Avery Trufelman: “Everything Has Fashion. Fashion is Just Taste Over Time. ”

**Imran Amed** (0:04)
Hi, this is Imran Amed, founder and CEO of The Business of Fashion. Welcome to the BoF Podcast. It's Friday, July 24th.
Today, we're going back into our rich archive and revisiting my very interesting conversation with Avery Trufelman, creator and host of the award-winning podcast, Articles of Interest. At a time when fashion is being reduced to a relentless stream of images, products, and fleeting trends, Avery's work reminds us that the clothes we wear contain much bigger stories about history, labor, identity, politics, and culture.

**Avery Trufelman** (0:43)
You know, in the beginning, fashion was sort of a dirty word for me. I was like, well, it's not about fashion, it's about clothes. Like, I don't care about fashion, I care about clothes. And the sort of galaxy brain moment is now, I'm like, oh no, it's all about fashion. Because everything has fashion, you know, obviously, buildings have fashion, cars have fashion, colors have fashion, fashion is just taste over time.

**Imran Amed** (1:03)
Since Avery and I first spoke back in March 2024, she's traced the US military's influence on the outdoor gear filling our closets, asked why the highest heels have quietly fallen out of fashion, and dug into why clothing sizes vary so wildly from one brand to the next. In this conversation, Avery and I discuss her path into podcasting her lifelong passion for clothes and how understanding the story behind a garment can transform our relationship with it. Here's Avery Trufelman on the BoF Podcast.
Avery Trufelman, it's very rare that I get to have a conversation with a podcast pro like you. I'm so excited for this conversation. Ever since I discovered and listened to Articles of Interest, I've been hoping that we would have a chance to do a little collision conversation because obviously, you have your podcast and we have this podcast and there's intersections and there's so much to discuss. Welcome to the BoF Podcast.

**Avery Trufelman** (2:12)
Thank you so much. I mean, if I can just write out the gate, be a little bit earnest for a second. I can't thank you enough for the support that Business of Fashion has given the show. I've always considered myself scrappy and not acknowledged so much by the fashion industry and your recognition has meant the world and opened up all these gates. So I'm so excited to talk to you now on your podcast as well. So thank you for having me.

**Imran Amed** (2:39)
Well, that's awesome. So like a mutual happy love fest moment.
Speaking of sitting outside a little bit the fashion system or not being kind of recognized or seen by the fashion industry. I thought we could start a little bit but with your early relationship with fashion. Like when you were younger, like did you care about clothes?

**Avery Trufelman** (3:03)
Oh yeah, they were everything to me. I mean, they were so important to me and I never actually understood why. So my aunt lives in San Francisco and then my grandma moved to San Francisco so that my aunt could take care of her. So I went out there a lot to visit family and I would always go to Haight Street and go thrift shopping and so I wore just the weirdest stuff. In high school and this like preppy private school that I went to, I was wearing these like gold lame dresses and then in college, I was wearing fur stoles and the funny thing was, I sort of knew in the back of my mind that it was too much, that I was sort of alienating people. Like no one made fun of me. People were sort of entertained by my outfits, but I definitely didn't get invited to parties. It just made me realize how powerful clothing was, that dressing in this wild way sort of set me apart. I was like, I think I'm sabotaging myself. I don't really know why I'm doing this, but I feel so compelled to do this and I love this feeling of taking risks, even though it feels odd and it feels uncomfortable. I love that feeling of like, can I pull this off? It always felt like a challenge and a dare and it made me feel so alive. Then I think later in my career, I wanted to figure that out. I mean, the thing I always say about the show is none of my questions that I pose on it are rhetorical. They're genuine questions.
I knew it meant a lot to me. I didn't understand why. I think I was embarrassed about it and I was ashamed of it, I think.

**Imran Amed** (4:36)
So, how is your relationship with fashion and clothes, the clothes you wear, changed since you were younger?