Episode 41: Tracy Vontelle Green • Vontelle | Size Matters: Proving the Industry Wrong with Fit-Inclusive Eyewear

Episode 41: Tracy Vontelle Green • Vontelle | Size Matters: Proving the Industry Wrong with Fit-Inclusive Eyewear

🎙️ In this episode of The Fashion Translator, I spoke with Tracy Vontelle Green, Co-Founder & CEO of Vontelle, about what it means to build a brand that solves a problem most people didn’t even know they had. Vontelle started with a simple, physical frustration: glasses that don’t fit. Frames that press into your cheekbones, temples too short, nose bridges too narrow. Tracy and her co-founder Nancy went to Paris, measured their friends’ noses, drew sketches, and found one manufacturer willing to break the mold — literally. What makes this conversation remarkable is how Tracy talks about resilience — not as a mindset, but as a series of very concrete decisions: saying yes before you know how, applying for every grant, showing up at the Brooklyn Museum on a Saturday to sell glasses, and pivoting to a government school contract when tariffs wiped out wholesale orders overnight. We explore: How a lost pair of glasses and a trip to Paris Fashion Week became the origin of a brand now in 900+ stores across the U.S. The product complexity behind fit-inclusive eyewear — why breaking the mold wasn’t just a metaphor, it was a literal negotiation with manufacturers What it looks like to run a business while working a full-time job, managing a health crisis, and shipping orders at 11pm How Vontelle became the first Black women-owned brand to design for America’s Best — and the first women-owned brand to design for Nickelodeon The cash flow reality of every channel: wholesale, D2C, retail, and government contracts — and why diversification wasn’t strategy, it was survival When you build something that actually fits the people who’ve been told to just deal with it, you’re not just building a product. You’re building proof that the market was wrong about who deserved to be served. ✨ Connect with Claire Lys to explore how AI, systems, and innovation can support fashion brands — or to be featured on The Fashion Translator: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-lys-bastien-wald/ Guest: 👤 Tracy Vontelle Green 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracy-v-green-89793a9/ Brand: 🌐 https://www.vontelle.com/ 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vontelleeyewear 🔗 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@vontelleeyewear 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/vontelle/ 🔗 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vontelle 🔗 Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/wearevontelle/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairelysbastienwald.substack.com [https://clairelysbastienwald.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Some Fabrics Tell You Everything Before a Garment Is Made

On the intersection of creative direction and sourcing — and what it looks like when the two are finally the same conversation. Some materials communicate before they are ever cut and sewn. Creative direction and sourcing are the same conversation. We help brands find the materials that match the vision — and bring it into product. If your collection exists in your head but not yet in your hands, let’s talk. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairelysbastienwald.substack.com [https://clairelysbastienwald.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Episode 40 – Taylor Artman • Surf & Turf Golf | On Bootstrapping, Cash Flow, and the Art of Getting Out of Your Own Way

🎙️ In this episode of The Fashion Translator, I spoke with Taylor Artman, Co-Founder & CEO of Surf & Turf Golf, about what it really means to build a brand from a social club logo that went viral to 650+ wholesale accounts, all without outside capital. What stands out in this conversation is how Taylor thinks about growth. Not as a destination, but as a discipline — knowing when to say no, when to double down, and how to get out of your own way so the company can actually scale. Ten years in, bootstrapped, and just now hitting what he calls the tipping point. The story of how he got there — and what almost stopped him — is worth hearing. We explore: How a members-only social club accidentally became a wholesale apparel brand — before it even had a website The cash flow lesson every growing brand learns the hard way: your best year ever and your tightest cash can happen at the same time What it actually took to go from founder doing everything to CEO operating on the business instead of in it How AI compressed a one-hour order entry process into two minutes — and what that unlocked for the whole team The balance between evolving and staying focused: when to say yes to new markets, and when doubling down is the smarter move Why building while you fly isn’t reckless — and why waiting for the right moment might be the biggest mistake of all The brands that last aren’t the ones with the best plan. They’re the ones that kept going, kept adjusting, and learned to get out of the way of their own growth. ✨ Connect with Claire Lys to explore how AI, systems, and innovation can support fashion brands — or to be featured on The Fashion Translator: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-lys-bastien-wald/ Guest: 👤 Taylor Artman 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/okcta23 🔗 X: https://x.com/okcta23 🔗 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@okcta23 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylorartman Brand: 🌐 Surf & Turf Golf 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/surfandturfclub 🔗 TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@surfandturfclub ✨ Connect with Claire Lys to explore how AI, systems, and innovation can support fashion brands — or to be featured on The Fashion Translator: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-lys-bastien-wald/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairelysbastienwald.substack.com [https://clairelysbastienwald.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Episode 39 – Cynthia Kim • Love Classic | How a Niche Product Becomes a Brand Foundation

🎙️ In this episode of The Fashion Translator, I spoke with Cynthia Kim, Founder of Love Classic, about what it really takes to build a niche fashion brand from a single product — and grow it with intention. Cynthia started with thigh-high socks. Not randomly — but because she understood the product from the inside out: the fiber, the construction, the feel. That foundation is now informing how she approaches her first clothing line, launching in capsule collections this August. What stands out in this conversation is how Cynthia thinks about quality and timing — how she navigated COVID’s disruption, rebuilt her supply chain, and made the deliberate decision to expand only once the foundation was stable again. We explore: * How a passion for athletic socks — hiking, snowboarding — became a full fashion brand * The product development process behind something as specific as thigh-high socks: trend research, fiber selection, factory communication, and wear testing * What’s different operationally when you move from socks to clothing — and why fit is where most of the complexity lives * How Cynthia is using AI today (for SEO, captions, and marketing research) and what she wishes she could automate * The messy reality of running everything solo — and the vision of tying all those small tasks into something coherent Behind every product that looks effortless at launch is years of trial, fiber research, and starting over — and that discipline is what makes the difference between a good product and a brand that lasts. ✨ Connect with Claire Lys to explore how AI, systems, and innovation can support fashion brands — or to be featured on The Fashion Translator: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claire-lys-bastien-wald/ Guest & Brand: 👤 Cynthia Kim — Love Classic 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/loveclassic_com 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/loveclassic/ This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairelysbastienwald.substack.com [https://clairelysbastienwald.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]

Why I Moved to Dubai — When Paris Was the Plan

For a long time, Paris was the plan. It made sense on paper. Fashion capital. Creative energy. The city that shaped so much of what I thought I knew about this industry. But life has a way of offering you something better than the plan you had. Dubai was not what I expected to choose. And then, it chose me — and everything shifted. Not because Dubai is more glamorous, But because it asked something different of me. It asked me to build from a different foundation. To think about fashion, about business, about what I actually wanted to create — without the weight of expectation that comes with a city that already has a very clear idea of what fashion should look like. Paris is extraordinary. And this week, as the industry gathers there for Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2026, the pull of that city is impossible to ignore. But home, right now, is Dubai. And I think I needed to go somewhere unexpected to understand what I was actually building. If you have ever chosen the city that surprised you over the one that made sense — I would love to hear about it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit clairelysbastienwald.substack.com [https://clairelysbastienwald.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1]