I take joy in every interview for Out of the Clouds, and it’s an extra special treat when my guest loves to entertain good conversations as much as I do! Scott Wimsett is such a person.

The self-care industry is currently estimated at 1.5tn by McKinsey, and the forecast assumes that the growth will be from 5 to 10 per cent annually. So it’s less surprising to hear that Flatiron, Manhattan, has just seen the opening of its first social wellness club.

Can luxury fashion be part of the solution to climate change? Gabriela Hearst offers a great example in this in-depth interview that showcases how the Uruguayan designer had the boldness to impose what she thought was right against the industry’s reluctant old guard, first at her eponymous brand and now at Chloé. Innovative indeed. Read more here. 

I’d heard from a naturopath (or an enthusiast, I cannot remember) that your supermarket can be your pharmacy if you choose wisely. 

Wellness is all the rage. So much so that luxury house Hermès is launching a series of pop-ups called HermèsFit, from Hong Kong to Paris, to Tokyo, and has designed for the experience the most instagrammable of spaces. Effectively making it almost impossible to miss the picture, the all-orange fitness venues are a great marketing ploy that will do more than get fit: if you want to get your social engagement up, it’s probably worth a visit. Read about it here.

I’ve got another inspiring guest interview to share with you — this one with Nada Ghazal, a jewellery designer and entrepreneur based in Beirut, Lebanon. She shares with me how she’s always been creative and fascinated by adorning herself, which, as a child, led to her making her own jewellery and shoes with the help of local artisans.
Without the option of studying fashion or jewellery, Nada built a career in graphic design. But she left her fancy agency on her 30th birthday and returned to her hometown, Beirut, to start her fine jewellery company. Her focus has been on timeless jewellery that can be worn day to night — not be left in a safe.

Prada launched their first fine jewellery earlier this month, but as it coincided with my birthday, I totally missed it. Malheur! Why am I writing about it today? Well...

Season three of Out of the Clouds kicks off with Kim Walls, a fourth-generation entrepreneur and second-generation health & wellness expert. She’s widely viewed as a clean beauty pioneer, especially given her latest project, Furtuna Skin, the luxury skincare brand she co-founded and where she serves as the CEO.

I mentioned MycoWorks in this week's newsletter opener, who have partnered with Hermès with their mycelium leather project. Meanwhile, Balenciaga launches a coat made in collaboration with another player in the field, Ephea. I’d love to try it on, to discover the material of course, a black leather coat isn’t quite my look. Read about it here.

Now if you’re reading me thinking: that’s great but I can’t afford a Balenciaga coat, when is Zara launching their own, I’m not sure. But I know that the best thing we can do is to ask for (or demand) leather alternatives with our favorite brands or retailers. I love a good shoe and I’m ready for that alternative leather. Marni? Hear me out!

• Change the story and you change perception; change perception and you change the world. - Jeanne Houston

Did I tell you that I got some new shoes? It shouldn’t sound very abnormal (I’m definitely a shoe girl, plus I used to work for you know who). And yet, what’s special is that it’s my first new pair of heels in… four years? Like a large portion of the female population, I’ve moved to 100% flat footwear, often sustainably produced trainers (sneakers depending where you are in the world), like those Chloé ones I am obsessed with.

Thankfully, right on the heels (pun intended) of that trip, I attended a conference in Geneva, the Luxury Innovation Summit & Awards, where I was glad to have my new mirrored pumps. I chose to register for this particular conference after reading that biotech startup MycoWorks would be attending. You may not remember but I wrote about their Reishi faux-leather not too long ago. I figured if such an amazingly innovative company is attending, there are bound to be other interesting people to listen to, right?

Right indeed!