Riz Ahmed is an Academy and Emmy Award winning actor, director, musician, and writer.

Born and raised in Wembley, Ahmed studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Oxford University, going on to study acting at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

Ahmed’s breakthrough role was in the 2006 film The Road to Guantanamo. He has starred in the satirical film Four Lions, the HBO award-nominated series The Night Of, and The Sound of Metal, for which Ahmed received a Best Actor nomination at the Academy Awards. More recently, Ahmed has featured in Wes Anderson’s latest film The Phoenician Scheme, and plays the titular role in Aneil Karia’s modern adaptation of Hamlet. In October, Riz will be seen alongside Tom Cruise and Sandra Hüller in DIGGER, Alejandro Iñárritu’s first English language film since The Revenant.

Ahmed is the founder of the award-winning production company, Left-Handed Films, which has produced films including the 2020 feature film Mogul Mowgli, and the 2020 short The Long Goodbye, both of which were written by and starred Ahmed, which won an Academy Award for Best Short Film.

Ahmed has written, produced, and starred in a forthcoming comedy series for Amazon Prime titled BAIT, following the struggles of aspiring actor Shah Latif, whose life takes a surreal turn as he navigates an existential crisis and a bizarre conspiracy. His performance has been described as ‘dazzling, with sharp comic timing and a mega-watt charisma.’

As a musician, his career has spanned two decades across battle rap, techno, a successful American band Swet Shop Boys, and most recently, his critically acclaimed, award-winning 2020 solo album “The Long Goodbye”.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Riz Ahmed discuss the importance of Hamlet today, using colour to represent different personalities, and how to speak by just listening.

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David Byrne is a musician and visual artist. He was born in Dumbarton, Scotland, moving to Canada aged 2, and later Maryland, where he was raised in Baltimore. Byrne studied photography, performance, and video at RISD and the Maryland Institute College of Art, before moving to New York in the early 1970s. 

In 1975, Byrne co-founded the group Talking Heads, who released eight studio albums before splitting up in the early 1990s. The band made the concert film Stop Making Sense in 1984, directed by Jonathan Demme, which in 2024 was remastered and re-released by A24. 

Byrne established the record labels Luaka Bop and Todo Mundo, which have released music by artists including William Onyeabor, Cornershop, and Floating Points.

As a solo musician, David Byrne has released over 10 solo albums, the most recent Who Is The Sky? released in 2025, and collaborated with artists including Brian Eno, St Vincent, and Olivia Rodrigo. He has written soundtracks for films including Bernando Bertolucci’s The Last Emperor, for which Byrne won an Academy Award for Best Original Score.

Byrne has written several books including Bicycle Diaries and How Music Works, and in 1986 wrote, directed, and starred in True Stories, a musical collage of discordant Americana released in 1986. His theatrical work includes his 2019 American Utopia tour which was transferred to Broadway and a film version directed by Spike Lee, and his immersive theater production Theater of the Mind from 2022, which will be shown in Chicago in March 2026.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and David Byrne discuss The Big Suit, the joy of Vampire movies, and being useless at dinner party conversations.

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Fecal Matter are a fashion design and artist duo made up of Hannah Rose Dalton and Steven Raj. The two met at fashion school in Montreal in 2012, and formed Fecal Matter in 2014.

Matières Fécales, the duo’s brand, was founded in 2025, and creates unique garments defined by their phrase “Provoke Society”. The brand is known for their post-human aesthetic and ethos of unlimited freedom and radical self-expression, with products spanning fashion, film, politics and music. Matières Fécales’ name reflects its mission to capture the beauty and grotesque of the human experience, whilst also challenging the codes of luxury culture. They debuted at Paris Fashion Week with a FW25 collection, positioning themselves as one of the most notable shows of the season and a fresh voice pushing boundaries in contemporary fashion through razor sharp tailoring and couture-like silhouettes.

Hannah and Steven are respected and adored by members of the fashion elite including Rick Owens, Christian Louboutin, and milliner Stephen Jones. They have collaborated on shoes with Louboutin and created headpieces with Jones.

They live and work in Paris.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Fecal Matter discuss falling in love, their dream of dressing Oprah, and exploring identity in the face of punishment.

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Erin O’Connor is a British supermodel, writer, and advocate. She grew up in the West Midlands and was scouted as a teenager at the iconic 90’s cult show The Clothes Show live.

Erin O’Connor’s modelling debut was in i-D magazine in 1996, shot by Juergen Teller. She soon rose to prominence, walking the runway for esteemed designers including Prada, Gucci, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, Christian Dior, Versace, John Galliano and Jean-Paul Gaultier. More recently, Erin has walked for Tom Ford and Willy Chavarria.

Karl Lagerfeld once described O’Connor as “one of the best models in the world” and Erin has been photographed by industry giants including Richard Avedon, Steven Meisel, Nick Knight, Mario Testino, David Bailey, Patrick Demarchelier, Peter Lindbergh and Tim Walker. Erin featured in the Channel 4 documentary This Model Life in 2003, and has since written and presented two documentaries about fashion for BBC Radio 4, as well as contributing articles to British Vogue, The Times, i-D, and GQ.

