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What's Contemporary Now?: Daily Summaries Delivered
by What's Contemporary
Designed for curious minds, "What's Contemporary Now?" engages various thought leaders across cultural industries taking in their broad, compelling perspectives and unveiling their common threads. Hosted by Christopher Michael Produced by Sasha Grinblat
Latest Episodes
The most recent episodes — sign up to get AI-powered summaries of each one.
- Feb 3, 202640 min
The Fifth Fashion Week, How Copenhagen Rewrote the Rules
Copenhagen Fashion Week marks its 20th anniversary at a moment when the fashion system is being asked to account for itself. In conversation with CEO Cecilie Thorsmark and COO Isabella Rose Davey, this episode examines how a regional fashion week evolved into a platform with global influence, and what that evolution reveals about the future of the industry. “Fashion weeks were falling out of sync with the world around us. They were celebrating fashion in a bubble, while everything else was changing.” CEO Cecilie Thorsmark “What feels contemporary now to me is generosity.” COO Isabella Rose Davey Episode Highlights: A reflection on Copenhagen Fashion Week’s evolution from a regional showcase into a global platform with cultural and economic impact over its 20-year history. Insight into how Cecilie Thorsmark redefined the purpose of a fashion week, shifting it from celebration alone to a system that engages with responsibility, progress, and accountability. A candid discussion about implementing binding sustainability requirements, including the real challenges of enforcement, support, and industry resistance. An exploration of why sustainability works best as infrastructure rather than storytelling, and how Copenhagen embedded it into participation itself. A deep dive into CPHFW NEWTALENT and what emerging designers actually need today, beyond visibility, including mentoring, financial literacy, and long-term business support. A reframing of the term “emerging designer,” challenging age-based definitions and highlighting reinvention, experience, and second chapters. A conversation about the advantages of being small, agile, and human, and why Copenhagen’s scale allows for experimentation and intimacy that larger fashion weeks often lose. A thoughtful examination of why brands should be allowed to end, evolve, or transform without stigma, and how creative energy changes form rather than disappears. Cultural insight into why Copenhagen feels different, touching on quality of life, generosity, openness, and the city’s ability to foster genuine connection during fashion week. A closing reflection on what feels contemporary now, distilled into two values that define the platform’s ethos moving forward: responsibility and generosity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Jan 26, 20260 min
On the Road in Copenhagen
With a quick trip to Copenhagen for the city's 20th anniversary fashion week, we will be attending the shows, interviewing the organizers, and participating on a panel with Vogue business to explore the idea of what a magazine is today. Their impressive programming, in addition to the designers, includes an impressive array of subject matter that warrants a timely exploration and we'll be back on Monday with a full episode sharing all of the juicy details. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Jan 19, 202650 min
Yoon Ahn on AMBUSH, Subculture, and One Foot In, One Foot Out
The episode follows AMBUSH’s evolution from jewelry made for friends to a brand that Yoon describes as a platform, shaped by experimentation rather than a rigid business plan. She speaks candidly about learning in real time, being paid to learn, and why every job and skill eventually becomes useful. From research as a daily practice to AI as a tool that can accelerate creative work without replacing it, Yoon makes a case for staying open, resisting the urge to live in boxes, and trading horizontal expansion for deeper, more human storytelling. Her definition of what feels contemporary now is simple and powerful, pursuing who you are fearlessly, and staying uniquely human in a world increasingly driven by algorithms. Episode Highlights: A childhood shaped by movement and solitudeGrowing up between Korea, Hawaii, California, and Seattle, Yoon reflects on how constant relocation fostered independence, imagination, and an ability to adapt quickly to new environments. Solitude as a creative advantageTime spent alone became a space for imagination rather than isolation, laying the groundwork for curiosity, inner confidence, and long-term creative resilience. Subculture as a formative educationFrom Seattle’s grunge era to Tokyo’s club scene, Yoon describes how underground culture, music, and nightlife taught her more about identity and community than any formal training. Discovering design through curiosity, not strategyHer path into graphic design and later fashion emerged organically through interests in magazines, presentation, and visual storytelling, rather than a predefined career plan. Being paid to learn as a philosophyYoon frames early jobs, including PR and corporate design work, as opportunities to learn on someone