Paloma Elsesser Wants More Fearless Designers

The day before sitting down with Chloe Malle and Nicole Phelps on Vogue's The Run-Through podcast, Paloma Elsesser hosted a backyard barbecue for 35 people at her Brooklyn home, complete with a trio of homemade mocktails and a grill helmed by her little brother. That same thoughtfulness carries into her sixth year judging the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund, a role she says she was the first model ever invited to take on. Elsesser described pushing the panel toward conversations about inclusivity across age, gender expression, and body type alongside the harder commercial questions about scaling a business. She likes to pair a practical question with an emotional one. “I remember my business manager asked me this question about money. Instead of ‘Let's get you rich,’ it's like, ‘What do you want this money to do for you? What world do you want it to create for you?’ And it shifted my perspective about the work that we do.” Elsesser said. Elsesser also discussed fronting Vogue's shopping newspaper this season, styling the story herself with her longtime friend and stylist Allie. “I think now that we're kind of phasing out of the quiet luxury era, which was fine and beautiful and really authentic to some people,” she said. “But I also feel like it sanitized a lot of people's personal identities, and so I'm happy to represent for the kooky crazies.” Her own uniform mixes hard and soft references in equal measure, an instinct she traced back to years of scouring archive sales for pieces that actually fit. Unable to find trousers cut for her body early in her career, she built a signature look around Dickies and Chanel flats, a mix of workwear toughness and ballet-flat polish that still anchors how she dresses today. Nearly a decade into her runway career, Elsesser said designers have grown more comfortable working with a range of body types, but she's grown tired of the reflexive stretch-knit dress or jacket offered to curvy models by default. “I don't really like the word lazy, because I don't think designers are lazy. But I think that there's a fear. And then it's kind of like ping-ponging what fashion is comfortable putting us in.” Her closing philosophy, offered as advice for navigating fashion month and the discourse that comes with it: “The number one central tenet to anything that I try and live and encourage, is to  think critically, not be critical.” Plus, we take you along for a studio visit with CVFF finalist Miss Claire Sullivan! The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nicole Phelps sat down with Henry Zankov, the new artistic director of Diane von Furstenberg just days before his back-to-back shows for DVF and his own label, Zankov. Zankov's relationship with DVF goes back to 2014, when he joined the brand as a knitwear designer. Working alongside Diane von Furstenberg herself has been a formative experience, he said, crediting her with helping him fully embrace color, which is a signature of both DVF and his own label. Beyond the shows, Zankov has his eye on a fragrance collaboration down the line, and he's open to designing menswear eventually, though he's not rushing it. His past collaborators include Selima Salaun of Selima Optique and musician Troy Sivan, who became a fan after buying one of Zankov's blankets during the pandemic. The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Late last year, Annie Leibovitz went on Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ podcast Wiser Than Me. The premise of the show is that Louis-Dreyfus speaks to women who are older than her about their life experiences and wisdom gained along the way. Early on in their conversation, the longtime Vogue photographer floated the idea of photographing Julia, “It’s strange to me,” Leibovitz told her, “I haven’t photographed you.” At that moment, they set out to amend things. A little less than a year later, Leibovitz’s images of Louis-Dreyfus graced the pages of Chloe’s first September issue.“That was a life dream for me to work with her,” Louis-Dreyfus said to Chloe on today’s episode of The Run-Through, “It’s scary to have your picture taken, but I didn't have that anxiety [with her]. I felt confident in her.”  She has had a storied career and has decided it isn’t too late to try something new—this fall she is making her Broadway debut in Other Desert Cities, the 2011 play by Jon Robin Baitz about a well-to-do conservative family that gets together in Palm Springs for Christmas Eve. Louis-Dreyfus will play Polly, the matriarch of the family, who she says she has developed based on many “Pollys” she grew up around. As for her maintenance routine, she plans to do a combination of interval training, walking and running, pilates, and drinking electrolytes. In addition to her upcoming Broadway debut, she and Chloe spoke about the loss of her family’s home of 32 years in the Palisades fire. “That is definitely, short of losing people that I love in my life, the great loss,” she remarked, “That was a shocking experience. I still can't believe it happened.” Chloe’s mother also lost her Los Angeles home in the fire and they commented on the rose bushes that, against all odds, survived this massive destruction. “The little things that remain are so much more treasurable now,” Louis-Dreyfus said.   