Sighs and Whispers

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with fashion designer and artist Hylan Booker. Born and raised in Detroit, Hylan Booker came to the UK in 1958 as a G.I. in the US Air Force. In his downtime, he studied at the Swindon School of Art, before enrolling at the Royal College of Art in London, where he studied alongside Ossie Clark. Booker launched his own line after graduation in 1966, quickly becoming one of the most talked-about collections in Swinging London. In 1968, he was tapped by the historic House of Worth to design its couture collection, becoming the first Black to hold such a role at a European couture house. Through the 1970s, he freelanced for many British fashion companies and established a cosmetics line for women of color, before returning to the United States in 1980. After designing menswear in New York, Booker moved to Miami in the 1990s, where he established his own couture line of exquisite evening gowns. After closing his line in the wake of 9/11, Hylan switched his focus to art—primarily painting, as well as soaking up the beauty of art while working as a guard for LACMA, which provided him the opportunity to also start writing about art and fashion history. Over his long and varied career, Hylan has always been at the center of everything—continually creating and always evolving. Living in Los Angeles and still painting daily, Hylan is a highly erudite, philosophical man, and this is a particularly fascinating conversation. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources, video clips, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-49-hylan-booker Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Hylan Booker

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with photographer and filmmaker Denis Piel. Born in France and raised in Australia, Denis Piel began shooting advertising work in the 1960s, establishing his own studio before discovering a passion for fashion photography. After moving to Europe in the early 1970s, he shot for many of the hippest young fashion magazines, like French Elle and Honey. In 1979, Piel moved to New York, where his work brought him to the attention of Alexander Liberman, the legendary art director of American Vogue, who contracted him to shoot exclusively for Condé Nast. Over the next eleven years, Piel shot more than a thousand editorial spreads and celebrity portraits for the American, German, Italian, French, and British editions of Vogue, while also photographing for Vanity Fair, Self, and GQ. In the middle of the decade, he established a film production company and began shooting commercials, most famously for Donna Karan. After he left Condé Nast to concentrate on directing, Denis continued to shoot commercials while also making a feature-length documentary, Love is Blind. In the early 2000s, Denis and his family left New York and moved permanently to a Renaissance chateau in South-West France. There, he has focused on art photography, much of it inspired by the gardens and local environment. This conversation delves into all aspects of his career and photography; from the cameras he uses to his many collaborators and inspirations. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources, video clips, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-48-denis-piel Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Denis Piel

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with artist and illustrator Richard Ellescas. From Southern California, the Filipino-Chinese-Native American Dick Ellescas found his way to art and illustration through the kindness of a series of mentors, before studying at the School of Visual Arts, Chouinard Art, and Art Center College of Design, where he later taught. His artistry led him to become a muralist in the Army and a designer of movie intros, before developing a successful freelance illustration career that lasted decades. In the 1970s, Ellescas’ skillful mixture of Art Déco, Art Nouveau, and psychedelic art became a mainstay of magazines and album covers—his romantic art the ideal accompaniment to classical music and opera. Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown once wrote, “Los Angeles’ Dick Ellescas specializes in glamorous women, brilliant color – and we gasp (pleasurably) when his work arrives at the office.” Those glamorous women included Barbie, as he was the artist behind her illustrated boxes for over a decade. Dick continued painting until his death in 2025; this interview was recorded at his home in 2023. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources, video clips, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-47-richard-ellescas Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Richard Ellescas

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with movie critic and author Molly Haskell. A legendary film critic, with her first book, ‘From Reverence to Rape: the Treatment of Women in the Movies’ (1973) Molly Haskell fundamentally changed the way we look at women in film and basically started the whole field of feminist film theory and criticism. Starting her career in the mid-1960s at the French Film Office in New York, writing press releases about French films and translating for visiting directors, Molly began reviewing in the late 1960s. Over the next five decades, she went on to write for New York Magazine, Vogue, Ms., Viva, The New York Times, The Guardian, Esquire, The New York Review of Books, Film Comment, and many other publications, in addition to writing five other books. From a traditional Southern background, Molly forsook the expected path of a housewife, instead choosing a career and a marriage built on a shared passion for film—she was married to fellow film critic Andrew Sarris for 43 years, until his death in 2012. Of course, this conversation touches on movies, but also about growing up in the South in the 1940s and 50s, feminism, the life of a writer and critic, and so much more. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources, video clips, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-46-molly-haskell Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Molly Haskell

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms in conversation with illustrator and graphic designer Barry Zaid. Canadian self-taught artist Barry Zaid had had a long, fruitful career that has taken him all over the world. While living in London in the mid-to-late-1960s, his stylized 20s-inspired art and graphics were a vital part of the nascent Art Deco revival; they can be seen on the cover of ‘The Beatles’ First’ and the book that gave the movement its name, Bevis Hillier’s ‘Art Deco.’ Barry then brought his inimitable illustrations to New York and Push Pin Studios, where he worked under graphic design legends Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast. In the late 1970s, Zaid became the creative director for Celestial Seasonings Tea, where he created their iconic packaging. Over the decades, Barry worked for every major magazine and newspaper, from the Globe & Mail to Seventeen, Sesame Street to New York, Esquire to Ladies’ Home Journal. Zaid has designed hundreds of logos, packaging for a range of products, album covers, billboards, and also worked on many books. In 1990, he published ‘Wish You Were Here,’ a nostalgic tour through his collection of hand-tinted hotel picture postcards. Now living in San Miguel de Allende, 87-year-old Barry continues to paint and design. Sign up for the Sighs and Whispers newsletter for more fashion and cultural history. For full show notes, videos, episode resources, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-45-barry-zaid Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Barry Zaid

