Front Row to Front Bench

Front Row To Front Bench is brought to you by Fashion Roundtable. Fashion Roundtable are the leading think tank for the fashion industry, improving people’s lives by influencing policy and outcomes. We'll be speaking to the diverse voices of the fashion industry alongside policymakers, parliamentarians, NGO's and charity organisations who through our work and now in this podcast, we bring together to create long-term, inclusive, sector growth.

Fashion Roundtable Book Club - Eleanor Houghton, author of 'Charlotte Brontë’s Life Through Clothes’ 06/30/2026

Q & A with Zakia Sewell, Author of ‘Finding Albion: Myth, folklore and the quest for a hidden Britain’ 05/15/2026

Q & A with Rob Hopkins, co-founder of Transition Network with Meg Pirie 03/26/2026

Q&A with Daisy Fancourt, author of Art Cure with Meg Pirie 02/27/2026

ALIX COOMBS in conversation #25 AMELIA TWINE 12/10/2024

HARRIET FLETCHER-GILHUYS in conversation with #24 KATE TURNBULL 12/03/2024

TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #23 BARONESS LOLA YOUNG OF HORNSEY 11/26/2024

TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #22 GREAT BRITISH WOOL REVIVAL 10/08/2024

TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #21 WAYNE HEMINGWAY 04/16/2024

TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #20 CHARLIE PORTER 12/05/2023

TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #20 CHARLIE PORTER For this episode of the Front Row to Front Bench podcast, speaks with writer, fashion critic and curator about his new book, ‘Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and the Philosophy of Fashion' published by . Charlie is one of the most influential fashion journalists of his time, and has written for the likes of the Guardian and iD magazine, as well as co-running the London queer rave . The book, rather wonderfully, uses clothing as a way to look at six iconic Bloomsbury figures, while seamlessly addressing the evolution of how we dress today. This leads on to the fact that clothing can be an intellectual and sexual liberation, or conversely an instrument for patriarchal power. The book came about after Charlie was asked to curate an exhibition called ‘’ at Charleston in Lewes. Through the inaugural exhibition Charlie explored the dynamic relationship between the Bloomsbury group. Here, clothing provided a route into learning more about the key figures in the Bloomsbury group and how, for some, fashion provided a language with which to explore their break away from tradition. This ultimately fed into the process of researching and writing his book. The conversation centres around the beginnings of the Bloomsbury group, who were at the vanguard of a social and sartorial revolution. Virgina Woolfe and her sister Vanessa Bell escaped to Bloomsbury from an oppressive and abusive upbringing, rejecting the fashions of the time for something new and this is unpicked. Homosocialism comes into the conversation where Charlie discusses his own experience of being gay from a working class background, and connecting this to E. M Forster and his struggle to be gay. The connection between Isabella Blow and Lady Ottoline Morrell is also explored by Tamara and the similarities of how they hosted and nurtured talent, but were mocked relentlessly. Finally, Charlie and Tamara talk about Vanessa Bell and the way she made her own clothes and how this has played out in a life-changing way for Charlie where he now makes his own clothes with a new philosophy of living and consuming fashion. To learn more about Charlie’s amazing work or to buy the book, click below: Buy the book Follow Charlie Porter Bring No Clothes: Bloomsbury and Fashion: Exhibition details Book tickets to visit Charleston House /episode/index/show/frontrowtofrontbench/id/28934998

MEG PIRIE in conversation with #19 VICTORIA JENKINS 11/10/2023

TAMARA CINCIK in conversation with #18 SIMON COSTIN 10/25/2023

TAMARA CINCIK in conversion with #17 ALDEN WICKER 10/09/2023

TAMARA CINCIK in conversion with #17 ALDEN WICKER In 2019, Alden Wicker was asked to comment on a lawsuit that was being filed by a Delta flight attendant against Lands’ End, because the newly introduced uniform had caused a myriad of health issues, such as skin rashes, shortness of breath, hair loss, anaphylaxis and in one instance death. In her book, ‘’, award-winning journalist and sustainability expert, , decided to break the story of unregulated toxic chemicals in fashion and their impacts on health and wellbeing. Historically, in The Victorian era, women garment workers dyed fabrics using arsenic green dyes, and the blame lay on the women for consuming this fashion and not the men who owned the factories or dye houses. Skip forward to this century and the issue remains the same. In her research, Alden discovered the patriarchal issue that almost all of the experts and consultants were male, when it is the women who are far more likely to be affected by the toxins that are in fashion in every way. What follows is a candid conversation about how dyes can affect our immune systems; how this affects women far more – from those working in fashion, to those consuming fashion, and those in caretaking roles of children with ailments such as asthma. In the US, endocrine disruptors were found in school uniforms, and so Alden talks in detail about ways in which we can reduce our exposure, including staying away from items with productivity promises such as ‘easy care’ or ultra fast-fashion with drop shipping. The conversation leads to how we can better legislate against these issues. Particularly with new trade deals in the pipeline, deregulation on textiles and dyes could result in a saturation of fast fashion. To buy Alden Wicker’s book: Hive books: Read our 'in conversation' interview with Alden here: Publisher: Website: LinkedIn: Instagram: /episode/index/show/frontrowtofrontbench/id/28244702