On her award-winning podcast “Articles of Interest,” host and producer Avery Trufelman dives deep into the stories behind the clothes we wear. From the evolution of prep to the origins of wedding dresses, Avery guides her listeners through the multi-faceted layers behind the aesthetics of fashion.

“It's crops, it's the earth, it's handwork, it's culture, it's society. You tug on a thread and you get everything,” she said. “That's what I'm slowly realising [about fashion].”

This week on The BoF Podcast, BoF founder and editor-in-chief Imran Amed sits down with Trufelman to discuss her path into podcasting, taking her lifelong passion for clothes and what they mean into an audio format, and what she’s learned about fashion along the way.

Key Insights:

• A self-proclaimed “public radio nepo baby,” Trufelman has audio in her blood — her parents met working at New York Public Radio. But while she grew up with audio, she didn’t start experimenting with fashion until she was a teenager, expressing herself through quirky thrifted fashion ensembles, much to the confusion of her peers. “I knew in the back of my mind that it was too much, that I was sort of alienating people,” she says. “It just made me realise how powerful clothing was. That dressing in this wild way sort of set me apart.”

• Trufelman initially came up with the idea for “Articles of Interest” while interning at the design and architecture podcast “99% Invisible.” Presenting a fashion podcast to an audience more focussed on architecture, Trufelman began to see the ways in which fashion touched every facet of life. “In the beginning, fashion was sort of a dirty word for me,” she says. “Now it's all about fashion because everything has fashion. Buildings have fashion, cars have fashion, colours have fashion. Fashion is just taste over time and the most easy way to measure that when you look at a picture of any era, it's the cars maybe, but mostly the clothes.”

• Four seasons into “Articles of Interest,” Trufelman now finds herself with a rich archive to draw upon. “I don't ever kill stories. I love to reuse interviews that I collected years ago. I'm always cutting them up and revisiting them because I believe that knowledge isn't like one and done. It isn't a single use thing. I believe in making this a long sustainable living archive.”

• Trufelman also sees the parallels between podcasts and fashion in the ways in which both allow us to engage with the world. “People are listening to your voice while they're walking down the street and they're like noticing what people are wearing or they're noticing what people are doing. It's not undivided attention. It is divided attention. It's beautiful.”

Additional Resources:

• The BoF 500: Avery Trufelman
• Ralph Lauren is Traveling Back in Time to Bring Back Preppy Chic

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Born in Sardinia on a sailing boat to self-described “adventurous” parents, Francesco Risso grew up in an environment that fostered independence, spontaneity and a deep need to create. After formative years at Polimoda, FIT and Central Saint Martins — where he studied under the late Louise Wilson — he joined Prada, learning firsthand how to fuse conceptual exploration with a product that resonates in everyday life.

Now at Marni, Risso continues to embrace a method he likens to an artist’s studio, championing bold experimentation and surrounding himself with collaborators who push each other to new heights of creativity.

“Creativity is … in the way we give love to the things that we make and then we give to people. I feel I don’t see so much of that love around,” says Risso. “We have to inject into products a strong and beautiful sense of making. That requires craft, it requires skills, it requires a lot of fatigue, it requires discipline.”

Risso joins BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed to explore how his unconventional childhood shaped his creative approach, why discipline and craft remain vital to fashion, and how meaningful collaboration can expand the boundaries of what’s possible.

Key Insights:

• Growing up in a busy, non-traditional household, Risso learned to express himself by altering and reconstructing clothing he found in family closets. “I started to develop this need to make with my hands as a means to communicate,” he says. “I would find something in my grandmother’s closet, start to disrupt it and collage it to something from my sister’s wardrobe and we have a new piece.” This early experimentation laid the groundwork for his vision of and approach to design.

• From Louise Wilson at Central Saint Martins to Miuccia Prada, Risso has absorbed the value of rigorous research, conceptual thinking and extended ideation. “You have to rely on your own strengths and your own capability to go and study, to go and research, to go and find your things,” he says. “That is key to me, to become a designer with a voice.”

• Whether partnering with artists through an informal “residency” or collaborating with brands like Hoka, Risso insists that a great tie-up is never about simply sticking art on a T-shirt or rushing a gimmick. “Processes are about learning from each other … and that generates a body of work that then becomes either art or clothes.” His focus on genuine exchange expands the creative horizon for both Marni and its collaborators.

• Risso’s advice to emerging designers is to appreciate the fundamentals of making in favour of more superficial aspirations. “I dare young people to be more focused on engaging with the making, rather than just projecting in the future,” he says. “A strong sense of making requires craft, it requires skills, it requires a lot of fatigue, it requires discipline.” This hands-on grounding, in his view, is essential for developing a lasting, meaningful design practice.

Additional Resources:

• Francesco Risso | BoF 500 | The People Shaping the Global Fashion Industry
• Exclusive: Inside Hoka’s Fashion Ambitions | BoF
• Backstage Pass | Marni and the Thread of Beauty | BoF

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James Whitner — founder of The Whitaker Group and the visionary behind retailers such as A Ma Maniére and Social Status — reveals how culture, purpose, and empathy drive his approach to business. Whitner witnessed firsthand how marginalised communities often face limited options, shaping his commitment to serving communities typically overlooked by the fashion industry.

“I think what helped me understand life is difficult, it's just seeing a difficult life, right? Watching people struggle and seeing that there is privilege in pain,” says Whitner, about growing up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. “When I look at what we’re creating now, it has purpose and is about standing up Black culture at the centre,” Whitner adds. “Everything is about real experiences and connections to people.”

This week on the BoF Podcast, founder and CEO Imran Amed sits down with Whitner to explore his journey, learn about the driving force behind The Whitaker Group’s community-centric retail experiences, and understand why authenticity and cultural connection are non-negotiables in today’s fashion landscape.

Key Insights:

• Intentionality and human connection are integral to James Whitner’s approach to retail spaces. Rather than focusing solely on product or profit, he strives to shape how people feel and engage with his brands. “We want to be really intentional about how we make humans feel, our connection to humanity, and how we can build a community,” he explains, emphasising that empathy and shared purpose can help to forge vibrant, long-lasting communities.

• Whitner also contends that building authentic connections starts with recognising the integral role of culture and purpose. “We sit in brand experiences and purpose because you can't leave culture out. I think everything we do is centred in culture,” he says.

• A key to Whitner’s success is resisting the temptation to be “for everybody.” Instead, he focuses on aligning with partners who share his vision for serving specific audiences with integrity. “If you want to work with brands who want to be for everybody, that means you’re for nobody,” he explains.

• Whitner champions an unwavering optimism that stays intact even amid shifting political headwinds. “We have to wake up and work and we have to be optimistic about the things that we can accomplish. If not, we've already lost because an administration change doesn't mean that my feelings around the work we're doing has changed and it doesn't mean that we can't be as impactful as we've always been.”

Additional Resources:

• Streetwear Maven James Whitner Launches A Ma Maniére’s First In-House Line | BoF
• Where Are Fashion’s Black CEOs? | BoF

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