Episode 30 – Kiefer Cohen • Sad Eyewear | Building an Independent Eyewear Brand Across Subcultures, Retail, and Global Distribution

Episode 34 – Martin Engster • Engsta Rides | Building a Lifestyle Brand from Automotive Culture

🎙️ In this episode of The Fashion Translator, I spoke with Martin Engster, Founder of Engsta Rides, about building a brand rooted in automotive culture and translating that passion into apparel.What began as a personal connection to cars — shaped by early exposure, environment, and experience — gradually evolved into something broader. Not just clothing, but a way to express identity through what you drive, how you live, and what you connect with.Rather than approaching fashion through trends or traditional inspiration, Martin built his brand by pulling from a completely different world — automotive culture — and translating that into design, messaging, and product.From personal passion to product experimentation, the conversation highlights how brands can emerge from outside the fashion system — and why that perspective brings a different kind of depth.We explore:• How automotive culture shapes a brand beyond product• Why lifestyle positioning creates stronger connection than apparel alone• The process of translating personal interests into design direction• The role of experimentation in finding the right product and quality• How AI can support design while keeping the creator in controlIn lifestyle-driven brands, where identity comes from outside the industry, the real challenge isn’t creating apparel — it’s translating a personal world into something others can recognize and connect with.✨ If you’re building a brand rooted in passion and looking to translate it into something tangible and scalable, feel free to reach outGuest:👤 Martin Engster🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/engsta/🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/martinengster/Brand:🌐 https://engstarides.com/🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/engsta/🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/engsta-rides/✨ 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 33 – Jaclyn Brautigam • Fordham Fashion | Why Emerging Designers Struggle with Wholesale, Pricing & Sales Strategy

🎙️ In this episode of The Fashion Translator, I spoke with Jaclyn Brautigam, Founder of Fordham Fashion, about the operational blind spots that prevent emerging designers from turning strong creative work into viable businesses. Many designers are trained to develop products — but not to sell them. They are often left navigating wholesale, pricing, margins, and distribution without a clear roadmap. From wholesale entry strategy to pricing structures, the conversation highlights how commercial viability in fashion depends less on the product itself and more on the systems built around it. We explore: • Why many designers underestimate the complexity of B2B wholesale • The operational foundations required before approaching retailers • How pricing and margins shift when moving from DTC to wholesale • Why expensive showroom strategies often fail emerging brands • How designers can leverage direct outreach and network-driven growth instead At its core, this conversation reframes fashion not as a product-driven industry, but as a system-driven one — where understanding distribution mechanics, financial structure, and market timing determines whether a collection becomes a business or remains an idea. For those looking to move from collection to commercial strategy and growth: ✨ Exclusive offer for The Fashion Translator community Use code: FTC26 Receive $500 off The Fashion Visionary Experience, Jaclyn’s signature package designed to help fashion brands grow and strategically build their business. Valid through year-end. Guest: 👤 Jaclyn Brautigam 🔗 Instagram: @fordham_fashion [https://www.instagram.com/fordham_fashion/] 🔗 LinkedIn:Jaclyn Brautigam [https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaclyn-brautigam/] Brand / Platform: 🌐 Fordham Fashion 🔗 Website: https://www.fordhamfashion.com/ 🔗 Substack: If you’re currently trying to turn a collection into actual sales and feel stuck on what to do next, feel free to reach out. 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]

What I Look For Before I Say Yes to a Factory

Most people ask about price and lead time. I look at something else first. Most people ask about price and lead time. I look at something else first. When a brand asks, “Can you recommend a factory?” they usually mean capacity, pricing, and lead times. I look for something else first. I look for how the factory thinks when something goes wrong. Because in production, something always goes wrong: A fabric arrives slightly off. A trim is delayed. A measurement doesn’t behave the way it did in the sample. The difference between a painful season and a scalable one isn’t “perfect execution.” It’s response quality. Strong partners don’t just produce. They communicate risk early, document decisions clearly, and protect the timeline without sacrificing the product. That’s not a personality trait. It’s an operating standard. And when a brand and factory share that standard, the relationship stops feeling like firefighting. It starts feeling like infrastructure. If you’ve built long-term production partnerships: What’s the one sign you’ve learned to trust most? If you’re looking to build production partnerships with that level of structure, feel free to reach out or explore how we work. 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]

