John Talamini on fashion with a purpose, during Covid-19
Condé Nast College of Fashion and Design was delighted to welcome Creative Director, John Talamini, as part of the weekly Industry Speaker Series. BA (Hons) year 1 student Devon Armogeda reports what makes John such a force in both the fashion sphere and beyond.
John Talamini the energetic face of Europe’s fashion community, with a lifetime of experience working in the industry. Born in Nova Scotia, his distinctive accent billows from the laptop speakers of Bachelor, Masters, and Certificate students.
It’s easy to lose oneself whilst listening to John’s experience of working in this flamboyant industry. One characteristic of individuals who have been immersed in fashion for decades is the show business attitude that slowly and unconsciously develops over the years. John Talamini is both fashion and show business wrapped together.
“Fashion will always transcend what society is looking at, what we are looking at as people and its consumers.”
John is founder of the conceptual creation ModeMQ, a multidimensional online platform for viewing fashion shows both live and archival, purchasing fashion NFTs artwork from prominent fashion houses, and recordings of podcasts of John In Conversation with influential individuals in the fashion industry.
About John Talamini
John graduated from the Centre for Media Arts, in New York City in Film, Video, and TV Production; now part of present-day New York University (NYU). He additionally completed an Executive Business Programme with the University of California, in Berkeley, and a postgraduate degree in Business Analytics from Stanford University.
Work Experience
Starting in 1996 John produced and released an award-winning documentary called The Art of the Cigar, which can be found on Youtube, starring Paul Sorvino, Dolph Lundgren, and Jim Belushi among others.
He founded Fashion Music TV UK, which can also be viewed on Youtube under the title FMTV UK, in 2007. These videos are archival footage of runway shows in England.
John was the project manager of London’s studio recording with Russian singer Valeriya Gibb and Robin Gibb in 2007.
John elaborates on the start of his years in fashion with Valentino: “I was lucky enough to start with Valentino in the days of analogue, and looking at someone here [referring to a photograph of Valentino] you always need to go back to your past to understand your future.”
In 2013 John did just that, he was part of the development of Valentino’s memoir exhibition, Valentino: Master of Couture, which showcased 130 haute couture designs from Valentino himself.
John has strong associations with the British Fashion Council, Fédération Française de la Couture, Camera Della Moda Milan, Council of Fashion Designers of America, Berlin Fashion Week, Amsterdam Fashion Week, and Fashion Week Australia after many decades working as a cameraman in the fashion industry.
Fashion with a purpose
Most recently John was Head of Fashion at Kindred. This is a social media and sales app that offers discounts, limited-edition items, and the opportunity for shoppers to donate a portion or all of their profits to their charity of choice.
At the onset of the pandemic in the UK and the ensuing lockdown, John became one of the architects of the NHS Charity T-Shirt Rainbow supporting Clap For Our Carers which transcended the Atlantic to America being renamed Clap Because We Care.
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The model was also repeated, introducing Kindred into the Italian market, joining with the Italian Red Cross for the “Sil Gentile” and “Il tempo della gentilezza” campaign. These ongoing T-Shirt initiatives have raised close to a total of £800,000 for these charities. In England alone, these selfless endeavors have not only brought the country together in acknowledging the front line hospital workers. These efforts have also inspired a nation to raise additional tens of millions of pounds for NHS charities.
John is passionate about raising awareness for those more vulnerable in society, and always offers a helping hand through his charity organisational expertise and wide scope contact list. “As I immersed myself in the Kindred business model and expanded conversations regarding social responsibility and social welfare within the fashion industry. I became aware of the need and desire for fashion to have closer links to society and community through social responsibility and sustainability.”
Lastly and but not finally, John is the creative director and producer for the Parisian vintage designer, Pierre-Paul Ekambi, creating a military-style garrison cap to raise both money and continued awareness for The Black Lives Matter Movement that stemmed from America after George Floyd’s death.
Key takeaways
- Fashion has the capability to be used as a tool to help rectify social inequality
- It is okay for your career to keep evolving throughout your life
- Career longevity is created through being ahead of the curve and investing in new skills and technology
By Devon Armogeda, BA (Hons) Fashion Communication
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