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms is back with a conversation with writer, actor, narrator, Zen Buddhist priest, and countercultural icon Peter Coyote. As the narrator for many of Ken Burns’ documentaries, Peter Coyote has been described as the “voice of America,” yet his life and career are far most interesting and diverse. He came to screen acting and fame in his 40s, leading a wild and colorful life of adventure on the edges of society before that. Coyote was a founding member of the Diggers, a San Francisco anarchist collective. Once the Diggers evolved into the Free Family, Coyote went on to live on several communes. Drugs and the downfall of the counterculture brought Peter Coyote to Zen Buddhism in the mid-70s, which shifted the tenor and direction of his life and career, bringing him into the arts and eventually back into acting, something he had first attempted in the mid-60s as part of the San Francisco Mime Troupe. After re-starting his acting career in 1978, among his first films was as the mysterious government agent Keys in Steven Spielberg’s ‘E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial’ (1982). A successful career in the United States brought him to Europe, where he became a bona fide movie star. Throughout all the ups and downs of moviemaking and the difficulties of balancing family life with a career on the road, Coyote maintained his Zen meditation practice, finding in it his center. For the last twenty years, he has devoted most of his time to narration and writing; Coyote has published two memoirs, a book of poetry, and two books on Zen. Sign up for the Sighs and Whispers newsletter for more fashion and cultural history. For full show notes, videos, episode resources, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-44-peter-coyote Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Peter Coyote

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with Sally Ann Parsons. Sally Ann Parson is the grande dame of the Broadway, dance and theatre costume worlds. Now in her 80s, she has been involved with the theatre since she was a small child—first as an actress, then as a costume designer for downtown dance troupes and ballets and, since 1980, the owner of a costume workshop. Parson-Meares is a Premier Broadway costume shop known for its excellence in artistic and fantastic costumes, and still after 45 years, New York City’s largest. Among the many Broadway hits for which she has supervised costume-making are “Hamilton,” “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Wicked,” “Cats,” “Phantom of the Opera,” and “Starlight Express.” Additionally, Parson-Meares has created costumes for the Metropolitan Opera and other opera houses, numerous ballets, Disney on Ice, and the Rockettes. In 2016, Sally Ann was the first costume maker to receive a Tony Honor. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources, video clips, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-43-sally-ann-parsons Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Sally Ann Parsons

After a two-year break, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms is back with a conversation with artist Steven Thomas. After studying at the Chelsea School of Art in the mid-60s, Steve started his career in Swinging London, modelling, painting the façade of Chelsea boutique Dandie Fashions, and designing album artwork for bands, including the Rolling Stones. In the late 1960s, a girlfriend introduced him fashion illustrator-turned-fashion designer Barbara Hulanicki and her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon of Biba, which began a very fruitful and inspirational collaboration. He began working with Biba first on smaller projects, like a makeup poster, then a children’s department at the Kensington Church Street store and the Biba concession at Bergdorf Goodman, and finally, when Biba took over a whole department store on Kensington High Street, Steve and his partner Tim Whitmore were hired to create all of the designs for the entire Big Biba store, including interiors, signage, giant display items and graphic designs for the hundreds of own-brand product lines. After Big Biba closed in August 1975, Whitmore-Thomas began working extensively with Paul McCartney—designing his company’s headquarters along with numerous private homes—as well as launching a highly lucrative advertising and branding business for some of the largest brands in the world, like Guinness, Harrods, Lucky Strike, Pepsi, and Virgin. In the early 2000s, Whitmore-Thomas separated, with Steve returning to his first love: painting. Sign up for the Sighs and Whispers newsletter for more fashion and cultural history. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-42-steven-thomas Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Steven Thomas

After a two-year break, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms is back with a conversation with fashion designer Stan Herman. Stan Herman is a living legend in the American fashion industry. At 97-years-old, Stan been designing and working in the New York fashion industry since the early 1950s. After becoming a youthquake fashion star as head designer for Mr. Mort in the late 60s, starting in the 1970s, he became the designer of choice for corporate uniforms. Through his uniform designs for many different airlines, McDonald’s, FedEx, Amtrak and more, as well as his many-decade career selling robes and loungewear on QVC, he is the most worn designer ever. Even now, in his late 90s, he continues to design uniforms for FedEx, JetBlue, and other major corporations. From 1991 to 2006, Stan was also president of the CFDA, where he was integral to bringing New York Fashion Week to the tents at Bryant Park. This conversation took place in September 2024, soon after the release of his memoir, Uncross Your Legs: A Life in Fashion (https://bookshop.org/a/101766/9781938461583) Sign up for the Sighs and Whispers newsletter (https://laurakitty.substack.com/) for more fashion and cultural history. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-41-stan-herman Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Stan Herman