Alongside her modelling, Erin is an advocate for model well-being and mental health. Through her position as Vice Chair of the British Fashion Council Erin founded Model Sanctuary, a non-profit initiative, providing support and resources for models during fashion week. 

Since 2011, Erin has been an ambassador for Save the Children and is an ambassador for Borne, a UK-based medical research charity dedicated to preventing premature birth and improving outcomes for mothers and babies.

In recognition of her substantial contributions to fashion and charitable causes, Erin was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 2017 by Queen Elizabeth II.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Erin O’Connor discuss walking for Alexander McQueen, coming from a working class background and being described as aristocratic, and holding her own against an unfriendly Feminist.

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Richard E. Grant is an actor, director, writer and presenter. Born in Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), his father worked for the British government and Grant grew up as part of an ex-pat community in the country. He made his film debut in 1987 as the titular character in Withnail & I, about an alcoholic out-of-work actor. Grant played a series of eccentric characters in the 1990s, from a fashion designer in Robert Altman’s Pret-A-Porter, to a villain terrorising Bruce Willis in Hudson Hawk, and the manager of the Spice Girls in Spice World. More recently, Grant has starred in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Emerald Fennel’s Saltburn, and Can You Ever Forgive Me? for which he received Golden Globe, BAFTA and Oscar nominations as Best Supporting Actor. 

In 2005, Grant made his directorial debut with Wah Wah, a fascinating account of his childhood in former Swaziland. He has written several books, his most recent A Pocketful of Happiness in 2023, about his grief following the death of his wife Joan Washington from cancer after 38 years of marriage.

Richard E. Grant has become a muse to fashion designers on the catwalk, walking for Burberry AW25 and Miu Miu SS26. 

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Richard E. Grant discuss his narrowly avoiding being shot by his father, his life long crush on Barbra Streisand, and how to play comedy straight.

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Charlotte Gainsbourg is an actress and musician. The daughter of Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg, she was born in London and raised in Paris. She made her acting debut at the age of 13 playing Catherine Deneuve’s daughter in the film Paroles et Musique, and her musical debut the same year with the song “Lemon Incest” duetting with her father Serge. In 1986, she won a Cesar Award for her starring role in the film L’Effrontée. Her debut album was released the same year, produced by her father to accompany the film Charlotte For Ever, which starred a 15 year old Charlotte alongside her father Serge. Gainsbourg has since released four further albums, her most recent Rest in 2017, which explored her grief following the deaths of her father and sister Kate Barry.

In 2009, Gainsbourg starred in Lars von Trier’s film Antichrist, for which she won the Cannes Best Actress award, marking the beginning of a collaboration between the actress and director. She went on to star in his 2011 film Melancholia, and 2013’s Nymphomaniac. Gainsbourg directed and produced a documentary about her mother, Jane par Charlotte, in 2021, exploring their relationship two years before Birkin’s death. 

Charlotte Gainsbourg is a reluctant fashion icon, cited by all those with a love of fashion, independent film, and music as a truly original figure of glamour and cool. She has fronted campaigns for fashion houses including Balenciaga and Yves Saint Laurent, with YSL’s Anthony Vaccarello directing Gainsbourg’s most recent music video Blurry Moon.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Charlotte Gainsbourg discuss relationships with powerful fathers, her work with Lars von Trier, and love and grief.

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Esther Perel is a psychotherapist and author, recognized as one of today’s most insightful and original voices on modern relationships. Fluent in nine languages, she helms a therapy practice in New York City, serves as an organizational consultant for Fortune 500 companies, and is an advisor to both Hinge and Culture Amp on the intricacies of human connection.

Esther was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium, the daughter of two Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors who owned a clothing shop. She gained a Masters degree from Lesley University in Expressive Art Therapy in the 1980s, and has lived in the United States with her partner, Jack Saul, for more than 40 years.

Her celebrated TED Talks have garnered millions of views, and her bestselling books, Mating in Captivity and The State of Affairs, are global phenomena which have been translated into more than 30 languages. Perel is also the host of the hit podcast Where Should We Begin?, which has captivated millions of listeners around the world for nearly a decade. 

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Esther Perel discuss Perel’s childhood in her parents’ clothing shop, the rules of dressing as a therapist, and fragile masculinity.

Esther Perel’s podcast Where Should We Begin? can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and her Substack is Entre Nous, estherperel.substack.com

This is the last of our Fashion Neurosis in New York series - see you next time.

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Abiodun Oyewole is an American poet, painter and author, and one of the founding members of the music and spoken-word group The Last Poets. Born in Ohio, Oyewole was raised in New York by his aunt, whose love of jazz and gospel music greatly influenced him. He was given the name Abiodun Oyewole aged fifteen, by a Yoruba priest at a temple in Harlem.

The Last Poets were formed by Abiodun Oyewole, David Nelson & Gylan Kain in 1968, releasing their first album in 1970. The group is credited, along with Gil Scott-Heron, as having had a profound effect on the development of the hip-hop genre. 

Abiodun missed the launch of The Last Poets first album after being sentenced to four years in a North Carolina prison for robbing the offices of the local Ku Klux Klan. During his time in prison he attended a nearby college where he earned his B.A. degree. He went on to earn a Ph.D. from Columbia University, where he has served as a faculty member. Oyewole rejoined The Last Poets during its 1990s resurgence, with their latest albums released in 2018 & 2024, and he has also released several solo albums. Oyewole has published two volumes of poetry, Naked, 2020, and Branches of the Tree of Life, 2020, and an essay collection titled Black Lives Have Always Mattered. 

Oyewole hosts Sundays @ 110 each week at his home in Harlem, opening his doors to fellow artists, encouraging performance and a shared creative experience.

Oyewole is one of several poets credited for liberating American poetry by creating vocal, spontaneous, energetic and uncensored vernacular verse that paved the way for spoken word and hip-hop. He continues to write poetry every day. 

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Abiodun Oyewole and Bella Freud discuss how they first met, being treated as the Pope of Poetry, and spending time backstage with Nina Simone.

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Alexi Wasser is a New York–based filmmaker, writer, and actor whose work blends razor-sharp comedy with raw emotional candor. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Wasser’s late father was the photojournalist Julian Wasser, who photographed 20th century cultural icons including Joan Didion and Jack Nicholson, and her mother Leslie Knauer is a musician who was in rock bands in the 1970s and ‘80s. 

Wasser’s feature directorial debut, Messy - which she also wrote, produced, and stars in - was released in 2025. Messy is an intimate portrait of romantic humiliation, self-discovery, and reinvention in New York, drawing inspiration from the work of Nora Ephron and Carrie Fisher. As an actor, Wasser has appeared in acclaimed series including Rian Johnson’s Poker Face (Peacock), HBO’s Girls, and Search Party. She is currently developing her second feature, a modern-day New York comedy about the humiliations, disappointments, and occasional joys of adult life.

Wasser continues to craft deeply personal comedic stories that interrogate identity, intimacy, and reinvention with an honesty and edge entirely her own. 

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Alexi Wasser discuss directing your own sex scenes, big feet, and the tyranny of looking for love.

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Christy Turlington Burns is the Founder and President of Every Mother Counts. Christy’s work in maternal health began after she experienced a childbirth-related complication in 2003—an experience that inspired her to direct and produce the documentary feature film, No Woman, No Cry, about the challenges women face throughout pregnancy and childbirth around the world. Under Christy’s leadership, over the past 15 years Every Mother Counts has invested nearly $50 million to support awareness raising, community-led solutions, and advocacy for systems change, with the goal of ensuring that the maternal health journey before, during, and after childbirth is safe, respectful, and equitable for everyone, everywhere.

Before founding EMC, Christy received international acclaim as a model representing the world’s biggest fashion and beauty brands which she leveraged to become a health and wellness advocate. She authored a book about yoga, Living Yoga: Creating A Life Practice (Hyperion 2002), edited the book, Arrival Stories: Women Share Their Experiences of Becoming Mothers (Random House 2022) with Amy Schumer, and served as an executive producer for the 2023 Apple TV documentary series, The Super Models.

In 2025, Christy was named to the inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list as one of the most influential people shaping the future of giving, and she received the Distinguished Alumni Award from New York University in 2023. Christy graduated Cum Laude from NYU’s Gallatin School of Independent Studies and studied Public Health at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health. She has completed 10 Marathons on behalf of Team EMC and lives in New York City.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Christy Turlington discuss being roommates with Naomi Campbell, whether George Michael had a crush on Linda Evangelista, and advocating for women’s health.

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Hilton Als is an award-winning American writer, critic, and curator. He began his career as a staff writer at the Village Voice, and editor-at-large at Vibe. Hilton became a staff writer at The New Yorker in 1994 and a theatre critic in 2002, having contributed to the magazine since 1989. 

Als has published several books, with his first, titled The Women, published in 1996. His 2013 book White Girls was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, and in 2026 he will publish I Don’t Remember: An American Rhapsody, about the AIDS crisis. Als has also curated and written accompanying texts for multiple exhibitions, including a 2015 show in collaboration with the artist Celia Paul at the Metropolitan Opera’s Gallery Met, a 2017 retrospective of Alice Neel, and a 2022 show on Joan Didion at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. 

Als was awarded a Guggenheim Award for creative writing in 2000, and in 2016 he received Lambda Literary’s Trustee Award for Excellence in Literature. He won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017 for his writing at the New Yorker and in 2018 received the City College of New York’s Langston Hughes Medal.

Hilton Als is a teaching professor at the University of California, Berkeley, an associate professor of writing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts, and has taught at Yale University, Columbia University, Wesleyan University, and Smith College. 

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Hilton Als discuss wearing his mother’s hosiery under his jeans, Prince, and the power of love.

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