At the end of every episode of Wiser Than Me, Louis-Dreyfus debriefs the contents of the episode with her mother, Judith Bowles. She has revealed on the podcast that she and mother have gone to therapy together. Chloe asked her if she too should try therapy with her own mother. “I'm all for it, “ Louis-Dreyfus encouraged, “I think you should definitely do it. I would advise you to do it while you have the chance.” The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The restoration and rerelease of Unzipped—the ur-fashion documentary— with Janus this September has had the Vogue office abuzz for months. Ahead of its run in theaters The Run-Through co-host Nicole Phelps—who says the film was her “gateway drug to fashion,” met with inimitably charming Isaac Mizrahi, designer, performer, the film’s star and since June 2026, Target’s first Creative Director at Large, to talk supermodels, and not mixing work with love—or Ambien.   “It was a very good moment in fashion,” conjectures Mizrahi about the continuing draw of the film. “I bet if you had substituted some other fabulous, funny people in that movie, it would've been good. Mm. You know? It was just a good moment. But specifically in my oeuvre, it was almost inevitable to tell a story of that kind, because I don’t know if their fittings were as hilarious as my fittings, you know? …  I think that’s another thing, the interaction of [those women, those supermodels, and these designers. You know, it really was, it was photogenic. You know, the camera really loved this subject.”  Nonetheless, Mizrahi has more of a bird’s-eye perspective on the impact of Unzipped than most of the rest of the world. “So as to Unzipped and it changing my life, you know, I don’t really feel it changed my life,” he said. Mizrahi identifies his transition from yeshiva to the Performing Arts High School as one of the tipping points  in his life. Another was landing a job at Perry Ellis. “I have to tell you, my dear, that was an incredibly inspiring place and it would’ve changed anybody.”  Unzipped had a similar effect on fashion documentaries, setting a bar that has rarely been reached since.  The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Dear World,” Phillip Lim announced via Instagram on July 21, “welcome to PlayLoveWin.” It was the designer’s first post in six months. Lim walked away from his two-decade-old namesake label 3.1 Phillip Lim in late 2024, and has been relatively quiet since.  He was off-the-grid in Asia—or as off-the-grid as Thailand’s 2025 Cultural Ambassador, a short-term side project he took on, can get—when he started cogitating on a more streamlined kind of fashion business, one in which he’d go deep on a single category. Thus: PlayLoveWin, which he imagines as a singular destination for shirts. In today’s episode of The Run Through, Nicole Phelps talks to Phillip Lim about the origins of PlayLoveWin, his anti-fashion approach, and how he’s embracing this chapter a little differently.  “As a son of immigrants, I am still working on this idea: do I deserve to win? Do we deserve to win? Why do we do so much, and we overachieve, and we push ourselves to the edge, just to be okay? Just to get to that acceptability. I think about my career, and it was always just getting to that line, and I was okay with it, no matter what it was, because I was so grateful. But with this chapter, I wanna break through….I want to win, and I want you to win,” he says, “and I want us to win together.” The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s been a major summer for sports, from the World Cup to the Knicks winning and even the Tour de France, for those who care. Now, the US Open is here, and The Run-Through co-host Nicole Phelps and Senior Editor (and big tennis fan) Corey Seymour had a chance to chat with world champion Aryna Sabalenka at the Gucci Fifth Avenue store during a live taping on Monday night, just a week ahead of the official start of the tournament. “There’s been a lot of ups and downs. I would say that I started the season really well, on a strong note. But then, something went really off the hill, but I’m getting back on track. I’m working really hard to hopefully win the US Open for the third time,” Aryna told the hosts, reflecting on how the season has gone so far. Since her last US Open win, Aryna has had plenty of major life events. On top of winning the Grand Slam title last year and maintaining her ranking as the world’s No. 1 player for 90 consecutive weeks, she got engaged to her longtime boyfriend, Georgios Frangulis, while wearing a pair of jeans (they were beautiful, she noted) and a plain white T-shirt. “I was crying for a little moment because I looked ugly. I was unprepared. Girls will understand that, you know?” Then there was the puppy. Adopting a dog was a deal she made with herself that was dependent on winning the US Open last year. When asked what she might get this time if she wins, she said: “I mean, Ash [her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel] needs a friend, so it’s probably gonna be the same.” Also on today’s episode, Nicole and Chloe chat about the sad deaths of Dolly Parton and Tim Curry and reflect on their favorite works by both artists. They also discuss Vogue’s Casa Magazines pop-up, where Chloe indulged in horchata popsicles and hung out with Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere as they signed copies of the September Issue. This episode of The Run-Through is presented by Gucci. The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

