What's Contemporary Now?

Global PR Director Kevin McIntosh Jr. sees fashion magic happening for brands that embrace a broad range of creative voices, deploying a 360° strategy to promote their vision. A full-spectrum approach is nonnegotiable in today’s hyper-connected fashion landscape. As the chief executive officer at KMJR.World, Kevin shares with Christopher Michael his front-row perspective on why PR today encompasse...

Zinnia Kumar is anything but unseen, but would that have been the case had she not fought so hard on so many fronts? An ecologist, activist, writer, and model, this Australian multihyphenate shares her unique journey to claiming an undeniable presence. In this episode, she discusses with Christopher Michael the stereotypes that have trapped South Asians—especially women—ultimately shaping how they...

What keeps creatives relevant in an industry that’s constantly evolving? Ezra Petronio has done it decade after decade by staying curious and riding the waves of technological and cultural change. In this episode, the Petronio Associates founder and creative director explains to Christopher Michael how he has been very intentional about the early adoption of digital innovation and media trends. He...

When it comes to the concept of “flow,” the fashion PR Lucien Pagès is Exhibit A. He has carved out a dynamic career in communications by following his instincts, keeping an eye on the big picture, and always staying true to himself. He explains to  Christopher Michael in this episode that his  Lucien Pagès Communications team is laser-focused on two things: identifying what makes a designer uniqu...

Beginning his career at the age of twelve, Sam Visser has become one of the most renowned makeup artists today, lauded for his sense of style, understanding of the camera, and the ability to find a unique beauty in any face. Sam boasts an impressive list of esteemed clients and creative collaborators, including the likes of Kendall Jenner, Amber Valletta, and Bella Hadid amongst many others. In th...

The creative duo Benjamin Huseby and Serhat Işık is behind such brands as GmbH—the label they started out of Berlin—and the century-old Milanese fashion house Trussardi. Bringing diverse backgrounds in fashion photography and design, they discovered in each other the perfect collaborator. Today, they break down the social codes of different cities, explore the importance of creating communities, a...

You might know her as a supermodel, actress, and an activist. She's worn many different hats both on and off camera, but she also plays the role of sustainability ambassador to a diverse roster of  partners, such as Karl Lagerfeld, British Vogue, and New York City’s FIT. In this episode, we talk about the joys of creativity, Amber’s love for the fashion industry, her passion for continued educatio...

In this episode, Christopher Michael speaks to Glen Luchford, legendary fashion photographer and filmmaker whose images are often referred to as iconic and cinematic. The conversation flows from discussing the future role of a photographer and the emerging marketplace of the metaverse to new technologies, how Glen has adapted to them, and broaching his failures, and what he has learned from them a...

“What's Contemporary”, the galvanizing platform, has returned in a new podcast format, which felt more fitting for our ever-consuming and insatiable query. This season’s conversations feature returning contributors like Glen Luchford, Ezra Petronio, and Emma Summerton alongside newcomers including Amber Valletta, Ferdinando Verderi, Lucien Pagès, Jaime Perlman, Hung Vanngo, Gabriella Karefa-Johnso...