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with leather artisans and costumers Whitaker Malem. The British leather-making duo Patrick Whitaker and Keir Malem having been loving, working, and living together for over 35 years. Its more than likely that you are well acquainted with their work, even if the name Whitaker Malem rings no bells. If you’ve ever watched Die Another Day, The Dark Knight, Hobbs and Shaw, Captain America, Wonder Woman, Troy or Aquaman, then you’ve seen Whitaker Malem’s expert leatherwork. They started their career in fashion—their unusual, molded leather bustiers and jackets soon becoming a favorite of magazines, pop stars and musicians. They also collaborated on runway pieces for Alexander McQueen (both his own label and Givenchy), Hussein Chalayan, and Tommy Hilfiger. Since 2002, Whitaker Malem have helped costume 26 films—their work integral to the creation of superhero and warrior bodily forms. Additionally, they have collaborated with pop artist Allen Jones for over 30 years while also maintaining their own fine art practice. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-40-whitaker-malem Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guests Patrick Whitaker & Keir Malem

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with pop artist, painter and sculptor Allen Jones. Allen was born in Southampton in 1937 and grew up in the London suburbs. He studied painting and lithography at Hornsey College of Art between 1955 and 1959, after which he entered the Royal College of Art alongside what was to become the first generation of British pop artists. After teaching art and exhibiting for a few years, in 1964 he moved to New York for a year, before going on an extended tour of the United States by car. This trip proved to be incredibly influential in his career—connecting him with the American pop art scene, helping him develop a more hard-edged painting style, and introducing him to fetish imagery. In 1970 he premiered his most controversial works—sculptures of pneumatic female mannequins as furniture: a chair, a hat stand, and a table. The feminist backlash made him into a household name. One of Britain’s most famous living artists, at 85, he continues to paint everyday day in his large barn-like studio in the beautiful English countryside. Allen and I discuss growing up in the London suburbs, art school and his early years teaching, pop art, New York and the Chelsea Hotel, America in the 1960s, the evolution of his sculptural work, his current projects, and much more. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-39-allen-jones Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Allen Jones

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks author, journalist, activist and founding editor of Ms. Magazine, Letty Cottin Pogrebin. From Queens, Letty grew up in a conservative Jewish family. At age 20 in 1960, she became the director of publicity for the publishing company Bernard Geis Associates—later rising to vice president. There she was instrumental in making books like ‘Valley of the Dolls’ and ‘Sex and the Single Girl’ into mega-bestsellers. In 1970, she wrote her first book, ‘How to Make it in a Man’s World’; after its success, she left her job to focus on writing and raising her family. She was a founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus, through which she met Gloria Steinem; in 1972, they founded Ms. Magazine together. Letty was an editorial consultant for the 1972 TV special ‘Free to Be... You and Me’ for which she earned an Emmy. Throughout the 70s, 80s, 90s and up to today, she has continued writing books—centering on subjects around the family, raising children, being a working woman, aging, and Judaism. Her latest book, ‘Shanda: A Memoir of Shame and Secrecy,’ was released in 2022; in it she unfurls generations of secrets in her family and discusses how the Jewish teaching of “Shanda,” or shame, perpetuated constant paranoia and secrecy. Letty and I chat about everything—her childhood, the abortions she had in college in the 1950s, how she got her start in publishing, her almost 60-year marriage to labor lawyer Bert Pogrebin, what ‘Mad Men’ got right about the 1960s, discovering feminism, Ms. Magazine, balancing career and family life, being a working writer, and rediscovering Judaism. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-38-letty-cottin-pogrebin Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Letty Cottin Pogrebin

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with author, screenwriter and TV producer James Fritzhand. Originally from Brooklyn, James Fritzhand published his first novel in 1971, ‘Son of the Great American Novel.’ He then went on to publish seventeen further novels, across many genres and using several pseudonyms—from showbiz roman a clefs to sagas to gothics to adventure novels and more. In the early 1980s, Fritzhand became a television screenwriter—writing for many of the major prime time soaps of the era: ‘Falcon Crest’, ‘Flamingo Road’, and ‘Hotel’ (which he also produced for a season). Around 2000, he retired from showbusiness and moved to northern California, where he lives a quiet life with his partner of 46 years. Jim and I talk about growing up in Brooklyn in the 50s and 60s, discovering himself as a writer, how he went from literary fiction to popular fiction to TV writing, meeting his partner in a gay bathhouse, AIDS, the quiet life, losing everything in the Tubbs Fire, and his passion for birding. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-37-james-fritzhand Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest James Fritzhand

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with art director and author Steven Heller. An incredibly creative and prolific individual, Steven is the author, co-author or editor of over 200 books on graphic design, illustration and political art. I interviewed him in the fall, around the publication of “Growing Up Underground: A Memoir of Counterculture New York,” which details his teens and early 20s working in the counterculture press. At 17 he became the art director at the counterculture weekly, the New York Free Press. He then went on to work for Screw, the East Village Other, Rock, Gay, Mobster Times, and Evergreen Review, before being poached at age 24 by the New York Times to be the art director of the Op-ed page. Steve was an art director at The New York Times for 33 years; 3 years on the Op-ed page, before moving to the Book Review. He became a senior art director in 1980. Steven is the co-founder and co-chair of the MFA Design Department and co-founder of the MFA Design Criticism, MPS Branding, MFA Interaction Design, and MFA Products of Design programs at SVA. Heller is also the recipient of the Smithsonian Institution National Design Award for "Design Mind," the AIGA Medal for Lifetime Achievement and other honors. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-36-steven-heller Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Steven Heller

