Changing Room Thoughts

Is menswear just military cosplay? Fashion photographer Sam joins me to yap about post-NYFW hauls, fantasy in fashion, and why Anna Sui deserves her flowers.Fashion Week is over and we're finally breathing. In this cozy, unfiltered episode of Changing Room Thoughts, Karina and Sam, two fashion divas living double lives in corporate tech, get into:✦ Fall hauls: a convertible Peter Do shirt-dress, Depop Acne Studios finds, and a $250 Tory Burch thrift steal that retails for a grand✦ Why womenswear gets the fantasy and menswear got the military uniform✦ Alessandro Michele's Gucci, Xander Zhou, and designers who romanticize menswear✦ South Asian craft, neo-Chinese style, and why Shanghai Fashion Week deserves more attention✦ Vietnamese and Asian contemporary brands to watch✦ Anna Sui as an American Vivienne Westwood: her romantic, witchy maximalism and her mood-board walls✦ Why fashion is a human industry in the age of AIGuest: Sam, NYC fashion photographer @samso.schHost: @karinajchan | Substack: Nothing to Wear 00:00 Intro: how we met05:53 Fall fashion and NYFW hauls15:08 Leather vs. vegan leather17:21 Womenswear fantasy vs. menswear military21:45 Asian fashion weeks and emerging brands32:30 Tory Burch's comeback34:38 Anna Sui appreciation42:37 Fashion, AI, and the future

It's New York Fashion Week and I'm sitting down with Di — AI ethicist, Alexander McQueen archivist, and someone who fit a gargantuan Comme des Garçons funnel neck dress into a carry-on packing cube.We get into: level setting AI-doom. What fashion specifically has to lose when a margin-obsessed industry discovers a technology that's very good at finding efficiencies. Why people refusing to touch AI on principle are exactly the people whose absence is letting the worst version get built. And a genuinely lovely detour into why art and science belong in the same bucket.Di works with the Data Science Alliance in San Diego on democratizing AI knowledge and responsible AI frameworks. Check out her TedX talk on AI design with intentional friction built in--which she gave in an ever fabulous Schiaparelli pantsuit ;)

The diamond industry has sold us a narrow vision of romance — one that equates love with the size, sparkle, and price tag of a center stone. But what happens when we question the 4 Cs, the obsession with diamond size, and the idea that bigger means better?In this episode, we dive into how the diamond monopoly reshaped our expectations of engagement rings and why it’s time to break free. We’ll explore antique and vintage rings as sources of inspiration, challenge how feminism and gender equality get tangled up in ring culture, and imagine what it looks like when a ring becomes a true symbol of your love — unique, empathetic, and radically personal.✨ If you’ve ever wondered what an engagement ring could be beyond the diamond, this conversation is for you.

It's been almost two years since our last checkin with the rentals for it-girls: Hauteline! Since then Kristie Chow's business has expanded to another co-founder (and good friend) Michelle Li, another storefront in LES, and a wider selection of delectable designers, and nationwide shipping. I'm so excited to share what's the same, and what is different with these ever-savvy entrepreneurs :)

It doesn’t take a fashion-head to reach the conclusion our clothes are about to get more expensive with tariffs looming. According to CNBC, 97% of our clothes are made outside the US and it’s estimated that our clothes will get 67% more expensive. Now more than ever, how do you decide what’s worth your hard earned money? In trying to produce sleepwear, I’m learning a lot about the nuance from the generation of the fibers (what we usually discuss in sustainable fashion) to the resulting fabric (so many steps happen here that aren’t well documented or understood). If you’re interested in my idea of sustainable (to the best of my ability) sleepwear for the female fantasy, drop me your email below and I’ll reach out when the slips become available to purchase: https://drowzistudios.com/And here is the instagram :) https://www.instagram.com/drowzistudios?igsh=MXFycDVmNnZlZXAxNQ==

Surprise surprise! This episode finds a re-invigorated, inspired Karina. This New York Fashion Week I had the pleasure of interacting with so many exciting independent and emerging designers that I'm genuinely hoping I can put y'all onto! This fashion week there was a presentation to satisfy many of my sartorial curiosities thanks to Lindsey Media. A creative visionary that sold his name-sake brand for roughly $48 million and bought it back for less than $3 million. An emerging sustainable designer that creates not just boilerplate capsule-collection clothes, but closet staples with an original point of view stitched into its construction. This fashion week is so full of interesting stories I'm excited to share with you all. The emerging designers I worked with to pull off NYFW looks courtesy of Doors NYC: OTKUTYRClear to RainCatherine CurtisAlexis BittarDeadwood

Call me crazy but a piece of jewelry is really that deep. Shana Cave conveys her profound understanding of the chaotic albeit beautiful experience of adolescence and adulthood as a woman. Uncanny that such complexity is so intuitively understood by women world wide through metal and stone, but Shana Cave’s ideas are as precious as the materials she uses in her work. An impishly knobby Viking Princess ring, Topaz vines blooming on the wrist, delicate lace cut out of chunky sheet metal, rubies and sapphires sprouting from earrings, Shana Cave’s pieces touch the “I’m just a girl” that’s hiding deep in every woman’s soul. Check out her collection Dec 6-8 11-7PM at 434 E. 9th St.

Trying out a new format here which is way lower effort to produce, and perhaps a gateway to me yapping more... But a trip back to China has left me with much to unpack about fashion here, my own biases and cultural identity... idk this episode was cathartic to produce :)

First solo episode back! It's good to talk 1:1 with you guys again :) This time I get real about fashion week and whether or not it adequately serves fashionphile's love for the art and subject of clothing. (Hint: I don't think so) I'm trying to be more comfortable being opinionated in general. I feel like I try my best not to be one of those judgmental, b*tchy "fashion people" for the sake of being a diva, but I also think people don't follow me to hear me regurgitate unorginal takes or deliver bland content for the sake of being neutral and avoiding offense. I acknowledge the podcast has been uploading inconsistently lately. I'm trying something a bit new, and also wanting to show up to the podcast whenever I have a genuine desire to yap and not because I just forced myself to word vomit for the sake of meeting this week's upload "quota". Though, you will be seeing a sudden influx of episodes coming out soon as I've had a LOT on my mind.

Support the Chinese Miao Tribe and help keep their embroidery history alive here: https://sourgongzhu.com/ Checkout Sour Gong Zhu's Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/sourgongzhu/ 00:00 Introduction to the Meow Tribe Embroidery00:45 Understanding Sustainable Fashion01:50 Welcome to Season Three of Changing Room Thoughts02:36 Meet Becca Pu: Fashion Tech Innovator04:23 Challenges in Sustainable Fashion07:50 The Importance of Indigenous Textiles13:54 Modernizing Traditional Folk Art18:31 Empowering Village Artisans28:29 Choosing the Right Textile28:49 Creating the Perfect Silhouette29:01 Collaborating with Seamstresses29:56 Navigating the Tailor Market30:58 Sourcing Sustainable Factories32:53 Challenges in Sustainable Fashion41:37 Debunking Pricing Myths48:44 The Reality of 'Made in China'