Special Feature – Romain Liot • Reset Fashion | Sustainability, Green Premiums, And The Operational Reality Of sustainability in Fashion

🎙️ In this special author feature of The Fashion Translator, I spoke with Romain Liot, fashion entrepreneur and author of Reset Fashion, about why sustainability in fashion needs to move beyond intention, image, and simplified consumer narratives. Drawing from his experience building Adore Me and navigating the operational reality of fashion from the inside, Romain brings a direct and sometimes blunt perspective on what has stalled progress in the industry. Not because sustainability no longer matters, but because many of the stories built around it were never fully adapted to the economic, structural, and supply-chain realities brands actually face. From the green premium myth to the complexity of scope 3 emissions, the discussion highlights how fashion cannot be transformed through slogans alone. It requires better cost models, better measurement, stronger traceability, and a clearer understanding of where change can create both environmental and business value. We explore: • Why sustainability fatigue emerged, even as the problem continues to grow • How the green premium myth created a green penalty for many fashion brands • Why asking consumers to simply “buy less” does not fully address the role fashion plays in identity, emotion, and employment • Why scope 3 emissions, dyeing processes, and supplier-level decisions matter more than symbolic headquarters initiatives • How traceability can become a real operating map for brands, not just a digital passport for consumers At the intersection of sustainable fashion, product economics, and supply-chain visibility, Reset Fashion reframes the industry’s challenge as a systems problem — one that will be shaped less by perfect messaging and more by the decisions brands are willing to redesign from the inside. ✨ For anyone looking to better understand the operational complexity behind sustainability in fashion, tune in to the conversation and grab Reset Fashion by Romain Liot. Guest: 👤 Romain Liot 🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/romainadoreme/ [https://www.instagram.com/romainadoreme/] 🔗 LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/romain-liot-23335b31 [http://www.linkedin.com/in/romain-liot-23335b31] Book: 📖 Reset Fashion 🔗 Amazon: https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/Romain-Liot-ebook/dp/B0GX31LL69/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1 [https://www.amazon.ca/-/fr/Romain-Liot-ebook/dp/B0GX31LL69/ref=sr_1_1?sr=8-1] ✨ 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/ [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 31 – Nathan Trafford • Trafford Watch Co. | Designing Products That Gain Meaning Over Time

🎙️ In this episode of The Fashion Translator, I spoke with Nathan Trafford, Founder of Trafford Watch Co., about how product meaning is actually built over time—through use, memory, and personal context. In a category shaped by heritage and craftsmanship, the real question becomes:not just how a product is designed, but how it lives with the customer. From structuring design between function and emotion to maintaining a human-centered approach in an AI-driven landscape, this conversation explores what it means to build products that stay relevant beyond the moment of purchase. We explore: • How function and emotion operate as two distinct layers in product design • Why meaning isn’t fixed at creation—but evolves through use • The operational realities of building in a slow, craft-driven category • The tension between scalability and maintaining a human-centered product • Why showing the process is becoming part of the product itself In watchmaking, where time is the core material, the real shift is happening at the intersection of design, ownership, and lived experience. ✨ If you’re building products meant to stay relevant beyond the moment of purchase, structuring how they evolve with the customer becomes a strategic advantage, feel free to reach out Guest: 👤 Nathan Trafford🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathantrafford/ [https://www.instagram.com/nathantrafford/]🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathantrafford/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathantrafford/] Brand: 🌐 traffordwatchco.com/🔗 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/traffordwatchco/ [https://www.instagram.com/traffordwatchco/]🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/trafford-watch-co/ [https://www.linkedin.com/company/trafford-watch-co/] ✨ 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/ [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]