Carton d'invitation

Publicist, model agent, playwright, erstwhile stylist, Fred Howard was the publicity manager for Linda Evangelista’s comeback tour last year. Fred has spent a life in the so-called fashion trenches. Among his skills is preparing models for the red carpet, (avoiding the fries that can bloat and turning up the music and the AC on the way to the venue)! Fred’s worked at Elite Models and DNA, scouted countless models, served as media coach to still more, He even chaperoned models’ apartments years ago, perfecting his knack for helping people be philosophical about failure to launch in the way they expected. He has managed PR and philanthropic initiatives for various celebrities and he continues to write - he and his cousin, acclaimed director, Raelle Myrick-Hodges created the play “He Has The Prettiest Handwriting” which sold out at the Public Theatre in New York in 2022.  Fred is now working on a piece of first person creative non-fiction--sharing tales of growing up in a military family, coming of age as a Black gay man in conservative North Carolina of the 80s, and his youth in the fashion trenches from the late 90s and 00. He’s also serving as a consultant for a scripted series currently in development, set in the fashion industry. Fred is the kind of a person who has always been there but one didn’t always know what he was doing. He is a connector - and someone people can count on to craft - and even protect - their public images. He is an insider who has many stories - and he tells them in this episode of Carton d’invitation! Find Fred on Instagram @bushwickfreddy Original music @leonthesinger Please subscribe here for more fashion conversations! Your support for my project means a lot. A video trailer for this podcast is available on the Carton d'invitation Youtube channel. To discover more about my documentary and this oral history project, find me on Instagram: @cartondinvitation

Sibyl Buck is the American supermodel who brought punk to Paris runways in the 90s.  At the height of her success, she left for New York to become an artist and a musician.  Sibyl built The Doghouse, an artists’ commune in New York City and toured for years as a musician with lots of different people including Chris Traynor. She and Chris parent their daughter, Puma Rose.  Along the way, Sibyl has been an MTV host, an actress, in the Fifth Element for instance; she spent 10 years working as a therapeutic yoga instructor and now she’s a permaculture designer (who does some modeling on the side of course. Book her!)  Sibyl’s called a “Grunge Icon”.  Her scarlet hair and piercings inspired Jean Paul Gaultier to cast her in 1993. She stuck out her pierced tongue at the end of the runway and the result was her first picture in Vogue. Soon Sibyl was learning how to breathe into corset fittings at Vivienne Westwood and Thierry Mugler.  And before she knew it, even the most traditional houses wanted to capture some of her frank freshness to burnish their brands. She even posed with Yves Saint Laurent for a famous portrait.  I had fun watching all of that unfold back then. Sibyl always made a fashion show more interesting and I liked checking in with her for chats here and there - she was never boring! So it meant a lot to me to track Sibyl down in Topanga, California where she tends her garden, walks her dog, mothers her daughter, builds just about anything  -  and works on a wide variety of projects aimed at healing people - and the land. Sibyl's info: NextLA//MarilynNY//OuiParis www.sibylbuck.com Instagram: @sibbyfresh Please subscribe for more fashion conversations! Your support for my project means a lot. A video trailer for this podcast is available on the Carton d'invitation Youtube channel. To discover more about my documentary and this oral history project, find me on Instagram: @cartondinvitation Original music for this podcast is by Ashley Rivera, Myla Carlos and Chloe Hsu.

The Carton d’invitation Podcast often but not always talks about 90s fashion - but this is a twist and the humour doesn't escape me!  In this episode, we are talking about how some of the famous faces from the 90s (think Naomi, Marpessa and Carla Bruni) stay luminous today!  “The French Facialist” Sophie Carbonari is often referred to as one of the world's ultimate beauty secrets, whether you pick up Vogue, Town and Country or Goop. Sophie's famous for gifting “glow” to her clients inbcluding , Rihanna, Caroline de Maigret, Nicole Kidman and Lou Doillon…To be clear, we are talking about something that looks like a facelift but isn't! A pioneer of the “facialist wave”, Sophie's special techniques and I dare say her deep intuition and care for people have celebrities lining up at her studio in Palais Royale in Paris or once a month in London - or wherever she may be: for instance working her magic installed at Cannes during the festival.  In this episode, we learn about how she does it - you will be quite surprised! Sophie talks about her rich childhood in the south of France, being raised by a French mother and an Italian father, some of the discrimination she faced starting out as a beauty therapist and her empathy for her clients who are always being judged in the public eye. She calls out “beauty shaming” - and for those of us who might not be able to see her for a treatment or buy her “addictive” Le S Serum, she offers her simple “10p” tips for daily skincare!  Sophie says anti-ageing is a not a thing - you can’t anti-age! But after years of research, she’s developed a protocol that combines customized formulas, ayurvedic  and kobido practices - and her own innovative massage technique that stimulates the fascia (it makes a cracking sound when it happens by the way). She says she just “reveals” people - without the tiredness that accumulates!  If you want to know more about Sophie after listening, here is her website: https://sophiecarbonari.com/studio/ Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you are listening! A video excerpt of this episode is available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/_yyNDAm0skk To learn more about my documentary project, go to @cartondinvitation on Instagram.  Original music for this podcast by Ashley Rivera, Chloe Hsu and Myla Carlos

Carton d’invitation celebrates the fashion journeys of Supermodels, designers, journalists, stylists, creative directors, illustrators etc. Stars of 90s Paris as well as emerging creatives in conversation about "life before the internet" and making fashion now.I was a TV reporter in the Golden Age of fashion in Paris in the 80s and 90s, back when it was a new thing to bring video cameras into that elite world. Now I am a documentary maker and writer thinking about embodiment, glamour and sartorial disruption. These podcasts honour legacies. Touching and fun - a fashion history archive.