💫 Live From Paris Fashion Week with Rachel Maguire from Rashhiiid
We go back to one of our most listened to episodes - and there's no surprise why. Discover this week's Community Reward and what's the latest with faux fur.
Hello Tech Powered Luxury listener, and now reader!
💫 Launched as a podcast on November 1st 2022 by Ashley McDonnell, Tech Powered Luxury has since nurtured a vibrant community of experts passionate about the evolving synergy between technology and luxury. We have reached over 20 million people through the podcast, social platforms and media, and have hit +500K downloads.
🎙️ Each week, we feature leading voices who share both their professional journeys and personal insights, unraveling the success stories of those who are crafting the future of this dynamic industry.
🎁 Every week we are bringing Community Rewards to our subscribers. This week you can use the code ASHLEY15 for 15% off at Sásta Skin Health. Keep reading to discover more about their microbiome-friendly skincare (and why you should care about it).
💡 With over 60 episodes live across podcast platforms and MBA-worthy content - especially considering that Tech Powered Luxury is also taught to executive MBA and master students in business schools around the world -, we’re about to launch season 4! We’re moving from an audio podcast to a full-blown show, with all episodes recorded in-person and available to watch (as well as listen).
📩 Not only that - in order to connect more deeply with our community and to curate essential insights for our readers, every Tuesday alongside a new podcast episode you'll receive an email brimming with exclusive content, key takeaways from the week's discussion and a sneak peek at upcoming interviews.
🪄 Our weekly newsletter is curated by Beatriz Barros, a seasoned expert in luxury and technology based in Milan, Italy. A dedicated collaborator of Tech Powered Luxury, Beatriz applies her expertise as a Fashion & Luxury Business Consultant at Retex—Italy's forefront company known for integrating strategic acumen with operational excellence to solve complex retail-oriented projects for fashion & luxury brands. Additionally, she educates aspiring professionals at Polimoda, renowned for its focus on Fashion Design & Business in the vibrant city of Florence, Italy - also where she first met Ashley during one of her lectures on the future of luxury: a match made in academic heaven. 🌈
Season 3 Episode Live From Paris Fashion Week with Rachel Maguire: How Fashion Saved Her Life & Seeing Her Brand ‘Rashhiiid’ Being Worn By Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Megan Fox, Rosalía and More
👀 TL;DR
Rachel Maguire is an Irish fashion designer and founder of independent fashion brand Rashhiiid, whose designs have been worn by global stars including Doja Cat, Ariana Grande, Megan Fox, Rosalía and many more.
Rachel is a digital-first designer whose viral faux fur hats, coats and accessories have put Irish design on the global map. Rachel was the first designer ever from the Grafton Academy of Fashion Design to create both of her collections completely out of recycled materials and today is working with the highest quality faux fur available to create luxury collections without an ethical compromise.
In this episode recorded during Paris Fashion Week in March 2024, we talk about how fashion saved Rachel's life, the biggest investment she's made so far in building her business, how she created those viral celebrity moments and what’s next for Rachel and Rashhiiid.
An energetic powerhouse. Rachel Maguire’s radical candour is exactly what pushes her brand forward: her passion and honesty are felt throughout every single story she tells, and are more than visible on her pieces as well. It’s the sort of brand that you either instantly love or hate, that drags you into a niche reminding us of an updated version of our beloved cult-like brands of the 1990’s. But make it faux-furry and fun.
I personally related a lot to her energy and story. I’ll leave the details for you to discover as you listen to the podcast, but here are some highlights that will definitely go down in the history of Tech Powered Luxury:
“It's hard to know which hat to wear, you know, when you do own a business. It's like, am I in this to make money? Am I in this to be a respected fashion designer? Am I in this to learn new skills?”
This is the honesty I’m talking about. How many industry professionals are actually willing to admit (first and foremost to themselves) that, well, sometimes you might find yourself really questioning your “why”? It’s a tough industry and creativity often doesn’t go hand-in-hand with sales, and especially for independent designers and young professionals, early career decisions are grounded on those answers.
Beyond the existential questionings, she presents a clear challenge that many brands face in their lifetime: how do you keep creating the same level of hype for your brand, but moving it away from that one specific product you got famous for?
“People in Ireland hadn't seen it. They were like, ‘what is on your head? Who made it? Can I touch it? Can I try it on?’ I've just created something that people are connecting to and people are pulling down their masks during COVID and asking me to try it on and they're forgetting that there's a pandemic and we were told to keep two meters from each other and they want to try on my hat.