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with aerobics instructor and actress Bess Motta. Bess Motta was born and raised right outside Los Angeles, and began acting in school plays at a young age. After high school, she went on to star in “The Great American Backstage Musical” on stage in San Francisco and London—arriving back from her British sojourn thirty pounds heavier. Needing to lose weight for auditions led her to join a gym and try aerobics; within months she had lost the weight and was leading sixteen classes a week. She was elevated to fitness fame as one of the instructors of “20 Minute Workout,” and began traveling the country to lead workouts and host fitness competitions in malls nationwide. In addition to teaching fitness for forty years, Bess has continued to act—her most famous role being Ginger, Sarah Connor’s roommate in “The Terminator.” In 2016, Bess returned to the stage to star as Judy Garland in the west coast theatre premier of “The Boy from Oz,” for which she won the LA Stage Alliance Ovation Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Best Featured Performance from the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-35-bess-motta Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Bess Motta

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms speaks with artist and illustrator Emanuel Schongut. Manny Schongut has had a long and diverse career as an illustrator. From upstate New York, Schongut studied and taught at Brooklyn’s Pratt Institute before becoming a freelance illustrator. During the 1960s, Schongut became known for his distinctive book covers, often for science fiction and crime novels, that brought together watercolour and pen-and-ink in intriguing graphics. In the early 1970s, he was represented by Push Pin Studios, the legendary graphic design and illustration firm founded by Milton Glaser and Seymour Chwast. Taking a more traditional figurative tack, Manny’s work appeared in New York magazine, the New York Times, Vogue, Town & Country, Redbook, and many other publications. Starting in the 1970s, Schongut began working on children’s books—so far, he has illustrated over twenty, and been the author of five of those. Based in San Francisco since the early 1990s, 86-year-old Manny continues to create. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-34-emanuel-schongut Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Emanuel Schongut

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms is back this week with a conversation with former model and artist Pat Runningbear Evans. One of the most memorable models of the late 1960s and 1970s, Pat Evans was born and raised in Harlem. After she shaved her head, her modeling career became highly successful with Pat starring in ad campaigns, editorials and on the cover of three legendary Ohio Players albums. Unwilling to put up with the way Black women were treated as models, she moved into designing – creating handmade leather clothes that were worn by superstars like Isaac Hayes. Pat also worked as a makeup artist for yet more superstars, Aretha Franklin among them, before founding her own modeling agency. A religious experience led her to close her agency and move to the country in the early 1990s, focusing since then on her spiritual experience and on making traditional Native American clothes, moccasins, and objects. She lives a quiet life away from fashion industry but kindly took the time to reminisce and share her experiences with us. To sign up for my newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-33-pat Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Pat Runningbear Evans

Fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms is back this week with a conversation with art collector, muse, journalist, and editor Joan Agajanian Quinn. Joan Quinn has been a major force in the Los Angeles art scene for 70 years, as a collector, promoter, advocate, and friend to generations of artists. While amassing a large “accumulation” of art, her passion and collecting zeal also made her a muse for artists—what started as some artist friends painting and sculpting her portrait in the seventies, has now grown into a collection of over 300 portraits of Joan. In the late 1970s, Andy Warhol asked her to become West Coast editor of Interview magazine; a role she later held with several other publications. From the mid-1980s until 2020, Joan hosted public access TV shows where she interviewed artists and creatives. Now in her 80s, Joan is still actively engaging with artists and the art world. Part of her collection was featured at an exhibition at the Bakersfield Museum of Art earlier this year. Called “On the Edge: Los Angeles Art 1970s – 1990s from the Joan and Jack Quinn Family Collection” and put on with assistance from the Wonderful Company, it featured work from many of Joan’s artist friends: Robert Mapplethorpe, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha, Zandra Rhodes, Larry Bell, Frank Gehry, Ed Moses, Helmut Newton, Billy Al Bengston, Antonio Lopez and many more. With sponsorship from the JHM Foundation, the exhibition is now on view at the Armenian Museum of America in Watertown, Massachusetts, where it has been extended until January 31st, 2022. To sign up for our newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-32-joan-quinn Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Joan Agajanian Quinn

After a little hiatus, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with the president of the Estate of Richard Bernstein, Rory Trifon. Known for his saturated, highly glamorous covers for Interview magazine, Richard Bernstein was born in New York in 1939; he passed away from AIDs-related complications in 2002. Richard created the cover for every Interview magazine up until Warhol's death in 1987—a prodigious volume of work that serves as an archive of 1970s and 1980s celebrity culture. In the late 1970s, Richard Bernstein became friends with Grace Jones, helping to mold her visual identity as she first emerged as a singer. The duo continued to work together for many years. Richard was also an early innovator in digital art. Rory is Richard's nephew and the one entrusted with maintaining and carrying forward his legacy. In our conversation, he provides a short biography of Richard, his artistic career and relationship with Andy Warhol. We then speak about what is like to run an artist’s estate, what it entails, and the process of archiving. Rory was instrumental in the creation of a coffee table book on Richard, Starmaker, which was published by Rizzoli in 2018; he has also loaned Richard’s work to numerous museum exhibitions and collaborated with a number of fashion and interiors brands. To sign up for our newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/ episode-31-richard-bernstein-estate Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Rory Trifon

Returning for a new season, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with fashion designer, actress and model Edina Ronay. Born in Budapest to a family of successful restaurateurs, Edina Ronay fled to London with her parents after the war. There her father opened a restaurant and then founded what became a very successful and influential series of guidebooks, starting with Egon Ronay's Guide to British Eateries in 1957. As a teen Edina became an actress, appearing in a number of cult British films. She was a key member of the hip London scene and dated Michael Caine before she met her husband, photographer Dick Polak. With him, she lived in Morocco and Formentera, until they returned to London to act, model and have children. In the early 1970s Edina began selling vintage clothes. This led to her starting a knitwear label based on vintage knitting patterns, which eventually grew into her own fashion label. Edina Ronay showed at London Fashion Week and was sold all over the world. Throughout her career, she was at the center of swinging and creative London. We cover all of this and more, including her over 50-year marriage, motherhood and spirituality. To sign up for our newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-30-edina-ronay Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms 
 Featured Guest Edina Ronay

