Victoria Smith

Fashion & Founders The Podcast

Arts EN ↓ 97 episodes

Fashion & Founders is a media platform exploring how fashion is actually built. Hosted by Victoria Smith, the show sits at the intersection of fashion, technology, and capital spotlighting the founders, investors, and operators shaping the industry’s next era. Through long-form conversations, we go beyond trends to unpack fundraising, manufacturing, resale,  AI,  sustainability, career, and the evolving business of fashion. This is where fashion’s builders speak, share, and connect. 

Author

Victoria Smith

Category

Arts

Latest episode

Jun 28, 2026

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Episodes

Styled Sara: How to Break into the Fashion Industry 26.10.2025

On this episode of Fashion and Founders, Victoria is joined by Sara Walker who you’ve probably seen on Instagram as @styledsara. Sara talks about how she broke into the fashion industry, the first steps she took, and landing a job at Revolve. She also shares tips for getting started with content creation to going full time working for yourself. Sara takes listeners behind the scenes of the busines...

Fashion Tech Weeks: Takeaways from NYC, SF, LA 19.10.2025

This week on Fashion and Founders the Podcast, Victoria shares a solo episode with takeaways from major fashion and fashion tech events from the past month. From New York Fashion Week, Climate Week, San Francisco Tech Week, and LA Tech Week. Sharing major themes and insights for the future of the industry as well as highlighting key players. Listen for new tools, resources, and brands and founders...

How to Start and Scale a Fashion Brand with ALIGNE CEO Ginny Seymour 12.10.2025

In this episode of Fashion & Founders Victoria Smith sits down with Ginny Seymour, CEO and re-founder of Aligne. Founded in East London and freshly expanded to New York, Ginny rebuilt ALIGNE as a design-led, DTC-first womenswear brand. Just in two years created a viral hero piece, the Daphne blazer, and has driven $1M in US revenue without paid ads. Ginny shares how ShopMy, smart gifting, and...

Daydreaming Fashion’s Future: Why Fashion Needs Tech with Founder Lisa Green 05.10.2025

This week on Fashion and Founders the Podcast, host Victoria Smith is joined with Lisa Green, co-founder Chief Brands Officer of Daydream. Daydream is the AI-powered fashion tech platform fixing broken search and personalization in shopping. We dig into how Daydream translates real-life “shopper language” into smart recommendations. Lisa traces her path from Google to The Yes (acquired by Pinteres...

The RealReal: Innovation, Fashion, and Career Insights from Rachel Glicksberg 28.09.2025

In this episode of Fashion and Founders, Victoria Smith sits down with Rachel Glicksberg, Women’s Fashion & New Initiatives Lead at The RealReal. Rachel shares The RealReal’s designer collaborations and upcycling initiatives, the rise of vintage and archive revivals, and how emerging designers are breaking through. Rachel also shares practical career advice on mentorship, cold outreach, her no...

Pia Mance Founder of Heaven Mayhem on Building a $10 Million Dollar Brand 14.09.2025

Season 5 of Fashion Founders the Podcast, opens with Pia Mance, founder of Heaven Mayhem. Pia started with $900 dollars hand making jewelry on her bedroom floor and in just three years built a $10 million dollar business, recently featured on Vogue Business. Pia is creating a go-to accessories business with elevated pieces at an affordable price point. She shares lessons and advice from her entrep...

Influencer Marketing Masterclass: Partnerships, Events, & Strategy with Nicole Reisman of Dolce Vita 08.09.2025

On this episode of Fashion Founders , Victoria Smith interviews Nicole Reisman, Director of Influencer Marketing & Events at Dolce Vita, for a deep dive into the world of influencer marketing and brand partnerships. Nicole shares practical advice for aspiring influencers on how to work with fashion brands, what brands really look for in collaborations, and why engagement matters more than foll...

The Clueless Closet App with 10 Million Users: Whering with Founder Bianca Rangecroft 03.08.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith and this week I'm joined with Bianca Rangecroft the founder of Whering. Whering is a UK based but globally used digital wardrobe app that is making it easier than ever for you to finally get that clueless closet. Unlike other wardrobe and digital styling apps, you don't have to take a picture of every piece...

How to Build Partnerships in Fashion Tech: Optimizing your Digital Wardrobe with Tote and Future Reference Founders 27.07.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined with Kathleen Sheppard, the founder of Tote, and Claire Ilmer, the founder of Future Reference. In this episode, we explore their recent partnership announcement and for some background, Tote is a social shopping app and Future Reference digitizes your wardrobe for one click, resale and...

How to Leverage Social Media to Build your Business with Nik Pollina 30.06.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion and Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith and this week I'm joined by Nik Pollina. Nik used to work at Google and transitioned from tech into fashion after getting laid off. She talks about her journey starting working for herself, and she is now the owner of Seven Moods, the co-owner of Thx its Thrifted, and a content creator. She has so much advic...

What do the EU, UK, and USA prioritize in Sustainable Fashion? Takeaways from the Global Fashion Agenda Summit 22.06.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm doing a recap episode from the Global Fashion Agenda Summit that I attended in Copenhagen. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to attend and excited to share innovators I met. Hear from the Trailblazer winner Sarika Bajaj, founder and CEO of Refiberd. I go over rental, resale, biomate...

Viral Videos that Convert: London’s Fastest Growing Preloved Luxury Store with Sellier Founder Hanushka Toni 15.06.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion and Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith and this week I'm joined with Hanushka Toni, the founder and CEO of Sellier. I am coming to you live from London and am excited share this episode with Hanushka and hear more of her story. If you're wanting to transition careers and work in fashion, listen to this episode. She started her career as a la...

