The Business of Basquiat: How an Artist Became a Brand, with Doug Woodham

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What does it take to turn a kid from Brooklyn into a multi-billion dollar global asset class? Doug Woodham knows. A former McKinsey partner, Christie's president for the Americas, and PhD economist, Doug is one of the few people alive who can speak to both the cultural and financial mechanics of how Jean-Michel Basquiat went from downtown New York scenester to the most licensed, collected, and commodified artist of the past century. In this conversation, we get into the estate's iron grip on the narrative, the client pyramid theory of artist branding, Keith Haring's forgotten Pop Shop, and why the art market may be losing its cultural relevance. Essential listening for anyone who thinks about art, money, and legacy. Show Notes: * Why nobody wanted to buy Basquiat in the early 1990s — and what changed * The identity pivot that resuscitated his market * Madonna, Warhol, and the marketing gold of cool * Keith Haring's Pop Shop — the forgotten origin of artist licensing * Gerard Basquiat's masterful and controlling estate strategy * The client pyramid — how artists monetize every level of their audience * Murakami, Kusama, Arsham, Koons — the new generation of artist-brands * Why the art market is shrinking in cultural relevance * What new collectors should know before spending serious money Episode recorded April 8, 2026

The Real Economics of the Dream Bubble: Art, Fashion, and Street Style - with Jens Kaeumle

Today’s episode is an incredibly special full-circle moment for me personally. My guest today is a legendary creative force, an industry titan, an academic leader—and he happens to be my very first collector client ever, all the way back in 2003, when he called me out of the blue in Paris after seeing an article in Vogue on an exhibition I had just curated. Jens Kaeumle is currently the Associate Dean of the School of Fashion - and the De Sole School of Business Innovation at SCAD Atlanta. But before he was shaping the next generation of creative entrepreneurs, Jens spent decades at the absolute pinnacle of the global fashion industry. Graduate of the Royal College of Art in London, his career reads like a history map of modern style: he has served as the Design Director for Levi’s, and the Creative Director for powerhouse brands like Tommy Hilfiger Europe and Hackett London. Because Jens and his family were right there in Paris at the turn of the millennium—with his then-wife Jane working alongside Marc Jacobs to launch Louis Vuitton’s very first clothing line—Jens had a front-row seat to the radical transformation of the luxury goods empire. He witnessed firsthand how Bernard Arnault rebuilt the mechanics of fashion, shifting the industry from standard product sales to a cultural juggernaut driven by art collaborations, high-concept runway hype, and meticulous craftsmanship. Beyond his executive career, Jens has spent the last twenty-five years heavily invested in the art ecosystem as a passionate collector, patron, painter, and cultural influencer. He is the co-founder of House of Friends, a nomadic apartment-gallery and curated dinner concept designed to strip the stuffiness out of the art world and replace it with genuine, community-driven dialogue. In this conversation, we meander through the true, behind-the-scenes economics of the fashion pyramid—from the high-margin genius of canvas bags, to the role of haute couture as a guardian of ancient human craftsmanship. We talk about the impact of social media on youth culture and street style, the creative hustle of his early days commuting across Europe, and his recent transition to the booming cultural landscape of Atlanta. Finally, Jens shares his raw philosophy on what it takes for the next generation to build a successful, entrepreneurial life by defining their own hopes and dreams instead of sitting in the passenger seat. He is an old friend, a brilliant mind, and the author of the aptly-named memoir NEVER BORING. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jens Kaeumle. Episode recorded June 22, 2026 Podcast Timeline & Chapters * 00:00 — The First Client: Recalling the 2003 Paris Vogue Encounter * 01:36 — The Stuffy Era: Paris Art and Fashion Before the Luxury Boom * 03:29 — The Golden Age of Louis Vuitton: Launching with Marc Jacobs * 04:47 — Commuting Creators: Directing Tommy Hilfiger Europe * 05:50 — Blurring the Lines: German Art School Roots and the Murakami Shift * 07:52 — The Bernard Arnault Blueprint: Shifting from Licensing to Hype Economics * 11:11 — The Dream Bubble: Building a Luxury Legacy Over Temporary Trends * 12:43 — Applied Art vs. Fine Art: The Commercial Reality of Design * 15:21 — The Fashion Pyramid: A High-Level Primer on Industry Margins * 19:16 — Club Culture to Doom Scrolling: The De-Localization of Street Style * 23:27 — Haute Couture’s Modern Role: A Guardian of Ancient Craftsmanship * 25:44 — Entry-Level Access: Perfume Capital and the Golden Goose of Canvas * 28:43 — Private Equity and Real Estate: How Megabrands Hedge Against Creative Failure * 31:16 — Creative Voicing vs. Corporate DNA: Navigating Collaboration and Polarization * 35:54 — Dynamite and Self-Healing: Maintaining a Raw Personal Art Practice * 39:38 — The Atlanta Chapter: SCAD Leadership and an 80s NYC Creative Revival Vibe * 43:53 — House of Friends: Nomadic Dining and the Rise of the Apartment Gallery * 47:14 — The Driver’s Seat Strategy: Crucial Advice for Next-Gen Entrepreneurs

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The Business of Basquiat: How an Artist Became a Brand, with Doug Woodham

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