Haute hearing: fashion podcasts to soundtrack your summer

Consider these fashion podcasts an aural accessory to the coming summer months, selected by Wallpaper* to amuse, inspire and inform, from the blockbuster – podcasts from Chanel, Dior and Louis Vuitton offer a new perspective on Paris’ storied houses – to an education in style history, and frank conversations about the state of fashion and its future. 

Here, Wallpaper* selects the fashion podcasts to soundtrack your summer, whether you’re stuck in the departure lounge or spending long and languid days poolside.

Chanel Connects

Bridging fashion, arts and culture, Chanel Connects is a blockbuster podcast from the Parisian fashion house. Now in its fourth season – which was recorded on location at the Venice Biennale earlier this year – previous seasons have seen guests which include Tilda Swinton, Pharell Williams and Es Devlin (Season One), Emerald Fennell, Honey Dijon and Kehinde Wiley (Season Two), and Penélope Cruz, Ruthie Rogers and Sheila Heti (Season Three). Comprising a series of conversations, often featuring subjects across disciplines, the illuminating podcasts are ‘devoted to the profound questions and conversations that shape culture today and define its tomorrow.’ For the art-centric Season Four, subjects include the evolution of the gallerist, contemporary curation and criticism, as well as interviews with artists exhibiting at the Biennale. Episodes will be released across the summer and into September. 

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What’s Contemporary Now?

Running with the tagline ‘for curious minds’, What’s Contemporary Now? offers a series of deep-diving conversations with figures from the cultural industry, many of which come from the world of fashion – whether Belgian photographer Willy Vanderperre (on ‘youth voices, isolation and pop culture’), movement director Pat Boguslawski (on ‘the journey of a movement maestro’), or make-up artist Isamaya Ffrench (on her ‘unconventional take on beauty’). The in-depth interviews, running in a series of ‘seasons’, are led by host Christopher Michael, a multi-hyphenate creative who founded the What’s Contemporary Now? platform in 2011, followed by the podcast in 2022. Expect thought-provoking conversations about fashion’s future – from AI to trend forecasting – while offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the industry’s inner workings.

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Dior Talks

A vast back catalogue of episodes waits for the budding listener of Dior Talks, a discipline-spanning podcast from the Parisian fashion house which first launched in 2020. Each ’season’ is divided into thematic blocks, like ‘Feminist Art’ – which comprises conversations with Penny Slinger, Tracy Emin, Judy Chicago and Dior’s womenswear reactive director Maria Grazia Chiuri –  and ‘Female Gaze’, which explores women filmmakers through the lens of feminist theorist Laura Mulvey, who coined the term ‘male gaze’. Meanwhile for those who want more from the house, a four-part podcast Dior Untold promises a ‘behind the scenes of the Maison Dior and its unique savoir-faire’ with a particular focus on beauty and fragrance – from ‘The Power of Red’ to ‘Dior in Bloom’ – while Dior Common Thread, which ran until 2022, gives a glimpse into the design philosophy of Dior Men creative director Kim Jones.

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Dressed: The History of Fashion

One of fashion’s longest-running podcasts – there are currently 501 episodes and counting – Dressed: The History of Fashion, is an expansive exploration of the social and cultural history behind the clothes that we wear (or, as presenters April Calahan of the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, and Cassidy Zachary, a fashion historian and costume designer, describe ‘the who, what, when of why we wear’). The diverse subjects include ‘Spanish fashion in the age of Velázquez’, an exploration of fastenings and zippers, and a deep dive into Italian fashion house Gucci. And that’s just in recent months – there’s enough here to see you through summer (and hours more beside).

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Louis Vuitton [Extended]

A new addition to the roster of podcasts from fashion’s luxury houses, the 2023-launched Louis Vuitton [Extended] promises – as the name suggests – an in-depth look at the various inner workings of the maison. Hosted by French journalist Loïc Prigent, the first episode includes a conversation with Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director Pharrell Williams, while further episodes span numerous disciplines and figures, from trunk-makers and curators to fencer Enzo Lefort, a Louis Vuitton ambassador who will compete as a home favourite for the Olympic Games.

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Articles of Interest

Produced and hosted by Avery Trufelman, award-winning podcast Articles of Interest began life as part of Radiotopia’s 99% Invisible. Now, it enters its third season – released later this year – with thoughtful and surprising breakdowns of everyday garments and fashion moments, from Hawaiian shirts and blue jeans, to the punk movement and pockets in clothing (why, she asks, have women’s clothes been so often bereft of pockets?). A second season focused on conceptions of luxury – the so-called ‘Articles of Interest’ include diamonds, wedding dresses and perfume – with Trufelman weaving links to the archetypal American stories of success, glamour, and progress. You’ll be hooked.

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The Cutting Room Floor

Recho Omondi is an American fashion designer whose podcast, The Cutting Room Floor, promises candid interviews with industry insiders. Initially established to reflect the types of conversations she was having with friends working in fashion – as such, expect her to ask the questions that other fashion podcasters won’t – her guests straddle behind-the-scenes names (curve model agent at IMG Mina White, beauty photographer Tom Newman, Eliou founders Cristy Mantilla an Duda Teixeira) to leading figures like power stylist and ’image architect’ Law Roach, who offered a frank assessment of the fashion industry in a recent (and much-shared) episode. 

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