Firsts by Deena

Why do brands misunderstand the Middle Eastern consumer? It’s a question we’re tackling head-on in this episode of Firsts. Deena is joined by Philippa Morgan, Executive Director of International Markets at Dazed Media and Creative Strategy Director + Lead Editor at Deenathe1st. With a history of collaboration dating back to Vogue Arabia, Deena and Philippa bring deep industry knowledge to the tabl...

In this episode of Firsts, Deena delves into the impact of music videos on her life and on the broader cultural landscape. She recalls the 80s and 90s era of MTV, highlighting this new creative frontier that captivated her, particularly through the videos of Duran Duran, Don Henley, Bryan Ferry, Michael Jackson, and Madonna. She discusses the visionary directors like David Fincher who transformed...

What does the evolution of a designer look like? How do designers find their DNA? For designer Mary Katrantzou, who started off by pursuing a career in architecture and interior design and then found fashion as her medium of expression, her journey led to her breakout collection being featured in London Fashion Week’s 2008 graduating show , to then launching her eponymous label in 2009. Today, she...

We're back with an episode that is unapologetically honest! Remember when fashion reviews weren’t just about hype? Hanan Besovic, the voice behind the popular Instagram account @ideservecouture , is bringing that era back. 'When the work is good, I love to praise fashion. But when it's not, sorry!' he tells Deena. Hanan’s platform represents a new wave of fashion commentary on social media, but wh...

At the end of our Deenathe1st.com interview with legendary photographer Albert Watson OBE, he mentioned that he would like to be asked about the position of art in photography and we had to follow it up with a podcast episode on Firsts by Deena! Hundreds of magazine covers, a Grammy on his shelf, the most popular portraits of Alfred Hitchcock, Steve Jobs, among others, and a career focused on the...

A supremely creative, endlessly curious individual—that’s how we would describe Ahmad Swaid. It’s high praise but well-deserved for the new founding Editor in Chief of Dazed Middle East. Born in London to parents from Sierra Leone and Lebanon, Ahmad grew up traversing these spaces that informed his identity. Through these formative experiences, he learned that all he wanted to do was tell stories,...

What do the clothes we wear reveal about us? More importantly, how do cultural shifts influence design and the way we dress? And how does this continue to evolve over time? At Deena the 1st, we love covering fashion history, and we had the privilege of diving deep into this topic with one of the leading voices in fashion studies, Valerie Steele. As the Director and Chief Curator of the Museum at t...

For the very first time, a panel has come together on the podcast to speak on a subject that needed to be discussed: why art from Saudi Arabia is now in the spotlight. This is on the back of Hafla by Sotheby's, an ongoing exhibition celebrating art from the Middle East. On the panel we have Ashkan Baghestani, the Head of Contemporary Day Sales at Sotheby’s and Princess Nourah Al Faisal, the f...

Magazines have declined, and while the digital world offers up more content than we can consume, we've lost the editors who were the tastemakers of our cultural zeitgeist. Dana Brown is the author of Dilettante, a memoir that takes the reader back to the golden era of magazines and publishing in its epicenter: New York City. But the book also tells you Dana’s story - a barback who got noticed by t...

A rebel. An artist. A maverick. Elsa Peretti created jewelry inspired by the world around her and this is only part of her legacy. Elsa inspired a style of jewelry that is classic and timeless, with pieces that have held resonance across generations. Collaborations with designers such as Halston, Giorgio di Sant'Angelo, and most successfully with Tiffany placed Elsa’s work on the map globally...

In this episode, Deena is joined by her friend and groundbreaking designer, Sultan Al Darmaki. He is the first contemporary Middle Eastern designer to have his work displayed at the V&A Museum in London. In this episode, Sultan and Deena begin by discussing how Sultan paved his path in the world of fashion and then they speak to the rich, yet lesser-known history of Middle Eastern fashion. The...

In this episode, Deena delves into the crossroads of fashion and the Red Carpet. Exploring the shift from spontaneous elegance to calculated stylization, she recalls the pioneering Giorgio Armani Oscars moments from the 80s which redefined the interaction between fashion and Hollywood. Reflecting on Versace's imprint on the Red Carpet, Deena highlights iconic instances such as Elizabeth Hurley's s...

Beka Gvishiani, the creative force behind Style Not Com, has revolutionized fashion commentary with his distinctive cobalt blue posts and all-caps copy. His Instagram account, a treasure trove of insights, offers front-row news and commentary that few can access. In this episode of "Firsts by Deena," Beka and Deena reconnect, having first met backstage at a fashion show. Both outsiders, in a...

What does the evolution of fashion look like? And how does fashion represent the zeitgeist? In this episode, Deena is joined by her daughter Maya to discuss the evolving nature of fashion. With their two different generational perspectives, they discuss influential personalities from the '80s and '90s, exploring their unique style and impact on fashion. From Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy's effortless e...

Step into the world of Deena. Episode 1 coming soon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.