How Fitting® Podcast

The podcast for slow fashion designers who want to create clothing and grow a business that fits their customer, lifestyle, and values.

In biweekly episodes, hear how relatable fashion entrepreneurs (the kind who run their businesses from kitchen tables and cutting tables, not boardroom tables) navigate the fashion industry with integrity and define success based on their own principles.

In each conversation, host Alison Hoenes (a freelance women’s apparel patternmaker) explores the things that all slow fashion business owners experience: the vulnerability of launching something new, the deeply empathetic process of designing clothes that fit a niche market, the challenges of pursuing both financial and environmental sustainability, the late nights of reckoning with your values that make you consider shutting the whole thing down, and the rewarding moments that make it all worth it.

In addition, hear from experienced fashion industry resources that are helping indie designers make a difference and a profit – like low MOQ factories, fashion marketing and business coaches, or sustainable fabric suppliers.

How Fitting® offers validation that you are not alone in your fashion entrepreneurship experience, ideas to try on in your fashion business to create a better fit, and a curious look into how other slow fashion brands are making it work. How fitting is that?


Want to share how your brand fits your customer, lifestyle, and values on the How Fitting® podcast? I’d love to have you as a guest on an upcoming episode.


The Impact Of An African-Inspired Brand with Kahindo Mateene of Kahindo

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
The Impact Of An African-Inspired Brand with Kahindo Mateene of Kahindo
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In episode 65, Kahindo Mateene shares the inspiration, ethics, and inside entrepreneurial journey of her namesake label Kahindo. With a focus on African textiles, her business is built to empower the women who wear her clothes and the women who make them.  KAHINDO is a New York based ethical fashion brand that is inspired by […]

Worthiness, Inclusivity, and Sustainable Fashion with Amanda Toy of Nicole & Rose

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Worthiness, Inclusivity, and Sustainable Fashion with Amanda Toy of Nicole & Rose
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In episode 64, Amanda shares how she started a sustainable fashion brand, Nicole & Rose, with the goal of making all women feel worthy, powerful, and included. From starting with just a dream of working in fashion to now running her own brand, Amanda’s journey is relatable and affirming. Amanda has loved fashion for as […]

Being Called To Create “Decidedly Elegant” Workwear For Petite Women with Tigist Ketema of Tigist Petites

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Being Called To Create “Decidedly Elegant” Workwear For Petite Women with Tigist Ketema of Tigist Petites
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In episode 63, Tigist Ketema recalls the demoralizing fitting room experiences trying to find workwear that fit her curvy, petite frame and shares how she felt called to solve that for herself and other women by creating something that didn’t exist before: a luxury workwear brand designed and made just for petite women.  Tigist Ketema […]

Growing Sustainably From Designer to Business Owner with Bianca Bellantoni of BELLANTONI

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Growing Sustainably From Designer to Business Owner with Bianca Bellantoni of BELLANTONI
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In episode 62, hear how Bianca Bellantoni has built her sustainable fashion brand, Bellantoni, to be kind to animals and the planet  – and how she’s grown as a designer and business owner in the process. Bianca Bellantoni is a Canadian designer and the founder behind the sustainable and cruelty-free clothing brand, BELLANTONI, which she […]

Achieving Big Dreams with Danny Burke and Brandon Winslow of MADE FOR ALL

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Achieving Big Dreams with Danny Burke and Brandon Winslow of MADE FOR ALL
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In episode 61, longtime friends and Co-Founders Danny Burke and Brandon Winslow talk about how they dream big and work to achieve it. They share the story of their 7-years-in-the-making luxury streetwear brand MADE FOR ALL, the wins and challenges of running a brand, and what they’ve learned about entrepreneurship and each other along the […]

Making Launching A Sustainable Fashion Brand Easier with Shannon Lohr of Factory45

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Making Launching A Sustainable Fashion Brand Easier with Shannon Lohr of Factory45
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In episode 60, sustainable fashion business school founder & CEO Shannon Lohr shares insights, practical tips, and marketing and mindset wisdom for starting a sustainable fashion brand based on her years of experience coaching successful fashion entrepreneurs through her Factory45 program. As the Founder & CEO of Factory45, Shannon Lohr works with idea-stage entrepreneurs to […]

Exploring Dreamy Fashion For Everyday Moments with Natalia Pavanelli of Wandwoods

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Exploring Dreamy Fashion For Everyday Moments with Natalia Pavanelli of Wandwoods
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In episode 59, Natalia Pavanelli brings us into her poetic exploration of the whimsy of little moments through her romantic, cottagecore brand Wandwoods. Her storytelling, industry experience, and purpose weave a captivating tale in this episode about chasing dreams and the realities of fashion entrepreneurship. “I am a Brazillian-Canadian fashion designer with a passion for […]

Perfecting The Craft of High-End Tailoring with Keti McKenna of Ketivani

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Perfecting The Craft of High-End Tailoring with Keti McKenna of Ketivani
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In episode 58, master clothing craftsman Keti McKenna tells the story of her fashion career from recently-immigrated geophysicist in NYC in the 1990s, to seamstress, to patternmaker at designer brands, and finally founder of her own high-end suiting brand Ketivani. Keti’s original career was as a geophysicist, but she always had a love of fashion […]

Focusing On The Basics, But Adding Flair with Allison Kittle of Betty x Bow

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Focusing On The Basics, But Adding Flair with Allison Kittle of Betty x Bow
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In episode 57, the owner of Canadian slow fashion brand Betty x Bow, Allison Kittle, shares how she combines comfort, versatility, and feminine flair to create thoughtful, elevated basics. Her pieces do it all, and so does she – Allison balances a full-time nursing career with operating Betty x Bow.  “My name is Allison Kittle, […]

Finding Belonging In A Wool Coat with Anna Dougherty of Anna Gray Collection

How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
How Fitting: design a slow fashion business that fits
Finding Belonging In A Wool Coat with Anna Dougherty of Anna Gray Collection
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In episode 56, Anna Dougherty shares her story of belonging as she developed – and recently launched – her NYC-locally made wool outerwear collection – Anna Gray Collection. Hear how her background in outerwear wholesale and the street she grew up on as a child came together in her launch collection. Anna Dougherty is a […]