My Mission Is...

This episode we talk to founder of consulting firm TownHouse Consultancy, PR, strategic and marketing whizz Daniel Marks. From over two decades in the fashion industry working at various PR communications firms. From the account manager, to founding partner in an agency, to finally his own company Town House Consulting. In this episode he speaks about starting his own charity due to a health scare...

This episode we talk to founder of fashion brand Another Tomorrow, Vanessa Barboni Hallik, on how she went from working in the financial environment then stumbling into the fashion industry. Barboni Hallik coming from Wall Street as a trader, had a sense of "being in the wrong place." Keep listening to hear how she has learnt from the ground up to build a successful sustainable brand.

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Nikki Samonas, actress, host, and UNHCR (the UN Refugee Agency) Goodwill Ambassador from Ghana. Samonas has worked with LuQuLuQu, a campaign by UNHCR, to raise awareness of and support for forcibly displaced people in Africa. Her work with refugees began in 2017 when she visited a refugee camp in Ghana to learn more about UNHCR’s emergency response work....

This week’s My Mission is… podcast guest is Drew FitzGerald, philanthropist and co-founder of JUST, JUST Water, and 501cTHREE. JUST’s first major project, JUST Water, was started to reduce the plastic use and emissions in bottled water packaging. Meanwhile, 501cTHREE is a non-profit that blends innovation and creative storytelling to raise awareness and get people engaged with climate change solut...

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Daniel Lismore, an artist, fashion designer, and LGBTQ+ activist who uses his body as his canvas and lives in extravagant ensembles. His outfits consist of an eclectic mix of upcycled fabrics, clothes, and items: from trash to centuries-old jewelry. Described as tapestries of his life, his ensembles are often exhibited in museums worldwide, such as Savan...

My Mission Is…  is a podcast series  hosted by Mission’s founder Karina Givargisoff. This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Daniella Vitale, Chief Executive Officer Salvatore Ferragamo North America. As it happens, Vitale cut her teeth at Ferragamo at the very beginning of her career as a merchandise manager. Since, she has had noteworthy stints at Giorgio Armani, Gucci, and Barney’...

My Mission Is... is a podcast series co-hosted by Mission’s founder Karina Givargisoff. This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Jon Rose, the founder of Waves for Water (W4W), a nonprofit organization working to bring clean water to everyone who needs it. Rose’s life as a pro surfer served as a catalyst for his clean water initiative. Helping over 4 million people, Rose sees his work as more t...

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Robert Triefus, Gucci’s vice president for brand and customer engagement. Prior to his role at Gucci, Treifus cut his teeth working with newspapers in the U.K, before establishing his own communications agency and eventually specializing in the fashion sphere with stints at Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani. At Gucci, Triefus has been responsible for overs...

This week’s My Mission is… podcast guest is Nick Bennett, the founder of a mental health fitness program Fika . Bennett’s goal is to mainstream the concept of ‘mental fitness’ by helping people develop essential life skills that prevent mental health decline. In this week’s episode, Benett talks with Mission founder and editor-in-chief Karina Givargisoff about the story behind Fika and the importa...

This week's My Mission is… podcast guest is Imarn Ayton, an activist, actor, writer, and motivational speaker. She is the founder of the Black Reformist Movement, a non-profit organization focused on black empowerment and eradicating institutionalized racism. Imarn rose  to prominence during the 2020 wave of the Black Lives Matter movement, following the murder of George Floyd.  Before t...

This week’s My Mission Is...podcast guest is John Demsey, executive group president of The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. Often referred to as  “the creative of the suits and the suit of the creatives ,” he straddles the line between business and creativity. His skills have brought growth and success to brands like MAC, Tom Ford, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Le Labo, Glamglow, Smashbox, and many more....

This week's My Mission Is… podcast guest is Sophia Wang, co-founder of the California-based startup MycoWorks, which can be partially credited with orchestrating the fashion industry's mycelium (the root structure of the fungi) boom. Alongside her work making the fashion industry a more sustainable (and better) place through partnerships with the likes of Hermès, Wang is a seasoned academic (she h...

