Episode One · Hermès
While Waiting for My Birkin
Parody bags, reputation and whether humour is a defence to trademark infringement. The Hermès story, spoken.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Read the companion articleListen
The Podcast
The same stories, spoken. Every episode pairs with an article, so you can listen first and read deeper, or the other way round. Episodes live on Spotify and YouTube; the Spotify player plays right here, or watch the same episode on YouTube.
The Luxury Collection
Episode Two · Louis Vuitton
The Cost of a Flower
A Chinese tea chain, a 130-year-old monogram and who gets to draw a petal. The Louis Vuitton story, spoken.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Read the companion article
Episode Three · Chanel
Someone Else’s Buttons
A French jewellery maker buys authentic Chanel buttons on the secondary market, builds them into necklaces, tells every customer precisely what they are — and Chanel sues anyway, and wins. The Chanel story, spoken.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Read the companion articleAll three episodes belong to the Luxury & Brand Identity collection: three articles and three episodes on how luxury houses defend what makes them recognisable.
Can You Own That?
A three-part trilogy on the gap between owning something and the world agreeing that you do — a name, a shape and a word. The first episode is live; the second and third follow.
Episode Four · Netflix
Someone Else’s Name
A Christian metal band called Demon Hunter has toured under that name for a quarter of a century. Then an animated film about demon-hunting K-pop idols became a half-a-billion-view phenomenon — and now the band is watching its own name quietly disappear. Reverse confusion, told in sixteen minutes.
Watch on YouTube ↗ Read the companion articleThe trilogy continues: Episode Five on the Audemars Piguet octagon, Episode Six on Patagonia and the drag performer. The three essays are already on the site.