The Met Gala, from the man who curates it.
Andrew Bolton—Curator in Charge of The Met’s Costume Institute and Anna Wintour’s long-time collaborator—explains how the red carpet functions as a moving gallery and an extension of the exhibition itself. We explore Savage Beauty, Camp, and Heavenly Bodies; the interplay of meaning and marketing; how younger designers build community before scale; and why the best exhibitions ask questions rather than answer them.
Andrew also previews his next frontier: decoding the “anonymous” designer through the creative decisions embedded in a garment.
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Matt Kaness has quietly helped shape the modern playbook for purpose-driven retail — where creativity and commercial discipline amplify each other.
At URBN (Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters), he helped triple revenue and grow e-commerce from ~10% to ~40% of the business.
As CEO of ModCloth, he defined the mission “ModCloth is pioneering inclusive fashion,” a clarity that galvanised its community and ultimately led to Walmart’s acquisition.
Later, at GoodwillFinds, he reimagined “donation” as a customer-centric circular marketplace, driving ~2 billion organic visits with no ad spend.
In this episode of The Sparks Journal, Matt reveals how to scale purpose and profit in parallel — aligning founder DNA, brand “why,” and performance culture to build brands that endure.
Key takeaways:
• Distil founder “magic” into strategic advantage
• Turn brand purpose into a moat and growth engine
• Apply the “brand bank account” test to every decision
• Build omnichannel CX that immerses the customer
Follow and subscribe for more stories on building brands with heart and rigour — at the intersection of creative vision, cultural impact, and commercial outperformance.
From $40,000 and a garage to a global fragrance phenomenon — Raquel Bouris, founder of Who Is Elijah, has built one of Australia’s fastest-growing beauty brands by doing things differently.
In this candid, empowering, and hilarious conversation, Raquel opens up about the creative chaos, the brand strategy, and the personal evolution behind her rise. We dive deep into how she hacked the attention economy with radical authenticity, “no-rules” storytelling, and a founder-led brand that’s as emotionally resonant as it is commercially powerful.
In This Episode
From garage start-up to $20M cult brand
Turning personal brand × business brand into a growth flywheel
Authentic UGC, unpaid celebrity fans, and organic virality
Why “community > vanity” is the ultimate growth strategy
The art and commerce crossover that built longevity
Raquel’s story is a blueprint for the modern founder: fearless, transparent, emotionally intelligent — and entirely her own.
If this episode moves you, follow and rate the show. It’s the simplest way to support these long-form, on-location conversations with world-class creators and founders.
#WhoIsElijah #RaquelBouris #TheSparksJournal #BrandBuilding #FounderStory #Entrepreneurship #AttentionEconomy #WomenInBusiness
Building one global cult brand is rare.
Doing it twice - Mambo and Deus Ex Machina - is almost unheard of.
In this inspiring conversation, Dare Jennings reveals the playbook behind both:
lead with art and humour that challenge the mainstream, fuse the unrestrained creativity of subcultures - “surf, motorcycles, music… it’s all the same juice” - and build worlds where rebellion feels playful, not intimidating.
From Mambo’s cheeky satire to Deus’s Temples of Enthusiasm, Dare shows how to balance art and commerce, turn brand into tribe, and build a legacy brand with soul - rebellious, inclusive, and built to last.
Jon Rose has lived a life that reads like myth: a pro surfing prodigy at 17, then the founder of Waves For Water, a guerrilla-style humanitarian organisation that’s delivered clean water to millions in disaster and conflict zones.
To the world, he was fearless — the man who ran toward hurricanes, earthquakes, and war.But beneath that outward courage was a lifelong drive born not from purpose alone, but from unhealed childhood trauma — a voice Jon came to call “the Drill Sergeant.”
In this raw and deeply human conversation, Jon opens up about:
• Mistaking post-traumatic drive for purpose — and how it finally caught up with him.
• The cost of living in permanent overdrive, even in service to others.
• How psychedelic-assisted therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS) helped him meet, integrate, and transform the part of himself that once ran the show.
• Why healing the helper may be the most radical act of courage there is.
This is a story of high performance, trauma, and transcendence — a roadmap for turning outward purpose into inner peace.
Because, as Jon puts it: “The real win isn’t the halo — it’s wholeness.”
From film to farm, Matilda Brown shares how she found a deeper creative purpose, one rooted in the soil beneath her feet.
This is a story about the power of the pivot: regenerative agriculture, saying no to gatekeepers, and growing a mission-led meals brand while raising a family.
We explore when to persist versus when to pivot — “sometimes you must let go of one dream for the next to appear” — and how fear can become a compass: “if I feel fear, I walk toward it.” Matilda opens up about The Good Farm Shop, from cow-share to ready meals, and the lessons behind mobile abattoirs, animal welfare, and compostable packaging.
At its heart, this is a conversation about non-negotiable values, the creative reinvention of purpose, and the beautiful, messy, and profoundly empowering joy of building a business — and a life — with your partner and family.
Sydney beaches. A MasterChef stage. New York ambition.
The inspiring, irrepressible Dan Churchill shows what’s possible when conviction meets clarity — and purpose meets performance. Guided by a clear North Star (“change the world through food”) and a deep commitment to helping everyone achieve true health and vitality, he has evolved from creator to strategic advisor, investor, and co-founder, becoming one of the world’s most-loved wellness advocates. Aspirational yet empathetic, this conversation offers a practical blueprint for building a purpose-driven brand and creating a lasting legacy.
Episode 1 of The Sparks Journal podcast is with legendary luxury fashion designer, Thom Browne.
Thom is widely considered to be one of the most influential designers of the last century, merging a unique creative vision that has earned enormous cultural cache, with significant commercial success.
But it wasn't always that way.
Thom offers a raw, honest and vulnerable accounting of what it really takes for ambitious independent designers - and creative entrepreneurs more broadly - to stay true to their vision, and take it all the way.
The Sparks Journal explores the intersection of purpose, creativity, and cultural impact.
Hosted by Joshua Sparks, it features world-class creators, founders, and thinkers who are reshaping the future. Subscribe for deep conversations, insights, and stories to help you align vision with purpose and create with impact.