Fashion Neurosis Greatest Hits vol. 1

Arthur Jafa is an American artist. Raised in Mississippi, he studied architecture and film at Howard University, and has been working as a filmmaker and artist for over four decades. He has had a successful career as a cinematographer, working on films including his ex-wife Julie Dash’s Daughters of the Dust, Spike Lee’s Crooklyn, and Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut. Jafa has also directed music videos for musicians including Solange and Jay-Z. In 2005, Jafa stepped away from the art world for a while, re-emerging in 2016 with his spectacular work of video art Love Is The Message, The Message Is Death, which combined and edited disparate found and original footage documenting the Black experience in America. Other notable video works include The White Album from 2018, which won the Golden Lion for best artist at the Venice Biennale. Arthur Jafa’s extended practice is widely considered to be at the forefront of contemporary art, independent film and cultural theory today. Witnessing, celebrating and cataloguing the deep soul of Black life through images, Jafa has forged a groundbreaking trail in the rich terrain of Black representation. In his show at Sadie Coles HQ Gallery, Kingly St in London, on until December, Jafa exhibits new paintings and collage, alongside two new video works. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Arthur Jafa discuss checking Instagram first thing in the morning, wanting to frown like Roy Rogers, and the universal influence of James Brown. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tessa Thompson is an American actor. Her father is the musician Marc Antony Thompson who founded the musical collective Chocolate Genius Inc. She was raised between New York and Los Angeles, making her stage debut as Ariel in the Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company production of The Tempest. Tessa has been nominated for two BAFTAs and a Primetime Emmy for her work in the 2021 film Passing directed by Rebecca Hall, and the 2020 film Sylvie’s Love. She is also known for her role as Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok and as Bianca in the Creed franchise. Thompson founded her own production company Viva Maude in 2021, which has produced Hedda, the new adaptation of Hedda Gabler directed by Nia DaCosta, in which she plays the lead. Her fashion-forward style and elegance is the subject of much interest, and she is a muse to the American designer brand Rodarte. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Tessa Thompson discuss playing male roles, tidying up the house in a heel, and fashion not being armour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ocean Vuong is a Vietnamese-American author, poet, and professor. Born in Vietnam, Ocean Vuong came to America aged two and was raised in Hartford, Connecticut, working in his mother’s nail salon from an early age. He received his BA in Nineteenth Century American Literature from Brooklyn College, and an MFA in Poetry from NYU, where he is now a Professor of Creative Writing. Vuong became an international literary sensation with his 2019 debut novel On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous, which was based in part on his familial history. His second novel, The Emperor of Gladness, was published this year to further acclaim. Vuong is known for his distinctive elegiac prose and his heart and mind-expanding interrogation of the English language through his poems, essays, and novels. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the American Book Award, the Mark Twain Award, the T.S. Eliot Prize and the MacArthur “Genius” Grant. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Ocean Vuong discuss the obsession of style as a brand, how self adornment can be a medicine, and the dopamine effect of a good sentence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Cronenberg is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Credited with creating the body horror genre, Cronenberg has written and directed over twenty feature films including Videodrome, Dead Ringers, and Rabid, with his 1996 film Crash winning the Special Jury Prize at Cannes for “originality, for daring and for audacity.” In 2006 he was awarded the festival's Lifetime Achievement Award. Many of his films have become major cult classics, including his 1986 film The Fly, in which Jeff Goldblum plays a scientist who turns into a human-fly hybrid. David Cronenberg has appeared as an actor in cameo roles including in Gus Van Sant’s To Die For and Into the Night. In 2014 he published his first novel, Consumed. Whether his films are about body horror, or period drama like A Dangerous Method, a story about Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung, his works always raise deep thoughts and feelings; he has the ability to be funny while also exploring extreme and disturbing subject matter. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and David Cronenberg discuss dressing like Christopher Walken, adoring Sigmund Freud, and feeling good about being naked. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dame Zandra Rhodes is an English fashion designer. She originally became famous for her beautiful, wildly coloured textile prints, going on to design her first collection in 1969. She started experimenting with her own look, shaving her eyebrows and dying her hair bold colours until she settled on pink as her signature hue. She became a sensation in New York when Diana Vreeland, the legendary editor of American Vogue, fell in love with her creations and immediately had her dresses photographed for the magazine, also calling up the top boutiques to demand they stock her collections. Rhodes became known as the ‘Princess of Punk’ when she designed a dress adorned with tiny safety pins which is now one of the most sought after dresses on the vintage market. She has dressed numerous celebrities including Diana Ross, Freddie Mercury, and Princess Diana. Zandra Rhodes founded the Fashion and Textile Museum in London in 2003, which hosts fashion exhibitions and textiles workshops. She was made a Dame in 2014 by Queen Elizabeth II for services to British fashion and textiles. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Zandra Rhodes discuss being an introvert while looking like an extrovert, her friendship with the cult actor and star of John Waters’ films Divine, and the charm of pink hair. Watch the full video episode on our Youtube and Substack, links in bio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kojey Radical is a British musician and visual artist. Born and raised in East London, Kojey - real name Kwadwo Adu Genfi Amponsah - studied Fashion Illustration at the London College of Fashion and has been described as UK Rap’s ‘Renaissance Man’ in reference to his love of fashion and the disarming and dazzling way he wears clothes. He co-hosted the British Fashion Awards in 2023 and 2024. Throughout his teenage years he participated in poetry slams and spoken word events, releasing his first musical project Dear Daisy: Opium in 201. Kojey Radical’s first album Reason to Smile was nominated for multiple awards including the Mercury Prize. ‘Don’t Look Down’ is his newest album. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Kojey Radical discuss the empowering force of Mother Love, how a fish finger sandwich can be passive aggressive, and the awfulness of an Ugg boot with a lean. Watch the full video episode on our Youtube and Substack, links in bio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rachel Kushner is an American author and essayist. The daughter of two beatnik scientists, Kushner began her Bachelor’s degree in political economy at the University of California aged 16, and then moved to San Francisco and worked in nightclubs. After an MFA at Columbia, studying under Jonathan Franzen, Rachel Kushner published her first book, Telex from Cuba, in 2008, and has since published four novels, a short story collection, and a book of essays describing diverse subjects including her participation in an illegal motorbike race across Mexico and California. She has twice been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and won the Prix Médicis for her 2018 book The Mars Room. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Rachel Kushner discuss the evolution of their friendship over email, Don DeLillo's cool sideburns, and aspiring to manifest the life lessons of Dolly Parton. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Amelia Dimoldenberg is an English comedian, writer, and the creator and presenter of her sensational Youtube series Chicken Shop Date. Chicken Shop Date began as a column in a youth club magazine, originally focusing on Amelia interviewing British grime artists in chicken shops around London. It has since expanded to one of the most popular series on Youtube, with Amelia interviewing some of the world’s most high profile actors, models, and musicians. Known for her dry, deadpan humour, Dimoldenberg has in recent years begun interviewing celebrities on red carpets, including at the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Brit Awards. Her production company Dimz Inc. recently launched Dimz Inc. Academy, a week-long programme for young people interested in working in the creative industries. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Amelia Dimoldenberg discuss The Devil Wears Prada, the appeal of an awkward silence, and how sexy is embarrassing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Malkovich is an award-winning American film star, theatre actor and director. After ten years in Chicago as an original member of the legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Malkovich made his Broadway debut in 1984 as Biff in Death of a Salesman. He appeared in many highly acclaimed films throughout the 1980s and 1990s, gaining widespread attention and admiration in his compelling performance as Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons. In 1999, he starred as a surreal version of himself in Spike Jonze’s brilliant directorial debut Being John Malkovich which became an international sensation. Malkovich directed The Dancer Upstairs which was released in 2002. He won the Milton Schulman Award for the best director in 2016, after a multi-year run of his adaptation of the play Good Canary. He also wrote and directed three short films in collaboration with Bella Freud - Strap Hanging, Lady Behave, and Hideous Man. In 2002, John launched his own fashion brand Mr Mudd, with its debut menswear line “Uncle Kimono”. He has been repeatedly recognised as one of the greatest actors of his generation, and continues to maintain an idiosyncratic artistic output across film, theatre, television, and fashion. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and John Malkovich discuss his grandfathers obsession with Lassie, the inspiration behind the name of his fashion brand Mr Mudd, and the making of Being John Malkovich. Full video episode available to watch on Youtube now. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis Mashup I have pulled out some of my favourite moments with the fascinating guests who have graced the couch. I hope you enjoy. Please keep subscribing and liking if you can. See you in September. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices