What are your thoughts about the significance of this season given so many major designer debuts?
After a spell in which truly capital ideas have been in short supply, I expect a breath of fresh air along with messages of genuine narrative weight. It feels as though the conversation around fashion has first waned and then fallen silent. Today, one cannot help but wonder whether it still holds the public’s imagination.
What excites you in fashion right now?
It is fascinating, especially for someone like me who did not begin as a fashion journalist or a stylist, to witness how an increasing number of professionals from other industries are now being drawn into fashion. I believe this cross-pollination of expertise can yield compelling developments, particularly within today’s landscape.
What is one reason to be optimistic about the state of fashion going forward?
I believe fashion, as a form of personal expression, will continue to hold its place within popular culture. Yet the industry will need to strike a new balance between desirability and accessibility. The very notion of luxury already felt outdated to me 20 years ago when I first entered the field. Today, I would regret seeing it reduced to a product designed and consumed solely by an international millionaire elite. As an old Italian song reminds us: nothing will ever grow from diamonds; but from manure, flowers do bloom.
What are the main elements that make fashion magazines still relevant?
Magazines remain the creative gymnasium where the most gifted image-makers train and find their voice, playing an irreplaceable and essential role within the industry. They also continue to embody quality and authority — values that stand in complement to those of social media. Only by recognising both can a truly comprehensive form of communication emerge.
What do you enjoy most about Paris Fashion Week?
My not overly-packed schedule makes it possible to have the most important creative meetings — something I could never manage in Milan — and to savour the city a little too.
What are the key cultural or societal influences shaping womenswear today?
I like to think of today’s designers as closer to curators than to artists — people who bring with them a wealth of diverse and sometimes unexpected interests and passions (not only art, which feels almost too obvious). Perhaps it has always been so; but today, it seems truer than ever.
How could brands regain consumers' desire and drive to buy designer clothes?
By rethinking their pricing strategies. And by finding new stories worth telling.
Given current uncertainties, in what ways do you see brands/houses effectively driving business growth?
It feels like a moment of confusion and transition in which a generation of executives must show they can navigate headwinds, rather than be carried by tailwinds as in the past.
In what ways is AI helping you develop and realise ideas that might not have been previously possible?
I believe that overcoming language barriers will be a very interesting frontier for us.
Can you share a mantra that speaks to this moment in time?
Teamwork is key.
This interview has been lightly edited.
