Front Row To Front Bench Podcast

Fashion Roundtable
  • 5.0 (8)
  • FASHION & BEAUTY
  • UPDATED FORTNIGHTLY
Front Row To Front Bench Podcast

We interview fashion industry leaders and politicians in an intimate, honest series of podcasts.

  1. 10 DEC

    ALIX COOMBS in conversation #25 AMELIA TWINE

    For this episode of the Front Row to Front Bench podcast, Alix Coombs speaks with Amelia Twine, Founder of Sustainable Fashion Week Following a decade working in sustainability in food systems and hospitality, Amelia now works in campaigning for a just transition to an equitable, regenerative fashion industry. Amelia ran a sustainable womenswear platform before founding Sustainable Fashion Week (SFW) in 2020. SFW works in creative community engagement to inspire consumer behaviour change, highlighting the different entry points to sustainability in fashion to make it more relevant and accessible to people from all backgrounds. SFW ignites community-led action to inspire, empower and upskill people - equipping them to change their fashion habits. Amelia provides consultancy and project management for various organisations including The Good Clothes Show, South West England Fibreshed and is the co-chair for Fashion Roundtable’s Sustainability & Social Justice Committee.

    32 min

  2. 3 DEC

    HARRIET FLETCHER-GILHUYS in conversation with #24 KATE TURNBULL

    For this episode of the Front Row to Front Bench podcast, Harriet Flecther-Gilhuys speaks with Kate Turnbull from The Secret Dyery where they discuss the world of natural dyes and how they can be incorporated into supply chains and regenerative practices. Kate Turnbull is natural dyeing practitioner, educator and advocate. She divides her time between Headington School, Oxford as Eco Lead and in her dye house in Oxfordshire, working either on her own projects or collaborations. Recent collaborations have included suspending naturally-dyed plant based fibres above the Chelsea Flower Show ‘Dye Garden for Fashion Revolution’, producing a unique range of naturally hand-dyed dresses for Anna Mason London and developing a natural, seasonal colour palette for a project at The Centre for Sustainability. Kate has an MA in Fashion & Textiles from Central St Martins, is honored to be represented by The Guild of Master Craftsmen and is a member of The Society of Dyers and Colourists. In 2022 she was nominated for Teacher of the Year for designing and implementing the country's first eco A Level textiles course

    24 min

  3. 26 NOV

    TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #23 BARONESS LOLA YOUNG OF HORNSEY

    For this episode of the Front Row to Front Bench podcast, Tamara Cincik speaks with Lola Young, Baroness Young of Hornsey, a crossbench peer in the House of Lords about the release of her memoir 'Eight Weeks', published by Penguin. Eight Weeks is a deeply moving and inspiring memoir that tells the remarkable life story of Baroness Young of Hornsey, from her childhood in foster care, to becoming one of the first Black women in the House of Lords. Lola Young has been an actress, an academic, an activist and campaigner for social justice, and a crossbench peer. But from the age of eight weeks to eighteen years, she was moved between foster care placements and children's homes in North London. It would take many decades before she was able to begin the search for answers to the long-standing questions that would help her make sense of her childhood. In Eight Weeks, through her care records, fragments of memory, and her imagination where parts of her story are missing, Lola assembles the pieces of her past into a portrait of a childhood in a system that often made her feel invisible and unwanted. Alongside glimpses into her life as a peer, activist, and campaigner it tells the powerful story of her determination to defy the odds. Eight Weeks is a spirited, eye-opening and beautifully written account of being a child in care and a Black child in a white family and is a vital part of contemporary Black British history.

    52 min

  4. 8 OCT

    TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #22 GREAT BRITISH WOOL REVIVAL

    For this episode of the Front Row to Front Bench podcast, Tamara Cincik speaks with Harriet Fletcher-Gilhuys, Zoe Fletcher and Maria Benjamin, the team behind our collaboration with The King's Foundation and YNAP for the Modern Artisan Collection, the Great British Wool Revival. This October marks Wool Month, which celebrates British Wool. This discussion includes the background into how the team got together and why there is a need for a Great British Wool Revival.

    26 min

  5. 16 APR

    TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #21 WAYNE HEMINGWAY

    For this episode of the Front Row to Front Bench podcast, Tamara Cincik speaks with designer Wayne Hemingway MBE about his bi-annual event the Classic Car Boot Sale, which returns to Kings Cross, London on 27th & 28th April 2024. The weekend will give the public a last chance to see Paul McCartney's iconic 1972 Wings Tour Bus before it is auctioned to find a new home as well as celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Ford Mustang. The popular festival also includes quality sustainable shopping, entertainment, street food and DJ’s. Wayne founded the hugely successful British fashion brand Red or Dead in the 80’s, which went on to win the British Fashion Council's Street Style Award in 1995, 1996, and 1997. He is the founder of Hemingway Design, and partners with Maria Chenoweth CEO of TRAID to bring you Charity Super.Mkt, where they are taking charity fashion to the next level. Maria also pops on for a few minutes at the end of the episode! More information on the Classic Car Boot Sale here Follow Wayne here Keep up to date with Charity Super.Mkt here

