Carton d'invitation

Doug Woodham has written the first substantive biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat to appear in 25 years. Subtitled The Making of an Icon, this book traces the arc of Basquiat's life and his posthumous trajectory into the pantheons of both fine art and pop culture. Moderately known in his lifetime, Basquiat is one of very few artists whose works now sell over 100 million dollars - that puts the...

When I was in Montreal screening my documentary, I met a sincere and creative group of young people who spent their weekends in pattern cutting workshops - and it was in talking to them that I first heard about my guest Julian Roberts. These pattern makers at Lignes de Fuite were experimenting with the possibilities of something called Subtraction Cutting - and they told me all about the inventor...

Sony Chan is known in  France for her subversive humour on radio and television (you don’t quite know what is happening: a perfectly turned out woman with impeccable manners starts sending up French propriety with absurd commentary). She is also in more recent years a star in Hong Kong, doing sold out comedy shows where she once again inverses tropes with beautiful manners and a lot of style. Sony...

Andreas Bernhardt has a shy laugh when I ask if he was an “It Boy “ in the 80s and 90s. He certainly was! A 20-year-old kid from Berlin, he was introduced in one night to “everyone in New York”, that’s Keith Haring to Debbie Harry, thanks to a chance encounter with Joey Arias in Fiorucci. He posed nude for Andy Warhol’s last photographs. He became a queer icon in that unforgettable Gay Paris photo...

London was already buzzing about Brian de Carvalho! But now his reach is going global. Fergie and the Netflix team promoting Lena Dunham’s new series Too Much just released a remake of London Bridge and yes, they commissioned Brian to create the fabulous Union Jack corseted gown that Fergie is wearing! He’s also had a gown appear on the cover of Italian vogue - and Lady Gaga has worn his work. The...

Back in the 90s, when Supermodels headed down the runways from Chanel to Versace to Mugler, Emma Wiklund (formerly Sjoberg) was always one of the chosen few. Emma was at the centre of what a lot of people now think of as a Golden Age of fashion, whether that day she was the embodiment of total luxury in a high collared Lanvin jacket cut by Claude Montana or the height of edgy cool in a metallic bi...

Onerva Luoma is a young Finnish artist who has come up with a clever - and really fun project - that combines fashion and a library card to make a statement about consumption and so much else. In her own words, Onerva explains, "The conceptual artwork is called Lead Me out of here (even if I Do not Know if such a Place Exists) and it consists of 55 paintings made on old clothes. Anyone can borrow...

Ubiquitous on runways and in print for decades, Philadelphia-born Debra Shaw has changed the rule book on aging out of the modelling business. She is as busy - and as cool - as she has ever been, darting back and forth across the Atlantic for shows in New York and the European fashion capitals, always stopping when she can to spend time in Paris which is her adopted home. Back in the 90s, I would...

Via a childhood in Quebec City, fashion studies at LaSalle in Montreal, followed by tutelage under Louise Wilson at Central Saint Martins, Frederic Tremblay has carved a unique place for himself in fashion. He's worked in design leadership roles with everyone from Marc Jacobs, Tory Burch, Reed Krakoff, Draper James (Reese Witherspoon), Michael Kors, Puppets and Puppets and currently Belle and Bloo...

Publicist, model agent, playwright, erstwhile stylist, Fred Howard was the publicity manager for Linda Evangelista’s comeback tour last year. Fred has spent a life in the so-called fashion trenches. Among his skills is preparing models for the red carpet, (avoiding the fries that can bloat and turning up the music and the AC on the way to the venue)! Fred’s worked at Elite Models and DNA, scouted...

Sibyl Buck is the American supermodel who brought punk to Paris runways in the 90s.  At the height of her success, she left for New York to become an artist and a musician.  Sibyl built The Doghouse, an artists’ commune in New York City and toured for years as a musician with lots of different people including Chris Traynor. She and Chris parent their daughter, Puma Rose.  Along the way, Sibyl has...

The Carton d’invitation Podcast often but not always talks about 90s fashion - but this is a twist and the humour doesn't escape me!  In this episode, we are talking about how some of the famous faces from the 90s (think Naomi, Marpessa and Carla Bruni) stay luminous today!  “The French Facialist” Sophie Carbonari is often referred to as one of the world's ultimate beauty secrets, whether...