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Annabelle Delir. Following the passing of her brother, Annabelle turned to health and holistic living. With a degree in psychology along with certifications in fitness, Annabelle has found success in practices that integrate modern scientific findings with traditional wisdom. After studying naturopathy, Annabelle created Umoya Botanics, a cruelty-free sk...

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Norma Kamali. As a powerhouse designer and healthy lifestyle advocate, Norma has channeled innovation into every look throughout her more than 50 years in the fashion industry. In 1970, she debuted her key invention of the Sleeping Bag Coat as part of her Parachute Collection, which has since resided in notable museums like New York's Metropolitan Museum...

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is John Bartlett. Both an animal right's activist and acclaimed designer, John currently leads the fashion program at Marist College. Having worked in the fashion industry for more than 30 years, John has made a name for himself with his rugged take on classic American style. A graduate of Harvard University and the Fashion Institute of Technology, he has s...

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Arsham Parsi, an Iranian human rights activist. As a gay teenager who lost lost a transgender friend to suicide, Arsham felt compelled to create an underground digital LGBTQ network in the country. Due to the strict laws against homosexuality in Iran, Arsham was then forced to flee to Canada. Since escaping persecution, he has dedicated his life to educa...

This week's My Mission Is... podcast guest is Talk To Coco, the mental health advocate who is using her platform to break down stigma and foster open conversations around mental health. Coco was diagnosed three years ago with a brain tumor, which has taken a toll on her both physically and mentally. But she found a welcoming community online when she began to speak out about her condition and its...

This week's My Mission Is... podcast guest is Sean Ellis. The British fashion photographer and film director took the world by storm with his youthful and imaginative artistic works throughout the 2010s. After getting his start assisting famed fashion photographer Nick Knight, Sean quickly established himself as a rare talent in the world of film and photography. He is the writer and director behi...

This week’s My Mission Is… podcast guest is Sharleen Spiteri. Mission’s usual co-host sits on the other side of the mic for this episode, as she and her band Texas celebrate 30 years together with the release of a new album in 2021. The band already released a new single for the album last December, “Hi,” featuring hip-hop royalty and their long-time collaborators Wu-Tang Clan. With over 40 millio...

This week's My Mission Is... podcast guest is Annette Richardson, global philanthropist, senior strategist, and execution expert. She is the founder and manager of Richardson Partners LLC, a consultancy firm that advises global leaders on design, curation, and implementation of pro-social campaigns. Prior to launching her firm, Richardson worked on cross-cultural projects and was a Senior Advisor...

This week's My Mission Is... podcast guest is Tobias Peggs, the CEO of Square Roots, an indoor farming company that aims to connect people to local food in their area. Square Roots has created new technology to allow for indoor urban farming, and has established farms in shipping containers in Brooklyn and Grand Rapids, Michigan. The company’s goal is to grow and distribute fresh food with love an...

This week's My Mission Is... podcast guest is founder and executive producer of the wildly successful public relations agency ID, Kelly Bush Novak. Established in 1993, ID and their team of 100 strategists represents the most influential artists, thought leaders, brands, philanthropic organizations, athletes, musicians, studios, networks, films and filmmakers, content creators and technology leade...

Burak Cakmak has been a frontrunner in the responsible fashion scene for a number of years now. Burak has held several high-ranking positions focused around sustainability and responsibility, including working at the Swarovski Group as the company’s first Vice President of Corporate Responsibility, where he established global programs fostering corporate stewardship. With his expertise in the fiel...

Alexi Lubormirski is among one of the most accomplished names in fashion photography. Since being taken under the wing of notable photographers like Katie Grand, Lubormirski, who is also of noble descent, has contributed to many publications, including Harper’s Bazaar US, Harpers Bazaar UK, Vogue Mexico, Vogue Germany, Vogue Russia, Vogue Spain, Vogue Korea, Vogue China, Vogue Nippon, Men’s Vogue...

Tina Lutz Morris arguably has one of the most impressive CVs in fashion today, having collaborated with nearly every big name in the industry: Issey Miyake shortly after graduating from Paris’ ESMOD then Calvin Klein and Barneys, among others. Deciding to take matters into her own hands, Lutz founded women’s ready-to-wear brand Lutz & Patmos, for which she served as creative and branding direc...