How DMing Alex Cooper Began Her Styling Career from Celebrity Stylist Zoe Gofman 08.06.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith and this week I'm joined with celebrity stylist Zoe Gofman. Zoe does not have your typical story of entering into the industry, and a little sneak peek she cold DMd Alex Cooper of Call Her Daddy, landed a big client, quit her job, and has been hustling and growing her business ever since. Zoe has styled many cel...

Breaking Into Fashion Tech: Reinventing Resale and the New Era of Beni with Mary Korlin-Downs and Kate Sanner 21.05.2025

Talking fashion tech with Mary Korlin-Downs founder of All Things Fashion Tech and Kate Sanner CEO and Co-Founder of Beni. From Beni’s relaunch that’s redefining how and why we shop and Mary joining the team, Kate shares leading industry insights. As well as what’s next in fashion tech and other founders innovating. Want to break in? Hear from these thought leaders on how: how to write a cold emai...

Is the Vintage Market at its Cap? and Creating a Future Vintage Brand with Lexi of Shop Nou 15.05.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders The Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined with Lexi, The founder of Shop Nou and now Nou Shoes. She is a vintage sourcer and seller, and now a shoe designer with her very first shoe launching this Tuesday, May 20th. In this episode, she talks about not only her experience sourcing vintage and being one of the first in this spac...

Manifesting Money, Finances for Founders, and Getting Dumb Rich with Ariel LaFond 11.05.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders The Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined with Ariel LaFond. She is an CPA, a fractional CFO for small businesses,  and the writer of Dumb Rich on Substack. She is the coolest accountant I think I will ever talk to or meet, she offers a concierge financial service especially those who are self-employed influencers, founders. Ar...

How to Make Money on Substack with Erika Veurink 04.05.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion and Founders The Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith and this week I'm joined with Erica Veurink, she writes Long Live on Substack and is the founder of We Met at EV Salon. Erika was one of the perfect people to kick off this season and theme because she writes a lot on her Substack Long Live about making money from a portfolio career and how she went from mak...

Fashion Tech Talk: Trends, Press & Product Launches, and Who’s Hiring 02.05.2025

Themes I’ve been seeing in fashion tech recently, new companies to try, and who’s hiring! From Search, personalization, and curation.  Job Board: Fashion and Founders Follow Fashion & Founders: Podcast IG: @fashionandfounders Podcast Substack:  Podcast Website: fashionandfounders.com Victoria TikTok: @vfsmith11 Podcast LinkedIn: Fashion and Founders Podcast YouTube: Fashion and Founders Victor...

The Alix Earle Effect Hits Fashion Tech and What It’s Really Like to Go Viral with Founder of Second Sense Chris Lucas 27.04.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion and Founders of the podcast. My name is Victoria Smith and this week I'm joined with Chris Lucas, the founder of Second Sense. After Alix Earle visited Harvard Business School last week and posted a TikTok about Second Sense. It crashed the website it went so viral, and the search bar under her video with over 3 million views was second sense. The “Alix Earle...

The Future of AI in Fashion 20.04.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion and Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined with Kotryna, the co-founder of Arete. Arete is an AI powered marketplace for emerging designers built to create connection between shoppers and designers and allow you to play and discover with the clothing. They are quickly growing as they recently opened their store in soho this...

How to Build a Fashion Resume 06.04.2025

How do you build a resume for fashion? Hear from former Bloomingdales employee Sophie Cohen on how she landed her dream job without a fashion degree.  Welcome back to Fashion and Founders The Podcast, my name is Victoria Smith and this week I’m joined with Sophie Cohen aka Style with Soco! If you don’t already know, Sophie, you might recognize some of her iconic pink or vintage looks she wears aro...

PR Masterclass: How to Be Your Own PR Agent and Write a Standout Pitch with Emily Blair Media 30.03.2025

Learn how to win the PR game from Emily Blair Marcus the founder of Emily Blair Media. Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders, the podcast. My name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined with Emily Blair Marcus, the founder of Emily Blair Media, a PR firm with offices in LA, New York and London. She is the PR powerhouse behind this new era of celebrities. She's worked with Morga...

Investor to Co-Founder: The New Era of Brand Loyalty with CAKE Founder Estelle Palandjian 23.03.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion and Founders the Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined with Estelle, the co-founder of Cake. Estelle went from being an investor at a VC investing in Cake to joining as a co-founder. So not only do we get her perspective as a founder, but also as an investor and specifically her take on fashion tech and the appetite that the industry ha...

Starting a Business with Your Best Friend in Your Twenties with Co-Founders of No Standing NYC 16.03.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion Founders the Podcast. My name is Victoria Smith and this week I am joined with Helena and Sari, the co-founders of No Standing NYC. No Standing is a luxury vintage and secondhand store with curated pieces at an accessible price. You can find their stunning store in the heart of Soho and browse some amazing vintage selections curated from around the world. With pie...

Cherry Pick: Building The Entire Internet of Vintage Fashion with Founder Delaney Delponti 02.03.2025

Hello and welcome back to Fashion and Founders, the podcast. My name is Victoria Smith, and this week I'm joined with Delaney Delponti, founder of Cherry Pick. Cherry Pick is going to be your one stop shop for everything vintage, combining your most loved online thrift and vintage sites into one place. In this episode Delaney not only gives us a bit of a sneak peek into what cherry pick will...

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