Returning for a new season, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with photographer Susan Wood. Susan Wood is a New Yorker born and bred. She started her career in the early 1950s, working in the lab at LIFE magazine before having her first photo published in Harper’s Bazaar in 1955. Over the subsequent decades Susan photographed for everyone and truly across all genres. Fashion, interiors, portraits, food, travel, crafts, documentary, and movie stills—Susan did it all at a time when there were very few female photographers in the industry. Among the magazines she worked for were Vogue, New York Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, Mademoiselle, People, LOOK, Good Housekeeping, and Glamour. We discuss her 60 year career, what it was like working as a female photographer at that time, her creative process, the many famous people she has photographed and much more. To sign up for our newsletter, visit https://laurakitty.substack.com/ For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-29-susan-wood Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms 
Featured Guest Susan Wood

Hugo Vickers is a writer, historian and broadcaster who discovered his interest in history and the royal family while still at school. He is the author of many books about the royal family, the British aristocracy, Cecil Beaton and other related topics. In his twenties he began researching a famed beauty he had seen mentioned in a book as a teenager—according to all reports she had disappeared but Hugo found her living in a geriatric psych ward. Thus began the several year process of interviewing her and researching Gladys’ life as the Duchess of Marlborough—his biography of her was published in 1979 to much acclaim. This book led to a request from Cecil Beaton to write his biography, followed by books about Garbo, Vivien Leigh, and many members of the royal family. After quickly establishing himself as an expert on all matters to do with the royal family, Hugo made his first appearance as a royal commentator during Charles and Diana’s wedding in 1981. Since then he has become one of the most well-known and highly regarded in the UK. A fount of information on a world that has largely disappeared, he joins host Laura McLaws Helms to discuss how his interests became his career, how he approaches writing and research, the royal family and more. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-28-hugo-vickers Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms 
Featured Guest Hugo Vickers

Shirley Lord is a journalist, beauty editor and expert, and novelist, who rose from working-class Cockney lass to one of the most influential people in the beauty industry through grit, good humor, and a passion for journalism. A features editor for a British women’s magazine by age 24, three years later she married the carpet tycoon Cyril Lord. Weaving easily between high-class entertaining and a high-powered career, Shirley worked for British Harper’s Bazaar and the Evening Standard in London before leaving her marriage in the early 1970s to move to New York. After a stint as beauty director of Harper’s Bazaar, she became beauty editor of Vogue—a job that she would have in some capacity for most of the next 40 years, only leaving briefly to be vice president of Helena Rubinstein. In the 1980s she married Abe Rosenthal, the legendary editor of the New York Times—they were together until his death in 2011. Shirley Lord has written two beauty books as well as several novels drawing on her deep knowledge of the glamorous fashion and beauty industries. Truly a woman who self-created her life, she joins host Laura McLaws Helms to discuss her journalism career, her five marriages, and all things beauty. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-26-shirley-lord Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms 
 Featured Guest Shirley Lord

This week on Sighs & Whispers, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with fashion designer, actress, writer and all-around creative Tere Tereba. As a teenager Tereba began designing for Arpeja, the largest LA-based multi-brand fashion company who owned Young Edwardian, Young Innocent and many others. Quickly making a name for herself, over the next twenty years Tereba designed for all of the major Los Angeles fashion companies (including Malibu Media and Jody T.), before starting her own eponymous high-end line in the late 1980s. Alongside her high-powered fashion design career, Tere maintained a very busy social life among the upper echelons of the film and art worlds—good friends with the likes of Andy Warhol, she also spent a lot of time in Paris and Rome in the 1970s with the crème de la crème of the European movie world. After many years of friendship she acted in Andy Warhol’s Bad in 1977. After ten years of research, her book on a notorious gangster (Mickey Cohen: The Life and Crimes of L.A.'s Notorious Mobster) was published in 2012. For full show notes, video clips, and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-26-tere-tereba Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms 
Featured Guest Tere Tereba

Meryl Meisler is an acclaimed photographer known for her street and documentary work. Meisler began photographing in the mid-70s, focusing on the Jewish community in her hometown on Long Island as well as the nightlife scene in NYC. After becoming an art and photography teacher at a public school in Bushwick, Brooklyn, she continued to shoot the world and people around her. Following her retirement in 2007 that she began to delve into her old, boxed-up contact sheets and negatives—revealing a New York that was long gone, captured in a totally individual and unique manner. Since then Meisler’s photographic career has had a renaissance; publishing three books of her photographs—centering mostly on Bushwick, disco and Long Island suburbia—and has participated in countless gallery exhibitions. She joins host Laura McLaws Helms to discuss her childhood, NYC in the 70s and 80s, her creative process, balancing a full-time job and her creative pursuits, and her future projects. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-25-meryl-meisler Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms 
Featured Guest Meryl Meisler