September is just around the corner and with the start of the new month comes the fall film festival circuit. Taylor Antrim served as a guest host on today’s episode and was joined by fellow Vogue editors and cinephiles Liam Hess and Lisa Wong Macabasco. They discussed the slate of fall film festivals ahead. Liam will be attending Venice—the first and most glamorous of the bunch—and then Taylor and Lisa will both be headed to Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) as well as New York Film Festival (NYFF). “We do get the opportunity sometimes to see some of these festival films before they come out in the festivals because they're trying to drum up support from Vogue and other, other outlets,” Taylor explained. As such, they began their conversation by shouting out some of the films they’ve already had the chance to see. First on that list was the New York centric film Paper Tiger, by James Gray starring Adam Driver, Miles Teller, and Scarlett Johansson. “There’s a lot of wigs and suits and accents that are a little over the top,” Lisa noted of the thriller that takes places in Queens, New York in the eighties. After watching the film, Taylor found himself asking his group chats “Is Adam Driver a great actor or not?” The cohort weighed in on this quandary.  They weighed in on All of A Sudden, Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s French language debut, Fjord, Cristian Mungiu’s legal thriller starring podcast favorite Renate Reinsve and Sebastian Stan,  Hope, an action film starring two-time Vogue cover star Ho-yeon, and Gentle Monster, a vehicle for an incredible performance from Léa Seydoux. In a final lightning round, they each shared the two films they are most excited to see at the festivals. For Liam, he is looking forward to catching Possible Love by Lee Chang-dong and Primetime, a striking portrayal of television host Chris Hansen. Lisa is excited for Bucking Fastard, starring the Mara sisters as twins, and Misty Green, Chris Rock’s directorial return promising a commentary about race in Hollywood. Taylor rounded it out with Ink from Danny Boyle, a biographical film about Rupert Murdoch’s acquisition of The Sun, and Magazine, an indie pick from Vogue contributor Alexandra Pechman.  Also on today’s episode, Chloe is joined by Marley Marius to talk about the big news of the week: the reported return of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to the UK. They also discuss the latest movies they’ve seen (Paw Patrol for Chloe and Novak Djokovic: The Wolf in Winter for Marley) and which stars they are most excited to see on the Venice red carpet (hint: it starts with Parker and ends with Posey). And they gushed over Margaret Qualley’s Chanel barefoot sandals which she rocked at a recent red carpet appearance for The Dog Stars in London. The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today’s episode of The Run Through, Chloe Malle talked with her longtime friend, former Vogue colleague, and Global Editorial Director of Vanity Fair Mark Guiducci just days before the launch of his September cover featuring Marc Jacobs.  “I think in some ways [Marc] is the greatest American fashion designer.” Guiducci said. “And if Marc Jacobs has nine lives, he's maybe on his seventh.” The cover story, written by José Criales-Unzueta, chronicles this transitional moment for Marc Jacobs whose namesake brand was sold by LVMH to a joint venture between brand management company WHP Global and G-III Apparel Group.  “This new chapter of Marc’s professional life is something different than going public and having umpteen thousands of stores around the world...and yet Marc is his own version of success,” Guiducci said. This is Guiducci’s first September issue in his role. Other stories from the style issue include an exhaustive best dressed list, a Les Lalanne feature, and the profile of fashions’ most well-known purveyor of good gossip. But the conversation between decades-long friends turned new guards of some of Condé Nast’s most iconic magazines naturally expanded beyond the current issue.  “Sometimes divorcing your own feelings from yourself from how people see you is actually really healthy.” Guiducci said. From big stories like the Alex Cooper Unwell investigation to the Olivia Nuzzi fiasco, the two candidly discussed their individual roles and the state of the celebrity cover.  “There's a real arm's length distance to what you're getting now,” Chloe said. “And it's very difficult, because it means that if you are upholding journalistic standards like many Condé brands try to, you need to then be creative.” But of course, it wouldn’t be a true reunion without some lighthearted reminiscing about the old days of Vogue. Sitting in the podcast studio no larger than their shared office nearly fifteen years ago, the two cackled over wellness routines, Chloe’s Harry Potter discovery, and after-hours dinner plans.  “I also don't cook, famously,” Guiducci said. “You've seen my kitchen. My kitchen is one-fourth the size of this room.” “That's true,” Chloe said. “One could still cook in it. [both laugh]” Also on the podcast, Vogue’s Senior Lifestyle & Weddings Editor Liam Hess joined to discuss how this week's biggest weddings (Ronaldo! Jordyn Woods! Tallulah Willis!) came to be. Plus, we close out our Dogue days of summer with the final covers!  The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week on The Run-Through, Chloe Malle and the team are celebrating the launch of Dogue, Vogue's annual ode to the canines we love most. This year, that meant staging the magazine's first-ever dog wedding. On August 2nd, at the Surrey Hotel on the Upper East Side, two Vogue staff dogs, Edie Berlinger Douglas and Tux Murillo, said "I do" in a custom Rachel Antonoff gown and Susan Alexandra jewels. The wedding kicks off a bigger Dogue rollout, including a cover contest winner (an Italian greyhound named Sir Spud), a staff dog shoot inside the Condé Nast studios, and new collaborations with Alex Mill, J.Crew, and ceramicist Henry Holland. The episode's second half is a trip into old Hollywood, as Nicole Phelps sits down with Mauricio and Roger Padilha to discuss their new book, Jean Louis: Hollywood's Bombshell Designer. As research, the brothers watched all 188 films that the couture-trained costume designer worked on. Jean Louis's two most famous creations, Rita Hayworth's strapless black satin Gilda dress and Marilyn Monroe's sheer, crystal-strewn "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" gown, became touchstones far beyond their films. Some of that reporting came courtesy of Kim Novak, who wrote the book's foreword . She gave a rare window into Jean Louis's process, including an anecdote about walking in on Marlene Dietrich mid-fitting for a soufflé-silk gown so sheer it required roughly 50 to 60 layers of fabric to stay decent. That same appetite for spectacle carried through to Monroe's final dress. Listen to the full episode of The Run-Through for both stories. The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s that time of year again—the September issue is back and this year is Chloe’s first September issue as Head of Editorial Content at American Vogue. Fifteen years ago, before she interviewed at Vogue, she watched the 2009 The September Issue documentary to prepare herself for what was to come. Now it’s her moment to be at the helm of the issue celebrating “the January of fashion.” Co-host Nicole Phelps and Vogue's Director of the Global Fashion Network, Virginia Smith joined Chloe to talk about their favorite stories from the issue and the behind the scenes mania of the elaborate photoshoots. They began by discussing the cover shoot photographed by the inimitable Steven Meisel starring Kaia Gerber and Homer Gere, two of the leads from Ryan Murphy’s adaptation of The Shards by Bret Easton Ellis. This cover, featuring the young starlets in beautiful Chanel, calls back to the 1992 cover shoot of their parents Cindy Crawford and Richard Gere, shot by Herb Ritts. As far as the fashion message being conveyed in the shoot, Virginia explained, “We kept talking about this idea of designers looking back at the past to reinvent their future, and that tied in with the whole nepo-baby thing, and certainly made sense for our cover stars.” In her Editor’s Letter at the front of the book, Chloe spoke about connecting with the cover stars over their shared experience of having famous parents and her embrace of the “nepo-baby” label. Homer, in particular, is new to the limelight and Chloe called him up. "Look, as someone with famous parents, you can run away from it, but that's not gonna work,” she told him, “And you should be proud of your parents. I'm proud of my parents—they've certainly made me who I am.” Nicole then spoke about Nathan Heller’s deep dive with Demna. “[Demna] accomplished so much at Balenciaga and I think that has given him an assurance that he can take on this new challenge of Gucci. And he's really leading with fun.” The story includes a portrait of Demna, which was shot just days after the flashy Times Square resort show. Anna politely, but pointedly insisted that he not show up in all black, and he obeyed her wishes, showing up in a white t-shirt. They also noted a few other standout stories including Gaby Wood’s profile of Marta Ortega, who has been responsible for leading Zara into the future over the past few years, Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin’s maximalist train car shoot featuring the West End’s favorite actors, Mattie Kahn’s profile of conductor Gustavo Dudamel, and Adrienne Miller’s conversation with Julia Louis Dreyfus about her upcoming Broadway debut. Also on today’s episode, Chloe and Chioma caught up after Chloe’s family trip to France. They discuss Chioma’s latest Nicole Kidman cover shot by Venetia Scott and written by Giles Hattersley. “She's just got such presence,” Chioma noted, recalling a starstruck moment she had while greeting her at the Met Gala, “this kind of quiet, sphinx-like presence.” They also chat about the book club pick and Chioma's upcoming travels to Switzerland and Greece! The Run-Through with Vogue is your go-to podcast where fashion meets culture. Hosted by Chloe Malle, Head of Editorial Content, Vogue U.S.; Chioma Nnadi, Head of British Vogue; and Nicole Phelps, Director of Vogue Runway, each episode features the latest fashion news and exclusive designer and celebrity interviews. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices