Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud

Charli xcx is a British musician, artist, and actor. Raised in Essex, she recorded her first album at the age of 14, and was discovered after posting demos on MySpace and performing at East London raves. She has since released six studio albums, with her seventh album Music, Fashion, Film releasing on the 24th of July.  

One of the defining artists of our time, Charli moves seamlessly between the experimental and the mainstream, building a career characterised by reinvention, collaboration, and a singular approach to artistry that has influenced both the sound and visual language of contemporary culture. 

Her work has earned widespread critical acclaim including five BRITs and three Grammy Awards, as well as the prestigious Ivor Novello Songwriter of the Year award in 2025, cementing her status as one of contemporary pop’s most influential creative voices.

Beyond music, Charli has become a defining presence in fashion and contemporary image-making and has expanded her creative practice into film, where she acts, writes, produces and scores projects, including a recent collaboration with John Cale of the Velvet Underground on the Wuthering Heights soundtrack. In 2026, Charli starred in and produced the film The Moment, a mockumentary about the musician preparing for a world tour, and is set to feature in films by directors including Gregg Araki, Takashi Miike and Romain Gavras.

In this episode, Bella Freud and Charli xcx discuss Music in Fashion, working with the legendary John Cale, and when being jealous is the greatest compliment to a peer.

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John Currin is an American painter. Currin is widely recognised for his figurative oil paintings in which themes of sexual personae and historical painterly genres appear in surreal and sometimes disconcerting guises. Oscillating between a graphic sexuality and playful symbolism, Currin captures the tones and textures of everyday life with an acute sensitivity and a meticulous attention to detail.

Currin has exhibited internationally at galleries including Sadie Coles, Dallas Contemporary, Museo Stefano Bardini in Florence and Gagosian in New York. His first solo show was at White Columns in 1989, and in 2003, a mid-career survey of his paintings travelled to the Serpentine Gallery, the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, and the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. 

His most recent exhibition is Opening Credits at Sadie Coles HQ in London. 

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and John Currin discuss the importance of clothes in his paintings, Jarvis Cocker, and the nuance of Sean Connery vs Clint Eastwood.

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Colm Tóibín is an Irish writer. Born in Enniscorthy, he is the author of eleven novels, including The Master, Brooklyn and The Magician, and two collections of stories. 

His novel Brooklyn was an immediate bestseller on publication and was adapted into an Oscar- nominated film starring Saoirse Ronan in 2015. His most recent novel Long Island is a sequel to Brooklyn. In his new short story collection The News from Dublin, these luminous short stories delve into the days and nights of those living far from home: lives of great longing, at a great distance from past lives and past selves.

Colm Toíbín has been three times shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 2021, he was awarded the David Cohen Prize for Literature. He was appointed the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024, and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Oxford in 2025.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Colm Toibin discuss string underpants, playing tennis with Pedro Almodovar, and Irish trauma.

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Stephen Jones OBE is a British milliner and designer, highly regarded as one of the most radical of the 20th and 21st centuries. Jones studied at St Martins, spending his evenings at the Blitz club, immersed in London’s fashion and punk scene in the 1970s.

In 1980, Stephen opened his first millinery salon in the heart of London. This shop was visited by rock stars and royalty, from Diana Ross to Diana, Princess of Wales. Over four decades later, Jones’s era-defining designs continue to attract a celebrity clientele which includes Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Mick Jagger, and British Royalty.

Since the early 80s Stephen Jones has collaborated with designers from Vivienne Westwood and Claude Montana through to his current work with Thom Browne, Christian Dior, and Matières Fecales. Jones’ hats have been an integral component in some of the most memorable runway events of the past four decades, including his work on John Galliano’s spectacular Maison Margiela Haute Couture SS24 show presented under the Pont Alexander III.

Jones was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours, and received the Outstanding Achievement Award from the British Fashion Council in 2008. In December 2024, he was named British Accessories Designer of the Year at the Fashion Awards.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Stephen Jones discuss being a 1970s punk, fashion breakdowns, and communicating through a hat.

Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.

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Peaches is a Canadian singer songwriter, producer, director, and performance artist. She first catapulted to stardom with her 2000 debut album, The Teaches of Peaches, which introduced the world to her sexually transgressive, fiercely assertive and captivating persona. Since then, Peaches has released four more trailblazing albums, won the prestigious Polaris Heritage Prize, collaborated with everyone from Iggy Pop and Daft Punk to Christina Aguilera and Yoko Ono, and had her music featured in cultural watermarks like Lost in Translation and The Handmaid’s Tale.

In addition to her musical output, Peaches has directed over 20 music videos, co-curated a photo book of her life, What Else Is in The Teaches of Peaches, created a host of immersive installations and performative works, and penned the electro-rock opera Peaches Does Herself, which was adapted into a film shown at over 70 festivals. 

The subject of two acclaimed documentaries, Peaches Goes Bananas and Teaches of Peaches, Peaches has also played the title role in Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins and continues to perform her widely lauded one-woman show, Peaches Christ Superstar.

In February 2026, Peaches’ released her first album in over ten years, No Lube So Rude. 

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Peaches discuss Jesus Christ Superstar, being outlandishly normal, and having her shoelace tied by John Malkovich.

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