Carole Bell Ford is an educator, historian and writer. Born to Jewish immigrant parents in Brownsville, Brooklyn, in 1934, Carole’s choices led her away from the narrow options available to her in Brownsville at the time, eventually leading her to get her master’s and her doctorate, live in Europe, start writing and launch a whole new career. For many years she worked at Empire State College, a SUNY school for adult students that is centered on individualized study—there she taught in addition to developing curriculum and special programs. She started a second whole career after retirement and has since published four books. She joins host Laura McLaws Helms to discuss the Brownsville of her childhood, the opening up of women’s lives and options in the last 70 years, her careers and relationships, the appeal of oral history, road trips and more. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-24-carole-bell-ford Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Carole Bell Ford

Penny Arcade is a performance artist and provocateur. “A runaway at thirteen, a reform-school graduate at sixteen, a performer in the legendary New York Play-House of the Ridiculous at seventeen, and an escapee from Andy Warhol’s Factory scene at nineteen, Penny Arcade emerged in the 1980s as a primal force on the New York art scene and an originator of what came to be called performance art.” She joins host Laura McLaws Helms to discuss the winding road of her life, family history, artistic influences, becoming a performance artist, her personal life and healing journey, in addition to her thoughts about New York and American culture at the moment. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/episode-23-penny-arcade Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Penny Arcade

Charlie Morrow is a sound artist, composer, musician, producer, conceptualist, performer, magazine editor and former jingle writer. He joins host Laura McLaws Helms to discuss all aspects of his life, work and creative process. A true multi-hat, his creative projects have included chanting and healing works, museum and gallery installations, large-scale festival events, radio and TV broadcasts, film soundtracks, advertising jingles and commercial soundscapes. Among his many projects he organized a Summer Solstice celebration annually in NYC from 1973 to 1989. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/ episode-22-charlie-morrow Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Charlie Morrow

Barbara Nessim is an artist, teacher, and creative visionary. She joins host Laura McLaws Helms to discuss all aspects of her life, work and creative process. From the personal—her childhood in a Jewish neighborhood in the 1940 and 50s, through life as a single woman making her way in New York in the 60s and 70s, a later marriage and her decision not to have children—to the artistic—her inspirations, mentors, how she developed her unique and instantly recognizable style, her early adoption of computer art and more. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://sighswhispers.com/ episode-21-barbara-nessim Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Barbara Nessim

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with dancer, choreographer and director Martha Clarke—known for transcending dance and theater to make deeply evocative moving spectacles of beauty steeped in history. After studying at Julliard, dancing with Anna Sokolow’s company, having a baby and moving to Rome, Clarke became a founding member of the highly innovative dance troupe Pilobolus in 1971. Her own work from 1980 on was noted for its dreamlike quality—nonlinear, they invite the viewer into an illusory world of fantasy. The most famous of her works is 1984's The Garden of Earthly Delights. A wonderful introduction to Martha Clarke as well as an in-depth exploration into her remarkable life and oeuvre. Marriage, love, children, family, friendships, and collaborative working relationships—she speaks openly about all of these subjects, in addition to elucidating her creative process and the meanings behind her works. For full show notes, video clips, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to ladyworld.tv/after-hours-martha-clarke Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Martha Clarke

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with Veronica Vera. Opening up about her multifaceted career as a sex journalist, porn star, erotic model, prostitutes’ rights activist, co-founder of the first porn star support group, and the head of the world’s first cross-dressing academy, Veronica is incredibly insightful about the effect that her sexual awakening had on her life and choices. This intimate conversation covers everything—love, sex, porn, the creative process, writing, art, New York from the 1960s to now, AIDs, death and friendship. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of photographs, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-veronica-vera Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Veronica Vera

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with photographer and filmmaker Robert Farber. Rising to prominence as a nude and fashion photographer in the mid-to-late 1970s, Farber is known for his signature soft focus aesthetic which he developed by experimenting with different films, filters and development processes with the goal of creating a painterly effect on film. With an innovative approach that produced atmospheric images tinged with nostalgia, since 1976 Farber has balanced highly successful careers in both the fine art and commercial photography worlds. A must listen for anyone interested in photography, Robert shares openly about his life, creative process and the many paths his career has taken. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-robert-farber Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Robert Farber

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with makeup artist, hairstylist, interior decorator and gallery owner Rick Gillette. Passionate about beauty and transformation, Rick arrived in NYC in the late 1960s. In great detail, Rick vividly brings to life the many worlds of New York—from downtown hip salons to luxury fashion magazines to the gay scene. Soon a star makeup artist and hairstylist, Rick was a favorite with famous photographers like Richard Avedon and Irving Penn. In the late 1980s he shifted his career to photography, before later focusing on interior design. Since 2013 he has run a gallery in the town of Hudson in upstate New York, which combines fine art, lighting, and furniture in a light-filled 3000 sq. foot space, perfectly curated by Rick. A must listen for anyone interested in the fashion world of the 1960s through 90s, and for anyone interested in beauty (in all of its manifestations). For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-rick-gillette Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Rick Gillette

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with illustrator and doll creator Mel Odom. An acclaimed illustrator known for utterly captivating and totally unique drawings suffused with a beauty and mystery that were unmatched, Mel worked extensively in the 1970s and 1980s for publications like Playboy, Time, Viva, OMNI, and Blue Boy. In 1995 he launched his labor of love—Gene Marshall, a fashion doll based on classic Hollywood starlets, who took the toy world by storm. Now focused primarily on painting, Mel is a total Southern gentleman and a joy to speak with. A must listen for anyone interested in art, New York in the 1970s and 80s, the gay experience during the early years of AIDs, and dolls. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-mel-odom Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Mel Odom