    21 min

  6. 05/12/2023

    TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #20 CHARLIE PORTER

    For this episode of the Front Row to Front Bench podcast, Tamara Cincik speaks with writer, fashion critic and curator Charlie Porter about his new book, ‘Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion' published by Penguin Random House.  Charlie is one of the most influential fashion journalists of his time, and has written for the likes of the Guardian and iD magazine, as well as co-running the London queer rave Chapter 10.  The book, rather wonderfully, uses clothing as a way to look at six iconic Bloomsbury figures, while seamlessly addressing the evolution of how we dress today. This leads on to the fact that clothing can be an intellectual and sexual liberation, or conversely an instrument for patriarchal power. The book came about after Charlie was asked to curate an exhibition called ‘Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and Fashion,’ at Charleston in Lewes. Through the inaugural exhibition Charlie explored the dynamic relationship between the Bloomsbury group. Here, clothing provided a route into learning more about the key figures in the Bloomsbury group and how, for some, fashion provided a language with which to explore their break away from tradition. This ultimately fed into the process of researching and writing his book.  The conversation centres around the beginnings of the Bloomsbury group, who were at the vanguard of a social and sartorial revolution. Virgina Woolfe and her sister Vanessa Bell escaped to Bloomsbury from an oppressive and abusive upbringing, rejecting the fashions of the time for something new and this is unpicked.  Homosocialism comes into the conversation where Charlie discusses his own experience of being gay from a working class background, and connecting this to E. M Forster and his struggle to be gay. The connection between Isabella Blow and Lady Ottoline Morrell is also explored by Tamara and the similarities of how they hosted and nurtured talent, but were mocked relentlessly.  Finally, Charlie and Tamara talk about Vanessa Bell and the way she made her own clothes and how this has played out in a life-changing way for Charlie where he now makes his own clothes with a new philosophy of living and consuming fashion.   To learn more about Charlie’s amazing work or to buy the book, click below:    Buy the book here  Follow Charlie Porter here Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and Fashion: Exhibition details here  Book tickets to visit Charleston House here

    1h 3m

  7. 10/11/2023

    MEG PIRIE in conversation with #19 VICTORIA JENKINS

    Victoria Jenkins co-chairs our Representation and Inclusion Committee and is a garment technologist with 14 years of experience in the fashion industry who became Disabled in her 20s. She is behind the sustainable adaptive fashion brand Unhidden. The idea was born after a chance encounter with a woman with cancer that changed the course of her life. As she watched the woman during her own hospital stay, she realised that there were no adaptive clothes on the market and this is how Unhidden was born.  Now Victoria is listed as one of Vogue’s Top 25 Powerhouse Women, redefining Britain and co-presents and designs on Channel 4’s Unique Boutique. A must-watch where inclusive fashion lovers and designers create bespoke outfits for every-body in a custom-built shop.  Meg Pirie and Victoria speak about future plans for a not-for-profit arm of Unhidden, training people with disabilities and chronic health conditions how to sew adaptive alterations so they can then work as and when they choose making adaptive alterations for any one who doesn't sew. There are also plans for workshops that will cover how to adapt clothing you already own yourself so there is no barrier to accessing adaptive clothing and re-loving your existing wardrobes. Finally, Victoria shares her key policy asks to ultimately make fashion more inclusive. A full transcript can be found on our Substack here.  To learn more about Victoria’s amazing work: LinkedIn Website Instagram X Facebook

    35 min

  8. 25/10/2023

    TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #18 SIMON COSTIN

    Simon Costin's journey into fashion might be described as a happy accident – when a student at Central Saint Martins wanted to borrow some of his conceptual jewellery – little did Simon realise the designer would turn out to be the eponymous #AlexanderMcQueen and the start of a firm creative working friendship. Simon talks of other industry heavyweights he has collaborated with, from legendary artist and filmmaker #DerekJarman, to his work more recently with Gareth Pugh and Charles Jeffrey and existing within this highly creative oxygen. As well as his work as a leading British fashion-set-designer, Simon runs two museums: the British Folklore Museum and the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. The British Folklore Museum exists to promote, celebrate and revitalise the folk heritage of Britain. The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic was established in 1949 and is the world’s largest collection of objects related to witchcraft and the occult. This halloween at midnight will be Simon’s 10th year anniversary of being the present custodian of the Museum. The conversation leads to the fact that witchcraft is having a revival of interest and Tamara’s obsession with Powell and Pressburger. Simon’s recent project curating the exhibition for the  BFI Southbank – #PowellandPressburger, ‘The Red Shoes Beyond The Mirror’ opening 10th November leads to more on Powell and Pressburger’s subversive and  breathtakingly inventive cannon.  You can follow Simon Costin here  The British Folklore Museum https://www.instagram.com/museum_of_british_folklore/?hl=en    The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic  https://www.instagram.com/museum_of_witchcraft_and_magic/?hl=en Tickets to the British Film Institute Southbank ‘The Red Shoes Beyond The Mirror’ – more here

    44 min
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We interview fashion industry leaders and politicians in an intimate, honest series of podcasts.

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