From Rihanna’s Right Hand to Diesel Sport’s Creative Director - Meet Melissa Battifarano

Melissa Battifarano was once known as “Rihanna’s right hand.” That’s how Vogue has described her work helping to establish Fenty Corp. as a fashion player with Rihanna. On the episode, Melissa unpacks how she created Fenty X Puma and Savage X Fenty with the diamond-drenched performer.  She talks about how rising through the ranks of labels like Sean John, Champion and Tory Sport, she worked with the teams that merged athletic garb with fashion and created athleisure and sport luxury. The downtown New York designer shares how she now balances her work producing Tony 1923, her own luxury sportswear line inspired by her late father, with a new role ideating Diesel’s first activewear line under the brand’s creative director, Glenn Martens.

Timothy Han, the London-based Canadian founder of Timothy Han / Edition, reveals how his passion for literature, and his time assisting one of fashion’s greatest storytellers, John Galliano, inspired him to build his brand. To commemorate the passing of André Leon Talley, Tim harks back to a special moment during his Galliano days when he spent six weeks assisting American Vogue’s legendary editor-at-large.    The pandemic prompted Tim to expand his brand to include fashion and considering this, he explains how his training at the Architectural Association School of Architecture in London and his friend, the model, Cecilia Chancellor, guides his clothing design process. Contemplating the urgent need to move toward a sustainable future, Tim shares why his ethical methods are informed by his Canadian identity.

Anastasia Ivchenko and Eugenia Skibina, founders of the boutique PR agency, Public Kitchen, explain how they helped to establish their city, Kyiv, as the most vibrant fashion capital in Eastern Europe. From Latvia’s capital Riga, where they are temporarily settled, they also share their heartbreaking story of escaping Ukraine in late March, a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion of their country.

The Brooklyn-based artist, Patricia Treib, talks about her experience contributing to Valentino Des Ateliers Haute Couture. This is the critically acclaimed autumn/winter 2021 couture collection produced as a cultural exchange by Valentino's Creative Director, Paolo Piccioli, his Rome atelier and 17 international contemporary artists, including Patricia.  The conversation begins by exploring Patricia’s background. She explains why she pursued painting, after growing up in a small town in Michigan. She then reveals the creative process of working with Piccioli and his studio. She delves into why working on the collection surpassed collaborating and proved to be a meaningful exchange. Doing so, she recalls her total experience - from receiving the text message that started it all - from the project’s curator, Gianluigi Ricuperati - to the studio visit she conducted via Zoom for the Valentino team and the intricate workmanship with them transforming her canvases into finery. Patricia also describes her 11th hour decision to travel from New York to Venice to observe the collection’s July 15 blockbuster debut.

Alexander Fury is the men's fashion critic of the Financial Times newspaper and the fashion features director of AnOther magazine. He comes back on the show to discuss being front row at what he describes as the “first big return of physical fashion shows.” That is, the live presentations showcasing the Spring/Summer 2022 men’s ready-to-wear collections and the Autumn/Winter ‘21 Paris couture.  Alex offers a rare insight to the critically acclaimed debut of Azzedine Alaïa’s creative director, Pieter Mulier, and also the extraordinary reveal of Demna Gvasalia’s inaugural Balenciaga couture collection. This includes details of Gvasalia’s olfactory collaboration with the Norwegian artist, Sissel Tolass.  Alex’s view from Venice includes his thoughts on how Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello and Valentino’s Pier Paolo Piccioli “interacted” with the art world. Amidst all of this, he talks about the sort of Covid-19 protocols he encountered during fashion’s return to “business as usual” plus the reported demise of the glossy magazine “super editor.” His ultimate takeaway? “The couture shows very much sent a message about the resilience of fashion,” states Alex. “And they sent a message about the kind of joy of fashion, the joy of dressing up. When people ask for a justification for the existence of couture….you know, couture is really about joy, and about exuberance, and creating clothes that can really make people dream. And I think that was a message that you drew away from these shows. Absolutely.” Please rate, review and subscribe to A Different Tweed. Share it with your friends. Thanks for listening!