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with photographer and filmmaker Willie Christie. A wonderfully gossipy conversation, Willie discusses his career from photo assistant to photographer to commercial director to screenwriter to today. Full of interesting stories and memories about his time as a fashion photographer in the 1970s when he was married to Grace Coddington and shooting primarily for British Vogue, Willie then went on to direct videos for Pink Floyd and have a highly successful commercial directing career that spanned decades. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-willie-christie Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Willie Christie

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with make-up artist Barbara Daly. Barbara’s long and illustrious career includes working with such photographic greats as Helmut Newton, Barry Lategan and Norman Parkinson, in addition to designing the makeup looks for two of Stanley Kubrick’s films, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ and ‘Barry Lyndon.’ She then went on to found her own beauty school and launch two cosmetics brands, but her most famous work was doing Princess Diana’s make-up on her wedding day in 1981. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-barbara-daly Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Barbara Daly

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with acclaimed photographer Tony Vaccaro. Now 96, Tony Vaccaro is a legend in the photography world. Drafted into WWII at age 20, he brought his 35 mm camera with him to the frontlines in Europe—vividly capturing all aspects of an infantryman’s life: the chaos, the boredom, the destruction, the death. Tony stayed on in Europe after the war, documenting the reconstruction, before returning to New York where he established himself as a very in-demand fashion and celebrity photographer for Life and Look magazines. To all of his work he brought a love of symmetry and a deep humanity. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-tony-vaccaro Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Tony Vaccaro

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with acclaimed fashion journalist Marylou Luther. Opening up about her seven decades writing about fashion, Marylou discusses her leap from small-town Nebraska to covering fashion for the Des Moines Register, the Chicago Tribune, the LA Times and McCall’s, meeting Christian Dior, her friendship with Edith Head, and how she balanced a strong family life with a fast-paced career. For full show notes, episode resources and more about Marylou, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-marylou-luther Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Marylou Luther

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with graphic artist David Lance Goines. Incredibly multi-talented, Goines is an artist, calligrapher, typographer, printing entrepreneur, and author, yet he probably best known for the posters he illustrated for local Berkeley businesses, which have been reproduced and sold worldwide. Most notably would be the work he has done for the legendary Chez Panisse, which was opened by his former girlfriend Alice Waters—his book covers and annual posters for the restaurant helped define the visual identity of it for food lovers around the globe, in much the same way his other posters have created the visual identity of Berkeley. Goines first moved there to study Classics at UC Berkeley but was expelled in 1964 for his part in the Free Speech movement. A passionate activist and artist, Goines intimately discusses how passion, community and a lack of fear have aided him in creating a very long career doing what he loves. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-david-lance-goines Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest David Lance Goines

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with pop artist Mel Ramos. Sacramento native Mel Ramos was a progenitor of the pop art movement in the early 1960s – alongside his friends and contemporaries Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, he was one of the first artists to use comic book illustrations in his art. Ramos gained fame and notoriety for his paintings that combined commercial goods and idealized female nudes. Still creating these “commercial pin-ups” at age 82, in this discussion Ramos reflects on his long career as an artist and professor, his inspirations and creative process, and his family life. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-mel-ramos Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Mel Ramos

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with graphic artist Sandy Dvore. Originally from Chicago, Sandy Dvore left advertising to move to LA to become an actor in the early 1960s. Several years of failure and a chance encounter resulted in him becoming a highly successful graphic artist in the entertainment world. For many years the highly coveted back pages of The Hollywood Reporter and Variety were reserved for his vibrantly illustrated ads that broadcast the latest news for the megastars of cinema and music. From there, he became a sought after titles designer for films and television. His opening credits for television shows helped shape American culture in the 1970s and 1980s—a few examples include The Partridge Family, The Waltons, and The Young & the Restless. In this deep, intimate discussion, we discuss his rags-to-riches story, the aftereffects of computers ending his career, loneliness and searching for creativity in the face of depression. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-sandy-dvore Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Sandy Dvore

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with model, actress and yogi Ingrid Boulting. One of the most memorable models of the late 1960s and 1970s, Ingrid Boulting was raised in South Africa and England. Starting as a ballerina she fell into fashion, where she became a favorite of Richard Avedon, David Bailey and Sarah Moon, and appeared in Vogue (all international editions), Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen and many other magazines and ad campaigns. In 1976 she starred alongside Robert DeNiro in the movie adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, 'The Last Tycoon' in 1976. Throughout this period she studied meditation and yoga as a method of grounding herself, and later moved to Ojai, California, where she became a yoga teacher and opened her own studio. In this deep, intimate discussion, we discuss the projections placed on her due to her beauty, healing through yoga and shadow work, and, of course, her experiences in fashion and films. Behind the striking girl in the fashion photographs lies a far more interesting and complex woman. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-ingrid-boulting Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Ingrid Boulting

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with fashion designer Anna Sui. Born in Detroit in 1952, from a young age Sui became obsessed with fashion, music and New York. Sui achieved her dream when she moved to NYC to study fashion design at Parsons, but left after two years to work as an assistant designer at a juniors’ sportswear label. In 1980 she started her own company with $300. With the help of best friends Steven Meisel and Paul Cavaco, Sui launched herself into the fashion stratosphere in 1991 with her supermodel-heavy first runway show. In 1992 Sui opened her first store and won the CFDA Perry Ellis award for new talent. Sell-out collections at the major department stores and celebrity endorsements from such megastars as Madonna led to more stores, diffusion lines, perfumes and a makeup collection. Anna speaks openly about her slow road to “overnight success” and the business deals and collaborations that allowed her to expand her empire and to maintain control privately of her company. A fascinating interview for anyone interested in the inspiration, research, hard work and business behind the clothes you wear. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-anna-sui Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Anna Sui