else’s dime, reinforcing her belief that no experience is wasted. AMBUSH as an organic unfoldingWhat began as jewelry made for friends evolved naturally into a brand, then into a platform, driven by experimentation, relationships, and responding to real demand rather than market forecasting. Tokyo as a creative accelerantMoving to Japan exposed Yoon to layered subcultures, cross-pollination between music and fashion, and a culture open to hybridity, shaping AMBUSH’s DNA. Fashion as communication, not productYoon describes fashion as a visual language for expressing identity and connection, rather than simply clothing or commercial output. AI as a tool, not a replacementShe speaks openly about embracing AI as a powerful assistant that can accelerate research and execution, while insisting that creative intent and thinking cannot be outsourced. What feels contemporary nowFor Yoon, being contemporary today means fearlessly pursuing who you are, resisting algorithmic pressure, and staying grounded in humanity, curiosity, and purpose rather than chasing scale. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Jan 12, 202647 min
Asad Syrkett on Interiors, Identity, and the Human Touch
Asad Syrkett joins What’s Contemporary Now? for a wide-ranging conversation about design as a cultural language and the quiet ways environments shape identity, memory, and access. From a childhood spent moving through New York City’s homes, department stores, and streets, to a new chapter living and working in Milan, he reflects on how early encounters with the built world formed a lifelong curiosity long before he had the vocabulary of architecture or interiors. Grounded in his background in architectural history and editorial leadership, Asad speaks to why design is never neutral, how interiors hold narrative and emotional weight, and why aspiration today feels less about status than self-knowledge. As attention splinters and taste is increasingly mediated by screens rather than experience, the conversation returns to what endures: craft, context, and the human touch as the most contemporary forces shaping how we live now. “If you like it, I love it. I’d rather a space reflect real engagement with the self than something copied from Instagram.” - Asad Syrkett Episode Highlights: Living in Milan versus passing through itAsad reflects on the shift from visiting Milan for work to truly living there, and how permanence deepens relationships, curiosity, and cultural exchange beyond the churn of Salone and design week. A childhood shaped by environments, not fashionGrowing up in Harlem and New York City, Asad became attuned early to how homes, retail spaces, and objects reflect identity, class, and aspiration, long before he had the language for design. The built world is never neutralFrom department stores to shop windows, he describes how cities teach us, early on, that design encodes power, values, and social difference. Curiosity as a lifelong engineRaised by a family deeply invested in culture, music, books, and dance, Asad traces how being encouraged to ask questions shaped his editorial and intellectual instincts. Why architectural history unlocked everythingStudying architectural history at Columbia gave him context and language for instincts formed in childhood, connecting design to authority, religion, economics, and social structures. A career guided by sustainability of curiosityMoving between journalism, design studios, digital media, and business wasn’t about restlessness, but about building an intellectually sustainable life around design. Context over aestheticsAs an editor, Asad emphasizes that interiors don’t exist in a vacuum, they are social, political, and emotional artifacts shaped by history, access, and intention. Access versus upward mobilityHe challenges the idea that design is about “upward mobility,” reframing it instead as access, self-knowledge, and environments that reflect inner growth rather than status alone. Italy as a culture of makersLiving in Milan has sharpened his appreciation for Italian design’s deep respect for craft, family-run production, and material knowledge passed down through generations. What’s contemporary now: the human touchIn a digital, accelerated world, Asad argues that the most contemporary thing is work shaped by human skill, physical effort, and deep commitment to craft, things technology cannot replicate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Jan 5, 202659 min
Kyle Hagler and Emil Wilbekin on Native Son, Visibility, and the Business of Culture
