, we go to Milan. I’m joined by Laudomia Pucci, daughter of the aristocratic Marquis Emilio Pucci, so famous for the distinctive swirling prints. Laudomia reveals how she started to work with her father in Florence when she was 23. She talks us through years of Pucci’s high flying clients, from Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis to Sophia Loren, and the crazily patterned clothes in...

In Episode 2 of Season 2, Suzy is joined by Paul Smith who’s celebrating 50 years in fashion. Smith reveals the plans for his anniversary, and how - with his wife Pauline - he has built the Paul Smith label over half a century. Sir Paul, knighted by the Queen of England in 2000, opens his soul in the conversation, revealing his wisdom - showing how he built his entire fashion empire, root to branc...

For the second season of Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes , the first four episodes are dedicated to the four fashion capitals – New York, London, Milan and Paris – which are busy getting ready for Spring/Summer 2021 Ready-To-Wear. In episode 1, Suzy is joined by Valerie Steele, the indomitable Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York...

For the season finale of this first series of Creative Conversations , Suzy is joined by Rosita Missoni and her granddaughter Margherita Missoni Amos. The Missoni family reflects the essence of Italy. Like a fashion tree of life, the company roots go back almost 70 years to when Rosita and Ottavio “Tai” Missoni met, married, and made knitwear both joyous and gorgeous. In this episode, the two arch...

In episode 12 Suzy talks to Christian Louboutin, famously known for his shoes – sexy shoes, easy shoes, even fetishistic footwear. Christian Louboutin, shoemaker to the stars, has a symbol that defines his inventions: a scarlet sole. Here he shares his formative experiences, design motivations and plans for the future. It is nearly 30 years since the designer made red his signature colour for his...

For episode eleven Suzy speaks to Iris van Herpen and Game of Thrones actress Carice van Houten as they collaborate for a digital presentation for this season's Autumn/Winter 2020-21 Haute Couture Week. The fashion industry has had to rethink how to present the collections, and each house has turned to submitting digital presentations instead of the traditional live-show format. One such designer...

In episode ten of Creative Conversations , Suzy is joined by Michael Kors, whose American sportswear label is celebrating its 40th anniversary next year. He is marking the event with a thoughtful reappraisal of his past and future, where highs have included dressing stars from stage, screen and state, from Jennifer Lopez to Angelina Jolie to Michelle Obama, whose bared shoulders the designer broug...

In episode nine of Creative Conversations , Suzy is joined by DURO OLOWU, the fashion designer who works at the crossroads of fashion, art and culture. The wonder of Duro Olowu is that he has developed himself as an art curator as well as a creative fashion artist. The two fit hand to glove. He is autonomously able to express himself artistically through his fashion creations, or through selecting...

In episode eight of Creative Conversations , Suzy is joined by the celebrated photographer to the stars, Richard Young. Young may have photographed Princess Diana, followed the Sex Pistols around the UK, visited Romanian orphanages with Michael Jackson, and slipped into Elizabeth Taylor’s party for Richard Burton, but when demonstrators gathered in London’s Hyde Park last week to demonstrate for t...

In episode seven of Creative Conversations , Suzy is joined by the philanthropist and supermodel, Natalia Vodianova. Her story is a fairy tale – with a mighty dollop of reality and grit. Growing up in Russia, she helped her mother sell fruit in the market; looked after her sister, who has special needs; and hobbled through a childhood in which her family could not afford to buy new shoes for her g...

In this sixth episode of “Creative Conversations”, Suzy is joined by an entrepreneur with true vision – Federico Marchetti, Chairman and CEO of YOOX Net-A-Porter Group, who is celebrating the 20th anniversary of his company. In 2000, Marchetti founded YOOX, the world’s first lifestyle e-commerce destination –before the launch of Facebook, Instagram, and the iPhone. In 2015, YOOX and Net-A-Porter m...

In this fifth episode of Creative Conversations, Suzy is joined by the young dynamic designer, Marine Serre. Marine’s second-ever collection, A Radical Call for Love, created for her own label for Autumn/Winter 2017, was designed in the wake of the Paris and Brussels attacks while she was working at Balenciaga, and featured what would become Marine's signature: a crescent-moon motif. This led to M...

In Episode 4 of her new podcast series, Suzy hears the moving and uplifting life story of the Creative Director of Balmain, Olivier Rousteing. Hear the unique story of how Olivier Rousteing and his “Balmain Army” have fought for diversity and inclusivity in the fashion industry for nearly ten years. An inspiration to us all, his many supporters include Beyoncé, the Kardashian clan, Rihanna... oh!...

In this third episode of Creative Conversations, Suzy is joined by the thoughtful, funny and profound designer Alber Elbaz, as he enters a new fashion phase with the Richemont Group. Alber talks us through his career, from Geoffrey Beene to Guy Laroche then Yves Saint-Laurent Rive Gauche and 14 years at Lanvin, where he earned a reputation for creating looks loved by women the world over. Produced...

For her second episode under lockdown, Suzy Menkes looks up - at the fantastical hats of milliner Stephen Jones. Working with Christian Dior - and as the imaginative hatter of choice for Comme des Garçons and Marc Jacobs - Stephen Jones explains how headwear is a signal of communication and self-expression. The mighty milliner, with a witty sense of humour, defines designing for creative fashion h...

For her first episode, Suzy welcomes Maria Grazia Chiuri, the Creative Director Femme of Christian Dior - the first woman to lead the brand, and one who has enriched it with her distinctive feminist and artistic vision. Whilst we are all in lockdown, Suzy and Maria Grazia discuss feminism, Couture, design inspiration - and growing up in a fashion family. Produced by Natasha Cowan. Edited by Tim Th...