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with photographer and filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg. Originally from the Bronx, Jerry became intrigued with photography while working at his family’s fur business after WWII. He started as a photographer’s assistant in the mid 1950s, before striking out on his own and shooting for Vogue by the end of the decade. Perfectly placed and well-suited to document the pop culture shifts of the Sixties, Schatzberg photographed such luminaries as the Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan while also hosting raucous parties for them at his studio. As celebrated as his subjects, Jerry appeared often in the gossip columns as a “man about town” especially once he became part owner in two of the hippest nightclubs in town—Ondine and Salvation—and was engaged to Faye Dunaway. Breaking into moviemaking in 1970, he won the top prize at the 1973 Cannes Film Festival for his third film, Scarecrow. Attracted by offbeat characters and unconventional plots, Jerry was part of a new auteur movement in 1970s Hollywood. He directed over a dozen films over the following decades, and now in his nineties he continues to write scripts and produce exhibitions and books of his photographs. Inspiring as a creator of photographs and films, Jerry Schatzberg is equally as inspiring for his thoughts, perspectives and passion for life. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-jerry-schatzberg Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Jerry Schatzberg

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with fashion designer Vicky Tiel. Vicky Tiel started designing clothes as a pre-teen before studying fashion at Parsons in New York. Alongside her college friend, Mia Fonssagrives, she moved to Paris at age 20 in 1964, where they quickly became the toast of the town. Snapped up to be costume designers on the film ‘What’s New Pussycat?’, they met Elizabeth Taylor at the studio—she became a client, friend and investor in their company. Mia-Vicky opened their first store in 1968 at 21 Rue Bonaparte; Vicky maintained a shop in that location for over four decades. Tiel married Elizabeth Taylor’s makeup man and spent several years traveling the world with the Burtons, while also designing youthful fashions that captured the essence of the “Swingin’ Sixties.” She went on help establish the couture salon at Bergdorf Goodman in 1981 and design the red ball gown Julia Roberts wore in ‘Pretty Woman.’ For the last few years, Tiel has focused on her perfume lines, which she primarily sells on HSN. A natural confidante, she provides advice for women on love, life and beauty. Full of enthusiasm, Vicky is a delight—she’s an intriguing mix of a keen businesswoman, a hopeless romantic and a great girlfriend that you want to dish all your troubles to. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-vicky-tiel Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Vicky Tiel

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with model, Playboy Playmate and journalist Marilyn Cole Lownes. From a small seaside town in England, Marilyn got her break as a Bunny at the Playboy Club in London in 1971 before becoming the January 1972 Playmate of the Month and 1973's Playmate of the Year. A notorious beauty, she enjoyed the finest excesses of the 1970s before settling down with her longtime on/off love, Playboy executive Victor Lownes, in 1984. She discusses how passion inspired the course of her life (taking her from modeling to journalism and tango), Playboy now and then, and what is was like to be the first full frontal centerfold. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-marilyn-cole Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Marilyn Cole Lownes

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with legendary television producer Russell Morash and his wife, Marian Morash. Working at WGBH in Boston since 1957, Russell Morash’s programs have been integral to the success of PBS – he produced Julia Child’s ‘The French Chef’ and ‘The Advocates,’ before creating ‘The Victory Garden,’ ‘This Old House’ and ‘The New Yankee Workshop.’ Marian learned to cook from Julia, ran a successful restaurant in Nantucket and became “Chef Marian” on ‘The Victory Garden.’ Russell Morash is the winner of 14 Daytime Emmy’s and the recipient of the 2014 Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award. Together they discuss how they created a long, beautiful and happy life out of following their passions. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/ after-hours-russell-and-marian-morash Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guests Russell and Marian Morash

This week on LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms meets with legendary fashion designer Norma Kamali. Opening up about her life, work and creative process, Norma is incredibly insightful about the choices and decisions she has made throughout her career in order to maintain her independence in the fashion industry and also discusses what continues to inspire her after fifty years designing. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of Norma’s designs, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-norma-kamali Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Norma Kamali

On this first episode of the relaunched LADY’s After Hours, fashion and cultural historian Laura McLaws Helms sits down with renowned photographer Duane Michals. An incredibly prolific artist, he has been shooting since 1958 and continues to produce new work across a range of different media. In a sprawling conversation, we discuss his life, career and creative process. Just like his work, Duane is immensely engaging, funny, melancholy, serious and loving. For full show notes, episode resources and a slideshow of Duane’s images, head to https://ladyworld.tv/after-hours-duane-michals Produced and hosted by Laura McLaws Helms Featured Guest Duane Michals

Sit in on controversial artist Richard Kern’s AFTER HOURS conversation with Fabiola Alondra and Jane Harmon of Fortnight Institute. In the wake of "Polarized," their current exhibition of Kern's work (which includes his voyeuristic, 1980's drug-bust films and largely unseen collection of Polaroids), we at LADY were keen to know more about the famously taciturn man behind the camera. Listen in as this theoretical perv discusses his past moonlighting in porn, a demystification of his casting process, and Lydia Lunch. Produced by Savannah Grace Neiggemann Hosted by Jane Harmon + Fabiola Alondra Featured Guest Richard Kern Recorded by Know-Wave