Carton d’invitation celebrates the fashion journeys of Supermodels, designers, journalists, stylists, creative directors, illustrators etc. Stars of 90s Paris as well as emerging creatives in conversation about "life before the internet" and making fashion now. I was a TV reporter in the Golden Age of fashion in Paris in the 80s and 90s, back when it was a new thing to bring video camera...

Sophie Theallet has dressed Michelle Obama and Kim Kardashian. An award winning designer in her own right, she started out assisting Jean Paul Gaultier - and then Azzedine Alaia for 10 years. She saw everything! And in this podcast, she decides she’s willing to tell me about it all.  It took us three meetings but Sophie was eventually ready to explain what “assisting” really meant - the lines she...

Eve Salvail: Supermodel, Muse to Jean Paul Gaultier, successful DJ, an addiction counselor, frequent television personality in Quebec, author and importantly the energy behind the Eve Salvail Foundation which aims to serve victims of domestic violence. Along with a lot of people, I will never forget the season Eve arrived on the scene in Paris. Everyone was buzzing: “Who is the extraordinary new C...

British Patricia Jacobs was a newspaper reporter for The New York Post back in the 80s and 90s. Now known as the artist, PJ Cobbs, she has hilarious gee-whiz tales from the trenches of fashion journalism and much perspective on what it was like for persons of colour to operate in that world. Listen for a crash course in what being a news reporter back then was like, from scrambling to the phone bo...

Dawn Wolf stands by the motto that she is only as good as her last booking, A straight-talking New Yorker transplanted to Paris, Dawn says there are secrets she is taking to the grave...but all the same, you will be delighted to hear many, many stories here! She opened Ford Models in Paris and then IMG. Dawn helped launch almost every supermodel from Christy to Naomi to Shalom and Amber to Guineve...

Featured in British Vogue, designing for drag influencers, Bailey J Mills and Bimini as well as pop stars CMAT and The Dinner Party, Oran O'Reilly is creating a bit of a sensation in Ireland. His bespoke knitwear sells out. His inventive corsets feature faces of anyone from Kate Bush to Princess Diana. He is just 21 years old - and does his knitting on the bus to college - where he is studying...

Justin Teodoro is a fellow Canadian - based in New York - and an illustrator whose work is followed by tens of thousands of people. His art offers witty and very stylish commentary on pop culture and the world of fashion.  Enjoy listening to a person who has carved a unique niche for himself by trusting his instincts and leaning into his creativity! In 2023, Justin was part of the Costume Departme...

Described by Dazed magazine as an ‘industry fave’, Maximilian Raynor has dressed  everyone from musicians Ellie Goulding and Rita Ora to supermodels Paloma Elsesser and Adut Akech. Just 25, he recently presented a collection in the MA Graduate show at Central Saint Martins in London. This is the show that people in the fashion world eagerly anticipate each year, hoping to spot the next Alexander M...

An established leader in the beauty space, James Boehmer is embarking on a new adventure in Kent, Connecticut after years as the Global Artistic Director for SHISEIDO Makeup. That role was preceded by groundbreaking work at NARS. In this podcast, James talks about beauty, leaning into difference and creating community. You will hear about "Peggy Mercury" - an exciting new multi-category...

Openly trans in 1989, Connie Fleming made her Paris modeling debut and history on a Thierry (Manfred) Mugler runway.  Connie is a multi-hyphenate: illustrator, model, runway coach, also known as The Door Bitch in the New York club scene. She has become an advocate for trans-healthcare following her experience with breast cancer. Growing up in Jamaica and then New York, Connie experienced violence...

Jason Duzansky recently worked as the art director on the instantly iconic book: “Linda Evangelista Photographed by Steven Meisel”. But probably without realizing it, you are always seeing images Jason helped create on billboards, in shop windows and magazines - wherever you might be in the world. Jason is a busy Creative Director based in Los Angeles and New York who works for many brands includi...

Fashion History 101 - For six decades, Tony has been immersed in the world of fashion - thinking, writing and sketching. From early 1960s YSL shows in the intimacy of the salon to the latest extravaganzas in Paris, Tony's been there, notebook in hand. We caught up as I was working on my documentary Carton d'invitation. Back in the 1990s, I often turned to him for TV interviews right after...

Partner of the late Manfred Thierry Mugler, Krzysztof Leon Dziemaszkiewicz is a Polish performance artist based in Berlin. From a little kitchen in Schillerpromenade, he and I spoke together about his highly inventive art practice - and what it was like navigating the first year of grief after the passing of his partner.  To learn more visit his Instagram: @leondziemaszkiewicz This podcast is part...