I had created something that was sparking genuine human connections and then I was like, wait, I can't just put something out now that doesn't do that. I can't just put out a bikini because it's summertime, because I want to make sales during the summer.”
Fad products die young, fad brands die even younger. Faster-than-light trends come and go and it’s easy to get lost in the midst of the crowd. Yet, Rachel's approach is different: she opts for sustainable growth, anchoring her brand in values that endure beyond seasonal infatuation. This is the mark of a visionary who not only seeks to define a genre but to redefine it entirely.
Rachel's choice to invest heavily in a Paris showroom marks a strategic pivot, aiming to position Rashhiiid among the staples of luxury fashion. It's a bold move that speaks volumes about her commitment to craftsmanship and excellence. "Investing in this showroom wasn't just about following a trend, it was about setting a stage for Rashhiiid to be a permanent fixture in the luxury market," she explains. This investment is poised to expand her brand's visibility and reach, ensuring her creations spark conversations not just on streets but in boardrooms and boutiques across the globe.
Rachel’s dedication illustrates her deep understanding of her audience’s desires and her ability to tap into the zeitgeist in meaningful ways. It's this instinctual grasp of market dynamics coupled with her personal touch that makes her pieces resonate so powerfully.
As we look forward, Rachel is not just riding the wave of her initial success. She is keen on navigating the intricate balance of maintaining her brand's core identity while evolving its product line.
"It’s about crafting pieces that carry the same essence and impact, no matter the season or reason."
This isn't just about diversification; it’s about evolution with intention.
Follow Rashhiiid on Instagram and discover her latest collections on her website.
💡 Speaking of evolution…
Months ago we saw the rise of the mob wife aesthetic and with it a big comeback of fur (real or not, on the runway or in the streets). It’s old news that many fashion houses and retailers (Kering, Selfridges, Chanel, just to name a few) have completely banned real fur from their production and sales floor, but that doesn’t mean the alternative is necessarily better.
On the contrary, for many years faux fur has been taking a toll on the environment, considering the most common way of obtaining it is through petroleum-based synthetics - which means thousands of years before it starts degrading, and microplastics contaminating the environment (and your body, too).
However, not all is lost. For as hard as it can be to foster scalable investments in terms of next-gen fabric development (aka biodegradable fur that actually feels like natural, soft fur and not a €10 plastic fluff), progress has been made:
Savian is a plant-based fur from Bio-Fluff - they were nominated in 2022 for the LVMH Innovation Award, taking part in LVMH’s fashion incubator program “La Maison Des Startups” in Station F in Paris.
KOBA® is a partially bio-based fur developed in partnership with Stella McCartney and Ecopel.
House of Faux Fur is a pioneering stock service offering faux fur crafted from waste-diverted recycled and bio-based fibers.
As technology advances, and the luxury industry reinvents itself to cater to environmentally-conscious consumers, considerate development through material bioengineering is the new frontier in state-of-the-art fabric and product development.
It’s almost summer in Europe but with ❗️climate change❗️you never know what to expect. If you’re really keen into buying faux-fur, do yourself, me, and the planet a favor and make sure you’re getting something that causes minimum damage - second-hand and biodegradable materials preferred.
🎁 Community Reward from Sásta Skin Health
Sásta Skin Health is dedicated to pioneering skin health through microbiome-friendly products.
🦠 And why should you care? It’s good bacteria versus bad bacteria in your skin, and maybe it’s something you don’t think about too much, but good thing someone does. If your microfauna is unbalanced, the 30-step beauty routine you’re doing (almost) every night is most likely doing you more harm than any good.
🧖🏼♀️ By the way, it’s Michelle McDonald and Dr. Brian O'Rourke that have thought this through for you: utilizing scientific advancements in good bacteria, their Microbiome Booster Serum bridges the gap between supplementation and skincare, formulated with prebiotics and postbiotics to repair and protect your skin from the outside in. Sásta Skin Health holds the "Microbiome-Friendly" seal, ensuring their products support your skin's natural ecosystem.
Use code ASHLEY15 for 15% off at Sásta Skin Health.
🎙️ Upcoming Episode: A Life of Fashion, Media & More with Brendan Courtney: From Off the Rails to Lennon Courtney
We’re kicking off Season 04 next week with the first live recording of Tech Powered Luxury, in the heart of luxury in Dublin: the first Cartier space in Ireland.
Stay tuned for a passionate, funny episode. In the meantime, head to our instagram and check out all the event details… More live recordings are coming, and we would love to meet you at our events!
You’ll be the first to know when new dates are announced.
See you next week,
Season 3 of Tech Powered Luxury is proudly sponsored by FarmHouse Fresh.
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