Residing in New York, making her mark in Los Angeles, and hailing from a small town in Nebraska, Marylou Luther is a fashion industry legend. She had little exposure to fashion when she began her career at The Lincoln Journal and The Des Moines Register. Fast forward forty years and she became the Creative Director of Fashion Group International, Editor of the International Fashion Syndicate, CFDA Award winner, syndicated Clotheslines columnist and more. “Marylou’s bi-annual, ready-to-wear trend report for FGI — narrated in her signature authoritative, sophisticated voice, sets the seasonal tone with her much anticipated summaries. It’s no wonder her trend reports are followed by industry professionals in 28+ regions all over the world.”
Marylou and I have our own special story of how we crossed paths. We met in 2009 at Lakmé Fashion Week in Mumbai, India, and when we got to chatting, we discovered we both have ties to CNN (I was Chief Fashion Correspondent for the CNN affiliate in India; her son Walter has been an acclaimed video journalist for the bureau in New York for the past 30 years), have a penchant for Parisian cuisine, prefer our coffee with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream, and are members of the Gamma Phi Beta sorority. Long lost sorority sisters (nearly sixty years apart) meeting for the first time in India? We think there’s only one word to describe it – “serendipity.” I am so thankful to have my 88-year-old gal pal, mentor, and soul sister in my life. Cheers to you, Marylou!
Tune In:
Meet My Guest:
Press:
- KANIKACHADDAGUPTA.COM: The Angel Wears Prada Too, by Kanika Chadda-Gupta
- LADYWORLD: AfterHours: Marylou Luther
Show Notes:
- 02:00 – Introduction
- 04:24 – Childhood
- 08:30 – Marylou’s first editorial gig
- 13:30 – The 50’s and 60’s (“the decade that changed everything”)
- 15:40 – Yves Saint Laurent taking over the House of Dior
- 22:00 – Marriage and kids
- 24:30 – Navigating motherhood
- 27:20 – Quote of the day: “Don’t worry about anything over which you have no control.”