The film director Karam Gill talks about spending four years making Ice Cold: The Untold Story of Hip Hop Jewelry. This is the first ever TV series exploring the culture and importance of jewelry in the world of Hip Hop music. It premiered at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival and it is airing now on Youtube Originals as well as the Youtube channel of the hip hop trio, Migos. Karam explains how Ice Cold contextualizes the culture of hip hop jewelry by delving into the deeper meaning and purpose of fine jewelry and how the hip hop community forged their own identity in the world of luxury and fashion. He talks about securing Migos and the record label, Quality Control, to be executive producers and enlisting the dazzling roll call of hip hop royalty and inventive independent jewelers who star in Ice Cold.

The London-based women's wear designer, Mary Katrantzou, discusses her recent collaboration with the Italian luxury brand Bulgari. She explains how her work with Bulgari began by pairing Bulgari high jewelry with her Spring/Summer 2020 collection which she presented in October 2019 at the Temple of Poseidon. Mary references this grand scale fashion presentation throughout the conversation. Staging it amidst the awe-inspiring backdrop of the ancient Athens landmark, she celebrated the heritage, history and culture of her homeland, Greece, and also the 30th anniversary of the Association of Friends of Children with Cancer.  Mary explains venturing to Bulgari’s legendary archive in Rome before setting to work on three handbags for a capsule line known as “Serpenti Through The Eyes of Mary Katrantzou.” Mary recalls designing a bottle and the formula for her first perfume with Bulgari. Entitled Bulgari Omnia by Mary Katrantzou, she delves into working on the scent with Alberto Marias. This award-winning Spanish master perfumer has created iconic perfumes like Le Must de Cartier, Giorgio Armani’s Aqua di Gio, as well as Calvin Klein's groundbreaking gender fluid perfume CK One. Mary shares the challenges and rewards of working on this game-changing collaboration during lockdown. She also looks back on her upbringing in Athens, her education at the Rhode Island School of Design and London’s Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design. She considers the all-important relationship which she forged with American Vogue’s renowned fashion critic, Sarah Mower.

Kerry Taylor explains how she set up the world’s leading auction house specializing in vintage fashion. She reveals how she revived the profession of auctioning one-of-a-kind garments initially for Sotheby’s and then how, after striking out on her own, she set auction records and generated headlines by selling couture worn by the likes of Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana as well as a slip dress by Charlotte Todd which a 20something Kate Middleton flaunted on a student fashion runway. Discussing a recent project, The L’Wren Scott Collection, Kerry explains how she helped to orchestrate this Christie’s London sale of ready-to-wear designed by the late L’Wren Scott. Scott was a model and celebrity stylist who launched an independent fashion label in 2006.  She became famous for crafting red carpet finery memorably worn by famous women she styled including Penelope Cruz, Nicole Kidman and Sarah Jessica Parker.

Jeriana San Juan takes a deep dive into her magnificent work costume designing the Netflix miniseries Halston. Starring Ewan McGregor, Halston portrays the untold story of the sensational rise and tragic downfall of the pioneering fashion designer, Roy Halston Frowick.  Jeriana reveals the intricacies of dressing Ewan McGregor to portray the title character. She also explains how she worked as a consultant to McGregor so he could authentically portray Halston’s technical genius. She sheds light on crafting the screen wardrobe for Krysta Rodriguez’s Liza Minnelli and Rebecca Dayan’s Elsa Peretti. Harking back to her childhood, Jeriana recalls how her beloved grandmother taught her how to sew. She speaks about her upbringing in New York City and her formative experience costume designing Baz Luhrmann’s  hip-hop series, The Get Down.

A few days ago Erdem Moralioglu presented his resort collection for 2022. Because it commemorates the 15th anniversary of his fashion house, we are listening back to a recent interview during which he reflected on his life and work. Erdem explains how his fascination with fashion began at school in suburban Montreal. He talks about realizing his dream to study fashion at London’s Royal College of Art and establishing his business in Hackney. He explains harnessing technology to modernize the age-old floral print and also admits how his signature florals once made him an outlier on the London fashion scene. Erdem reveals how that progressively changed but without sharing any of the secrets involved in dressing his starry clients like the Duchess of Cambridge and Madonna.