TheIndustry.fashion & TheIndustry.beauty Podcast

Natasja Giezen Smith is CEO of innovative women’s hosiery and underwear brand Heist . Just as the pandemic hit in March 2020, Natasja joined the London-based business, which is famed for in sag-proof tights, innovative shapewear and comfortable, yet flattering, underwear. Heist is known for bringing high technology into its products, for its inclusive sizes and skin tones and for embracing women o...

August Bard Bringéus is the Co-founder of sustainable direct to consumer Swedish menswear brand ASKET , which he founded in 2015 with business partner Jakob Dworsky whom he met at the Stockholm School of Economics.  Both had grown frustrated at how hard it was to find simple and quality staples such as the humble T-shirt, sweatshirt and Oxford shirt, that fitted well and weren’t mass produced. The...

Despite its inception in 2015, Youth To The People has been a long time in-the-making. Founded by cousins Greg Gonzalez and Joe Cloyes, it builds on three generations of family skincare know-how, kicked off by their grandmother, who founded her own skincare company in the 70s. Powered by superfoods and science, Youth To The People is an eco-conscious brand that’s committed to harnessing nutrient-d...

Maria Hatzistefanis is one of the beauty industry’s best known and most admired entrepreneurs. She began her career in corporate finance and realising quickly that wasn’t for her, founded her ground-breaking beauty brand Rodial in 1999, having identified the need for products that focused on results and which tackled specific skin concerns.  Maria started the brand from scratch, visiting trade sho...

It’s been just over a year since retailers across the nation first re-opened their doors after an historic enforced lockdown that had lasted almost three months . Little did we know then that two more lockdowns were to come with devastating affects for some of fashion’s biggest names. However with much of the UK’s adult population vaccinated against COVID-19 and promises from the Government that i...

In the latest episode of IN DETAIL, Tom Shearsmith, News & Features Writer at TheIndustry.fashion talks to Graduate Fashion Foundation Chairman Douglas McLennan, and Brand Partnerships Director Joy Campbell about the past, present and the future of the event, which acts as a springboard for new talent: bridging the gap between education and employment. Douglas and Joy speak about the important...

In the latest episode of the ‘In Conversation’ podcast, Tom Shearsmith, News & Features Writer at TheIndustry.fashion speaks with Amanda Navaian, Founder of sustainable accessories brand Mārīcī. As an advocate for sustainability and with years of experience in the fashion industry, Amanda set out to launch her own plant-based accessories brand in 2020, which is soon to be stocked in Selfridges...

Friends who met at the school gates almost 20 years ago, Eileen Willett and Nancy Zeffman are the founders of “cool” brand Cucumber Clothing. In the past six years, the duo have created simple, multifunctional designs that slip easily into every woman’s wardrobe. The brands' clothes are made ethically, locally and sustainably.  It operates with a “five mile radius” rule,  using minimal packag...

Sebastian Siemiatkowski is the CEO and Founder of disruptive payments provider Klarna. With its buy now, pay later, pay in 3 and other flexible, or as Klarna likes to call it smoooth, payments options, this business has shaken up the way we shop, having been adopted by more than 250,000 retailers worldwide. It’s also fair to say it has ruffled a few feathers among the traditional banking sector wi...

Jack Zambakides, 24, was always entrepreneurial. From a young age, he started a cleaning business, a vintage clothes business and an electronics business – all of which failed . However, he went on to create ‘LS Personal Shopper’ using the overdraft from his student loan and within 18 months he managed to develop a business with a turnover exceeding £5 million per annum - achieving 10X growth over...

In the lates episode of 'The Beauty Edit' podcast, Tom Shearsmith, News & Features Writer at TheIndustry.fashion joins Emma Thornton, CEO and Founder of True Skincare True Skincare was developed with skin and the planet at heart, providing genuinely organic, natural, vegan friendly and waterless skincare using only the best of nature's ingredients. The brand has made a conscious...

The Handbag Clinic was first launched eight years ago by Charlotte and Ben Staerck as a spin-off to the leather repair business run by Ben and his father in County Durham. The company offers cleaning and restoration for handbags and small leather goods, working both for members of the public, as well as department stores and fashion houses. Since then, the firm has expanded into the resale market,...

In the latest episode of TheIndustry.fashion's The Beauty Edit podcast,  Co-founder Antony Hawman speaks to the founders of Glow Recipe,  the Korean inspired skincare brand that is clean, fruit powered and unapologetically fun.   Christine Chang and Sarah Lee learned the power of using fruit based ingredients to soothe and nourish the skin,  from their mothers and grandmothers who would incor...

Bronte, Cody and Cooper Mance literally grew up in the footwear industry having worked in their father’s store in Melbourne Australia since they were old enough to do so. While they were barely through their teens the intrepid siblings set off to China where older brother Luke was already based, to set up a footwear wholesale business, however, they became increasingly frustrated that they couldn’...

In this,  the latest episode of ‘The Beauty Edit’ podcast from TheIndustry.fashion,  Gaelle Walker talks to Ava Matthews, Co-founder of the Australian-born skinscreen brand Ultra Violette, which has recently landed on UK shores.  As its description as a skinscreen suggests, Ultra Violette is far from a typical sun protection brand.   With a wardrobe of formulas for different skin types and contain...

Adam Dooley learnt his trade at long established traditional menswear independent Robert Old in Bournemouth, a family run business founded in 1909. He started as a sales assistant and learnt the old way, eventually working his way up to become the buyer. But manufacturing was always the direction he wanted to take and, spotting an opportunity along with investors to take over another long-standing...

Drs Lisa and Vanessa Creaven both qualified as dentists at Trinity College Dublin, in fact two other Creaven siblings are qualified dentists too. This pair went on to found a dental practice and oral healthcare together brand, called Spotlight. The sisters have taken a new approach to oral care, likening it to skincare, which enables users to create a regime that is personal to them. The oral care...

Sandrine Deveaux has always been at the vanguard of the digital retail revolution, having spotted the potential for luxury fashion to embrace technology to bridge the gap between the physical and the digital realms many years before it became a mainstream pursuit. Her career in luxury fashion began with Matchesfashion, helping to launch what was then an independent retailer into a global online fo...

The Covid pandemic has been brutal for fashion, there is no question . However, while many established names have struggled and, in some cases disappeared from our high streets altogether, others have taken this opportunity to bring something new to a market that was ready for a shake-up. Skye Harrison is one such person. As Co-founder of fashion and beauty PR and wholesale agency K&H Communic...

David Hodgson is Creative Director at quintessential British handbag and accessories business Lulu Guinness,  where he has been entrusted to take the brand forward after is founder decided to take a step back. David had barely launched his new vision for the brand when the Covid crisis hit but he was surprised to discover that some of the brand’s best known pieces, such as quirky evening bags and...

In this, the latest episode of ‘The Beauty Edit’ podcast from TheIndustry.fashion, Antony Hawman speaks to James Lamb, CEO of Zelens, the high performance skincare brand based on scientific evidence and active ingredients with clinical proven efficacy.  We caught up at a super busy and exciting time when Lamb was in the middle of plans to take the brand though its relaunch, which has been labour o...

Sarah Curran-Usher is an online fashion pioneer, having first made her name in the UK with the establishment of the trailblazing accessible luxury fashion site my-wardrobe.com, before moving on launch Very Exclusive for the home shopping giant The Very Group.  Curran has also been a consultant and a non-executive director for a number of big names and for the past year, she has been managing direc...

Unusually for a leading beauty industry figure, Claire started her career as an artist and worked for many years as a mural painter, mostly for the nightclub industry.   It was during this time that Claire met the award-winning hairdresser Umberto Giannini, who in the mid-90s commissioned her to design his latest salon.  The rest is history as the pair went on to became partners and have two child...

In today’s episode of Stores: The Next Generation in partnership with Critizr we're talking to Liz Houghton, CEO and Co-founder of premium women’s fashion brand and retailer Mint Velvet. The brand was born out of the last major crisis to hit Britain’s high streets, the financial crash of the late 2000s. Houghton founded the brand, with a focus on relaxed glamour for the 30-plus woman , with t...

Ning Li is a globally renowned entrepreneur and made his name in the world of business founding the disruptive online furniture retailer Made.com , though this wasn’t his first start-up – that was a trailblazing e-commerce business called MyFab, specialising in interior décor, which he sold to the Paris-based conglomerate that is now Kering. For his third venture he is taking on the world of skinc...