4 Essential Fashion Podcasts for Informed Sartorial Consumption
Catch up on them all winter long.
While our commutes may be temporarily on hold, podcasts are still a mainstay. If I must do chores, I would like to do them with voices in my ear discussing the influencer economy, defining trends that end with the suffix "-core," or reminiscing about the New York fashion scene circa 2007. It’s one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to stay up on the heartbeat that is fashion, so ahead we’ve rounded up four engaging fashion podcasts that will leave you informed, cultured, and with a huge backlog of dinner party discussion topics once we emerge from holiday hibernation.
The Cutting Room Floor
When designer Recho Omondi launched The Cutting Room Floor in 2018, she was aiming to help fill a void in industry coverage—and she has succeeded. Featuring interviews with emerging designers, editors, and other insiders, The Cutting Room Floor gets into everything from nitty-gritty brand mechanics to varying generational philosophies on work, success, and creativity. Past guests include PR powerhouse Brian Phillips, it-designer Christopher John Rogers, and—in an episode that set Twitter aflame—Man Repeller founder Leandra Medine. As a listener you never feel like you are being spoon-fed palatable, PR-mediated bits of ‘content.’ When Omondi asks her guests questions, it is clear that she is asking because she personally believes the answer will contain information that is important, illuminating, or interesting to her, and it is up to the listener to meet her at her depth of critical curiosity. And when she perceives a gap (or BS) in an answer, she will not shy from a follow-up question or three, even when it may not be socially convenient for her or her guest.
Corporate Lunch
“Corporate Lunch is a bold and chill invitation to something between a high-powered trend-forecasting summit and One World Trade Center watercooler gossip—only the water is Essentia, and the gossip is the best brands you've never heard of,” writes GQ of their own podcast. It is true though—listening to Corporate Lunch feels like sneaking into the Conde Nast offices to eavesdrop on a mid-morning chat between GQ editors Noah Johnson, Rachel Tashjian, and Samuel Hine about their takes on the Met Gala, their favorite loafers of the season, and which New York Fashion Week shows didn’t suck, leaving you 25 percent more cultured as you step back out onto West Street.
Nymphet Alumni
If you want to know what intimidating Parsons students who wear leg warmers and vintage Vivienne Westwood, Comme Des Garcons, and Margiela are listening to in their wired headphones, there’s a good chance it’s Nymphet Alumni. With an emphasis on internet culture, hosts Biz, Alexis, and Sam analyze trends, brands, and niche aesthetic movements through the lens of critical theory and their personal opinions, tastes, and experiences. Centered on topics like Rookie magazine, the rise of Bella Poarch, and ‘Christian girl autumn,' their conversation flits from Tumblr nostalgia to Derrida before you can say ‘poststructuralism.' If you would like to know the connection between Russian Bimbocore (think mini-skirt paired with Dior snow boots, earmuffs, and an enormous fur-trimmed hood) and the philosophical concept of abjection, this is the pod for you.
Clotheshorse
Hosted by retail fashion industry veteran Amanda Lee McCarty, Clotheshorse aims to empower listeners to make informed purchasing decisions by exploring topics like clothing recycling, greenwashing, slow fashion, and workers’ rights. An excellent resource in the pursuit of ethical fashion consumption, Clotheshorse will show you how your spending power can translate into tangible change.
Photo: Hulton Archive/ Getty
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