Fashion Neurosis with Bella Freud

Tim Walker is an English photographer. He began taking pictures as a young boy and, after leaving school, worked in the Cecil Beaton archive at the Condé Nast Library before studying photography at Exeter College of Art.

After university, he moved to New York to assist Richard Avedon, before returning to England where he shot his first fashion story for Vogue aged just 25. He became known for his lavish tableaux and ambitious narrative-driven shoots on location around the world, working with extraordinary props and sets, often in collaboration with set designer Shona Heath. Walker has made six short films, including 2010’s The Lost Explorer and has created album art for artists including Harry Styles and Kate Bush.

He has staged solo exhibitions at major institutions including The Design Museum, Somerset House, The Victoria and Albert Museum, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. Walker’s photographic prints are housed in private collections and in public institutions including the V&A and London’s National Portrait Gallery.

His newest exhibition, Tim Walker’s Fairyland opens this week at London’s National Portrait Gallery.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Tim Walker discuss healing heartbreak through sex, being fired by Richard Avedon, and what is Extreme Beauty.

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We recorded this episode in the summer before the announcement that Glenn Martens would be stepping down as Creative Director of Diesel.

Glenn Martens is a Belgian fashion designer and the creative director of Maison Margiela.

Martens graduated first in his class from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, and then worked as a Junior Designer at Jean Paul Gautier from 2008 to 2012. Martens had an eponymous label which released three collections, before he joined Y/Project in 2013, quickly becoming Creative Director following the death of co-founder Yohan Sefarty. Martens worked at Y/Project until 2024.

In 2020, he became the Creative Director of Diesel, where he redefined the brand’s approach to denim through experimentation with silhouettes, innovative washes, treatments and materials, while also introducing more responsible practices. He also led collaborations with the Tom of Finland Foundation and Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty. Martens announced his departure from the role in September 2026, with his final show at Milan Fashion Week.

In 2025, Martens was announced as the new creative director at Maison Margiela, and will show his fourth major collection with the brand at Paris Fashion Week this month.

Martens won the ANDAM Grand Prize in 2017 with Y/Project and received a special prize, the Family Fund Award, from ANDAM in 2020.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Glenn Martens discuss being a good leader, the sexiness of women’s necks, and designing Chloë Sevigny’s wedding dress.

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Carlos Acosta is a Cuban dancer, choreographer, and director. Acosta won the Prix de Lausanne aged 16, and became the youngest Principal at the English National Ballet in 1991, aged 18.

Acosta returned from classical ballet in 2016 after 28 years of performance. During his ballet career, he wrote and choreographed Tocororo, which broke box office records at Sadler’s Wells when it premiered. He also choreographed Royal Ballet productions of Don Quixote and Carmen. In August 2026 Acosta returned to the Royal Opera House stage for a weeklong run of shows, including performing Havana Suite with his eldest daughter Aila

In 2016, Acosta established his dance company Acosta Danza, which tours the world and has a training academy in Havana and London. Acosta is curating a double bill of his company at Sadler’s Wells in October 2026. He became the Director of Birmingham Royal Ballet in 2020, reinvigorating the company with commissions including Black Sabbath the Ballet.

Acosta has written two books; his memoir, No Way Home published in 2007, and a novel titled Pig’s Foot. Yuli, a film inspired by his life, was released in 2019, with Acosta playing his adult self. In 2015 Acosta was awarded a CBE and earlier this year he received an Honorary Doctorate in Oxford.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Carlos Acosta discuss sugar addiction, ballet dancers’ smiles, and the importance of male ballet dancers.

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Martine Syms is a multidisciplinary artist working across film, video, photography, and publishing.

Born and raised in California, she studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and gained an MFA from Bard College. From 2007 to 2012, she co-directed Golden Age, an artist-run space in Chicago, and had her first solo exhibition at Bridget Donaghue gallery in New York in 2015. She has exhibited at international art institutions including the ICA, MoMA, Sadie Coles HQ, and the Walker Art Museum.

Syms has published several books including PICTURES 2014-2024 and SHE MAD, and has her own publishing imprint, Dominica Publishing, which publishes artist books and zines.

Syms practice combines conceptual grit, humour and social commentary. Her videos and installations are highly technical, reflecting her acute attention to detail in cinematography, sound and editing. Syms uses filmmaking as a means of storytelling to uncover personal and societal truths and employs sound to foster dialogue and form/perform identities. In 2023, she made her feature directorial debut with The African Desperate, and is premiering her new film RW-LO in a solo show at Sadie Coles HQ in September 2026.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Martine Syms discuss matching your nails to your underwear, Taurean energy, and Original Sin.

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Anthony Vaccarello is a Belgian fashion designer. Born to Sicilian parents in Brussels, he studied law for one year before moving to the renowned La Cambre art and design school. Upon graduation, Vaccarello spent two years working for Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi in Rome, and then launched his eponymous label Anthony Vaccarello in 2009.

Since 2016, Vaccarello has been Creative Director of Saint Laurent. During his ten years at the helm of the brand, Vaccarello has upheld Yves Saint Laurent’s creative legacy with irreverent modernity. Across his tenure, he has steadily reinforced the House’s identity with coherence and authority, mixing genres, and empowering a highly desirable vision. Through Vaccarello’s work, Saint Laurent has developed relationships with cultural icons from Madonna to Charlotte Gainsbourg, Connor Storrie to Charli XCX, and Zoe Kravitz to Kate Moss.

In 2023, after working with some of cinema’s leading directors including Pedro Almodovar and Jean-Luc Godard, Vaccarello established Saint Laurent Productions, with the house being the first luxury brand to support filmmaking. Since then, Saint Laurent Productions has supported films from luminaries including Paolo Sorrentino, Claire Denis, David Cronenberg, and Jacques Audiard.

In this episode of Fashion Neurosis, Bella Freud and Anthony Vaccarello discuss the ankle fetish, Saint Laurent women, and how he wanted to dress his mother.

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