Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud

Hilton Als is an award-winning American writer, critic, and curator. He began his career as a staff writer at the Village Voice, and editor-at-large at Vibe. Hilton became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1994 and a theatre critic in 2002, having contributed to the magazine since 1989.  Als has published several books, with his first, titled The Women, published in 1996. His 2013 book White Girls was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and in 2026 he will publish I Don’t Remember: An American Rhapsody, about the AIDS crisis. Als has also curated and written accompanying texts for multiple exhibitions, including a 2015 show in collaboration with the artist Celia Paul at the Metropolitan Opera’s Gallery Met, a 2017 retrospective of Alice Neel, and a 2022 show on Joan Didion at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.  Als was awarded a Guggenheim Award for creative writing in 2000, and in 2016 he received Lambda Literary’s Trustee Award for Excellence in Literature. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for his writing at the New Yorker and in 2018 received the City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal. Hilton Als is a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an associate professor of writing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and has taught at Yale University, Columbia University, Wesleyan University, and Smith College.  In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Hilton Als discuss wearing his mother’s hosiery under his jeans, Prince, and the power of love. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Debbie Harry is an American rockstar, exploding onto the music scene as the platinum haired lead vocalist of Blondie. After gaining an Arts Degree from Centenary College in New Jersey, Debbie Harry moved to New York and worked as a Playboy Bunny and a dancer before forming Blondie in 1974 with Chris Stein, who was her romantic partner for 14 years until 1987. The band released its eponymous debut studio album in 1976 and split in the early 1980s, reuniting in 1997 - they have released a total of 11 studio albums. Harry also released five solo studio albums between 1981 and 2007. Debbie Harry had also had a successful acting career, appearing in lead roles in David Cronenberg's body horror Videodrome in 1983, and John Waters’ cult classic Hairspray. Her inimitable style has been the inspiration for many fashion designers and her luminous beauty and punk irreverence continues to make her an icon to multiple generations of music and fashion lovers. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Debbie Harry discuss dying your hair on a tour bus, Andy Warhol, and Sex, Drugs, & Rock & Roll. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Helena Bonham Carter is an English actress. Known for her portrayals of interesting, singular women, she rose to fame playing Lucy Honeychurch in A Room with a View in 1985, and the titular character in Lady Jane in 1986. In 1999, Bonham Carter broke free of her “English rose” reputation by playing femme fatale Marla Singer in Fight Club. She portrayed the malevolent witch Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter franchise, and more recently played Princess Margaret in The Crown, for which she was nominated for several awards. Helena will star in a new adaptation of Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials for Netflix in January 2026. Helena Bonham Carter has two children with the director Tim Burton. They met in 2001 on the set of Planet of the Apes, and the couple went on to collaborate on seven films including Corpse Bride and Alice in Wonderland, until their separation in 2014. Known for her love of bloomers, long skirts and Victorian style, Bonham Carter launched her fashion line The Pantaloonies in 2006. She has starred in campaigns for Marc Jacobs and Prada, and cited Vivienne Westwood and Marie Antoinette as her style inspirations. Bonham Carter has been the recipient of a BAFTA Award, a Critics' Choice Movie Award, an International Emmy Award and three Screen Actors Guild Awards, as well as receiving nominations for two Academy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emmy Awards. She was made a CBE in the 2012 New Year Honours list for services to drama. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Helena Bonham Carter discuss androgynous dressing, prominent bums, and the word Cunt being the new compliment. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Willy Chavarria is an American fashion designer. Born and raised in California, he studied graphic design at the Academy of the Arts, and got his start in clothing design working in the shipping department at Joe Boxer, eventually taking on a role in the company as a designer. Willy Chavarria worked at Calvin Klein as the Senior Vice President of Design until 2024. He launched his eponymous label in 2015. Known for his melding of politics and fashion, Willy’s clothing aims to uplift the underrepresented, and he has frequently collaborated with organisations to advocate for social justice. His designs draw on his Mexican-American heritage, and he recently presented his SS26 collection HURON at Paris Fashion Week. Chavarria has been awarded the 2022 Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian National Design Award in Fashion Design, was the CFDA Menswear Designer of the Year in 2023 and 2024, and in 2025 was named one of TIME100’s ‘Most Influential People of 2025’ and nominated for the Designer of the Year award at The Fashion Awards in London. On this week’s episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Willy Chavarria discuss politics in fashion, his fashion icons, and designing as a public service. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Annie Leibovitz is one of the most influential contemporary American photographers. Born in Connecticut, Leibovitz moved frequently in her childhood due to father’s position in the US Air Force. She took her first photos in the Philippines during the Vietnam War. After studying painting at the San Francisco Art Institute, Leibovitz began working at Rolling Stone magazine, and after three years was named their Chief Photographer. She photographed every major band of the era, and famously took photos of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, hours before Lennon was murdered. In the 1980s Leibovitz moved to Vanity Fair, and has since had a hugely successful career in fashion and celebrity photography and portraiture, photographing influential figures including Queen Elizabeth II, Demi Moore, Kate Moss, Barack Obama and George Clooney. She has exhibited in major galleries and museums, including MoMA and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and has published several monographs of her work, including WOMEN, a 2025 re-edition of the original 1999 book alongside a new volume, published by Phaidon. She was designated a Living Legend by the Library of Congress, and in March 2024 Leibovitz was inducted into the Académie des Beaux-Arts. In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Annie Leibovitz discuss Susan Sontag, the magic of dance, and the Rolling Stones. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices