Episode 14: From Discovering Lady Gaga To Modeling In Fashion Weeks Around The World, Wendy Starland Gets Candid About Her Journey

Wendy in the studio | Photo Credit: Wendy Starland

Wendy Starland is a multitalented and inspiring woman. From New York City, she now calls LA home now and manages two very distinct careers: music and modeling. It was her babysitter, a soulful woman from South Carolina that influenced Wendy with music. And by the time she was in high school, she knew music was going to be a big part of her life. She discovered and developed Lady Gaga, and in this episode, Wendy opens up about that. She also talks what led her to do modeling.  And she also drops some practical life applications, something that we can all glean from.

Episode 13: A Chat With Ellen Mirojnick, The Costume Designer For Oppenheimer

Ellen has costumed designed for many Hollywood films and TV shows for 30 plus years. This is Ellen on the set of Bridgerton Season 2 | Photo Credit: Ellen Mirojnick/ Instagram

First of all, Ellen Mirojack looks great for her age. She’s 74 years young and I hope I can look that great when, God-willing, I’m 74. This was a memorable interview, maybe because I’m in awe of anything designed fashion-wise for the runway or for the silver screen. Ellen has been in the business of designing costumes for film and TV for over thirty years, and she’s known for inspiring men’s fashion in the early 90s, when she created bold patterned ties, colorful suspenders, and crisp suits for the 1987 Wall Street film. After that film, men saw how sharply Michael Douglas’ character Gordon Gecko dressed, so they started dressing just like him.

Cillian Murphy playing J. Robert Oppenheimer | Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Ellen’s resume includes from Fatal Attraction (1987), Wall Street (1987), Basic Instinct (1992), Speed (1994), What Women Want (2000), The Chronicles of Riddick (2004), By The Sea (2015), The Greatest Showman (2017), Bridgerton (2020), to Oppenheimer (2023).

“It was the most spectacular and fulfilling collaboration I have ever experienced,” says Ellen of designing the costumes for Oppenheimer. In this podcast episode, we talk about how she got into costume design, what a costume designer does, and her process for Oppeheimer.

Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Writer and Director Christopher Nolan on set with actor Robert Downey, Jr. "| Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Oppeheimer is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and the late Martin J. Sherwin. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who directed Tenet, Dunkirk, Interstellar, Inception and The Dark Knight trilogy. His films have earned more than $5 billion at the global box office and have been awarded 11 Oscars and 36 nominations, including two Best Picture nominations.

It was filmed in a combination of IMAX® 65mm and 65mm large-format film photography including, for the first time ever, sections in IMAX® black and white analogue photography.

Only two characters in Oppenheimer wore hats in the film, Albert Einstein and J. Robert Oppenheimer | Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

The cast includes Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Robert Downey, Jr., Matt Damon, Rami Malek, Florence Pugh, Benny Safdie, Michael Angarano, Josh Hartnett and Kenneth Branagh. It was also produced by Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan.

Episode 12: Hunter Clowdus, Grabbing Life By The Horns

Hunter Clowdus always seems to be in a happy mood and also loquacious. He’s always smiling in interviews, or on his YouTube channel- heck, even his character on All American is jovial most of the time. I could be wrong, but I can imagine his grade school teacher having to constantly say, ‘Mr. Clowdus, stop talking.’ I didn’t ask him if he was a talker in school. But point is, he’s outgoing and has joy. Maybe this comes from his Christian faith, where we aren’t always happy but we can always have joy.

In addition to this joy, Hunter has this old soul thing about him where he oozes wisdom, and he seeks to impart that to those around him. He drops these one-liner nuggets where he’s able to articulate out mindsets and behaviors that people need to have for the success they’re trying to reach.

In this interview we talk about success and some of those wisdom nuggets, faith, his clothing line, and briefly his TV show on the CW. For someone still so young he has accomplished quite a lot, but he doesn’t boast about having obtained it all yet. In some ways it’s as if he’s just getting started.

Episode 11: Oscar-Winning Costume Director Catherine Martin Opens Up About The Film Elvis

Photo Credit: Hugh Stewart

Catherine on set with Austin Butler and Baz Luhrman

Catherine Martin is a two-time Academy Award winning costume designer, wife, and mother. Her work transcends her as she is leaving her imprint on the film industry. She’s done the costumes for Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet, Australia, Moulin Rouge! and The Great Gatsby- the latter two she won Academy Awards for.

I speak with Martin about her costume design work in the film Elvis, that Luhrmann also directed. And, for which she’s been nominated for another Academy Award this year.

As she walks into the interview, the medium height designer is dressed in head to toe black, even the rim of her glasses are flamboyant yet black, drawing out her stylish short blonde hairstyle. Her big smile shifts the atmosphere in the room, as nestled onto the sofa to talk about what everyone is still talking about: Elvis.

Opening up she talked about how she met Luhrmann and how the two have a shared passion for film, and how what they have done over the years is organic yet planned.

Episode 10: Alber Elbaz, A Memory

This interview was done in February 2021, two months before Alber Elbaz died. He was an inspiring man. I actually met him in January 2020 when he was honored at an event by the Parsons School of Design. There are three designers in fashion that are so incredible humble and down to earth that I have ever met and that’s: Pierpaolo, Paul Smith, and the late Alber Elbaz.

When completing his conscription service in Israel, Elbaz went to design school. In 1985 he left Israel for NYC with $800 in his pocket. He worked for Geoffrey Beene, Guy Larouche, was creative director of Yves Saint Laurent and Lanvin. He took some time off from fashion to grow, heal, and travel. And, came back in 2019 and started his own brand: AZ Factory, a Richemont backed brand. He was always thinking about how to make women’s lives easier so he created things like zippers with long fabric that aids a woman in zipping up her dress.

In April 2019 it was announced he died. I remember a friend WhatsApp’d me. As I awoke that Sunday morning, looking at my messages with sleep still in my eyes my heart sank. When I think about it now my heart skips a beat. Elbaz was truly a delight and inspiration to so many around the world. Enjoy this interview, my interview with fashion designer Alber Elbaz.