For our first episode of 2026, we sit down with Kyle Hagler and Emil Wilbekin for a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation at the intersection of Native Son, culture, and media. We begin with formative histories shaped by strong women, faith, and instinct, before tracing how both have navigated long careers defined by pivots, visibility, and cultural responsibility. From Emil’s journey through magazine leadership to founding Native Son, to Kyle’s perspective on power, representation, and stewardship within fashion, the conversation explores what it means to build influence without losing yourself. Together, they reflect on community beyond branding, legacy without chasing legacy, and why staying contemporary today requires clarity, courage, and a willingness to exist fully in complexity. “A lot of my success came from haphazard decision-making based on instinct, not some grand plan. I followed the moment and figured it out later.” - Kyle Hagler “Native Son was never about nightlife or crisis. It was about creating space where we could see ourselves reflected with dignity.” - Emil Wilbekin Episode Highlights: Beginnings that explain everythingEmil reflects on being adopted at birth and raised by radically cultured, spiritually grounded Black parents, while Kyle traces the imprint of a brilliant young mother who negotiated her way through systems not built for her and brought him along for the ride. Strong women as original architectureNot a theme, a fact. Both credit women with shaping their confidence, ethics, ambition, and emotional literacy long before any career took form. The professional pivot, demystifiedReinvention is not indulgence, it is survival. Emil maps his evolution across media, teaching, faith, and founding Native Son. Kyle frames adaptability as the only real form of security. Safety, redefinedKyle’s assertion lands quietly but firmly: safety does not live in institutions or titles, it lives in your ability to navigate turbulence and keep moving. Spirituality as infrastructure, not ornamentEmil speaks to prayer and meditation as daily practice and social responsibility. Kyle shares a later awakening forged through loss, illness, and uncertainty, arriving at calm through surrender. A very New York origin storyThe Octagon in the 90s, Helmut Lang uniforms, early shade, and worlds colliding. Friendship eventually sealed not by proximity, but by shared obsession, precision, and care. Doing the work before knowing the impactEmil reflects on Vibe as cultural moment-making understood only in hindsight. Kyle recalls realizing his influence only once others named it, while he was simply doing the job. The birth of Native SonAn India retreat, a voice, Baldwin on a bookshelf. A mission emerges to create space for Black gay, queer, and gender nonconforming lives beyond nightlife, crisis, or erasure. Progress and backlash, side by sideVisibility expands while political resistance hardens. Both argue that representation without ownership is fragile, and that DEI without equity is noise. What feels contemporary now Fearless self-definition. Living in nuance. Building community that can hold contradiction, accountability, and becoming, without waiting for permission. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Dec 23, 20251 min
Happy Holidays!
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- Dec 15, 202549 min
Angelo Flaccavento on Taste, Doubt, and the Beauty of Uncertainty
Angelo Flaccavento has long been one of fashion’s most distinctive critical voices — sharp yet empathetic, rigorous yet imaginative, always willing to question his own certainties. In this conversation, he traces his path from a Sicilian childhood spent absorbing magazines in boutique backrooms to becoming a writer whose clarity and candor designers both fear and admire. We discuss the formative power of self-doubt, the responsibility of the critic in an era shaped by branding and algorithms, and why genuine surprise has become fashion’s rarest commodity. Angelo reflects on taste as a lifelong education, the tension between fantasy and reality, and the importance of staying fluid rather than defined in a moment obsessed with categorization. “I’m a dreamer, but not an escapist. Fantasy has to somehow crash to the ground in order to become reality.” - Angelo Flaccavento Episode Highlights: A Sicilian childhood shaped by boutiques and early fashion literacy Angelo grew up in Ragusa surrounded by family-run boutiques at the height of Italy’s fashion boom. Magazines, Versace dresses, Guy Bourdin images, and the glamour of the early ’80s became his first education in style and visual culture. Discovering i-D and turning Ragusa into his personal London Getting a subscription to i-D as a teenager becomes a defining moment. He reads each issue obsessively, treating it as a window into a world he hasn’t yet reached — the foundation of his sharp, culturally attuned eye. From aspiring designer to critic: finding the right medium Though he once dreamed of being a designer, he realized he was more drawn to ideas, imagery, and interpretation. Writing became his path, encouraged by teachers who sensed his voice before he did. A voice that evolves rather than settles Angelo talks about tone and style as living entities — shaped by constraints, sharpened by editors, and never fixed in place. He values clarity, concision, and atmosphere, always pushing himself toward more precision. Doubt as a creative engine He sees doubt not as insecurity but as momentum, calling it “the essence of progress.” Self-questioning keeps him open, curious, and resistant to stagnation. Criticism as decoding, not destruction For Angelo, the critic’s role is to cut through PR storytelling and help readers understand what they’re actually seeing. He believes in honesty delivered with generosity — critique as illumination, not cruelty. Maintaining integrity in a political, PR-driven industry He speaks openly about the emotional and professional navigation required each season, from access issues to difficult conversations, and why seeing shows live is essential to telling the truth. Fashion’s power to surprise Angelo celebrates the rare, electric moments when a show shifts the mood of the entire industry — reminders of why fashion still matters and how a collection can rewire the cultural conversation. Taste as instinct refined over a lifetime For him, taste is a mix of instinct and education — shaped by art history, architecture, vertical lines, trial and error, and everything one has ever seen. Taste is biography turned into perspective. What is contemporary now: resisting definition Angelo concludes that the most contemporary stance is fluidity — refusing to let algorithms, labels, or nostalgia define us, and staying open enough to see the world anew. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
- Dec 8, 202542 min
Camille Miceli on Pucci, Play, and Joie de Vivre
Camille Miceli brings a vivid, almost incandescent joie de vivre to Pucci, treating color, movement, and intuition as both vocabulary and philosophy. Her worldview is shaped by an upbringing steeped in art and fashion, and by formative chapters with Alaïa, Lagerfeld, Jacobs, and Raf Simons — each adding a layer to her finely tuned sense of glamour and discipline. She reflects on the value of frivolity in an anxious age, the necessity of surrounding oneself with challengers rather than cheerleaders, and the quiet radicalism of returning Pucci’s prints to hand-drawn imperfection. The picture that emerges is of a creative director who treats joy not as escapism, but as a practiced, precise way of making a brand — and a life — feel vividly alive. “We didn’t come to this planet to suffer. I’m here to enjoy, even if there are stressed days. You have to laugh sometimes.” - Camille Miceli Episode Highlights: An upbringing steeped in art and fashionCamille grows up between an art-world father and a fashion-world mother, surrounded by New Realists, Guy Bourdin shoots, and Azzedine Alaïa at the dinner table — early immersion in glamour, image, and attitude. Alaïa as her first tough teacherAt sixteen she interns for Azzedine Alaïa, who is lovingly ruthless about precision. The “traumatic” rigor of placing rocks every ten centimeters becomes the root of her perfectionism and obsession with detail. Chanel and Karl as excess and foresight schoolAt Chanel with Karl Lagerfeld, she encounters fashion as total universe — decor, invitations, product, marketing — and learns to think several moves ahead, like the “Chanel forever” bag response to a critical article. Marc Jacobs and the power of generosity and teamsAt Louis Vuitton, Marc pulls her fully into the creative side, asks her to design earrings, and kick-starts her jewelry career. She absorbs his generosity, his habit of crediting collaborators, and his refusal to work with “yes people” — a model she now applies as a creative director. Dior, Raf, and the dialogue with art and designAt Dior under John Galliano and then Raf Simons, she deepens her passion for art, design, and couture, finding common ground with Raf through shared references and visual obsessions. How all those experiences prepare her for PucciYears in fittings, communication, and collaborations give her a 360-degree approach: she thinks about clothes, image, stores, and storytelling as a single ecosystem, which she now applies to Pucci’s collections and retail spaces. Pucci as art, joy, and imperfectionShe sees Pucci prints as psychedelic artworks and immediately brings hand-drawing back to restore “imperfection as perfection.” The wobbly lines and pressure marks make the prints human, charming, and alive. Using print as logo and rethinking heritage codesRather than drowning everything in pattern, she treats the print as a signature — a button, a jacquard, a matte-and-shine texture — so a black jacket can still read Pucci. She evolves the codes instead of changing them seasonally. A modern stance on fashion systems and wasteShe pushes see-now-buy-now because she hates the lag between image and product, especially in an age of instant gratification. Pucci runs only two collections a year, staggered like intelligent “drops,” which lets her reduce waste and think deeply instead of chasing volume. Collaborations, culture, and what’s contemporary nowShe favors collaborations that bring true know-how (technical skiwear, for example) over hype, and considers the Art Basel entrance carpet a proud moment of print as art rather than logo spam. When asked what is contemporary now, she lands on sharing, respect for others, and radical care for the planet — especially water — and dreams of self-sufficiency as the ultimate luxury. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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About What's Contemporary Now?
Designed for curious minds, "What's Contemporary Now?" engages various thought leaders across cultural industries taking in their broad, compelling perspectives and unveiling their common threads. Hosted by Christopher Michael Produced by Sasha Grinblat
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