“When I was growing up, it was absolutely not talked about.” For much of her life, Bella Freud treated her famous last name as little more than a footnote. The great-granddaughter of Sigmund Freud and daughter of painter Lucian Freud, she built her own identity in fashion with her eponymous independent fashion label known for its fine knitwear and witty designs, shaped in part by her mentor, the late Vivienne Westwood. From her father, she inherited an unshakable commitment to craft. But the weight of the Freud name? It hit her in her 20s, when she was living in Italy and strangers—upon hearing her surname—would ask her to psychoanalyze them, assuming that the legacy of her great-grandfather had somehow been passed down.
Now, with her podcast Fashion Neurosis, she’s fully embracing that legacy—on her terms. The show invites some of the fashion industry’s most intriguing figures—designers, writers, and deep thinkers—to quite literally lie on her couch as she interviews them. Since its debut last October, Freud has “analyzed” the likes of designers Rick Owens and Haider Ackermann. She’s also welcomed actors such as Cate Blanchett and Courteney Cox, along with cultural figures outside the fashion world, including writers Zadie Smith and Karl Ove Knausgaard and retired footballer Eric Cantona. For Freud, the podcast is both a creative outlet and a brand booster. It’s working—Fashion Neurosis tops the Fashion & Beauty charts in Canada and the U.K., and Freud has seen both increased interest and sales.
The concept, she admits, is playful but fitting. “I’m not embarrassed anymore. I don’t feel like I’m capitalizing on it—I’m just using something that’s part of my family history, something anyone could use. But obviously, I’m in a good position to do it.” More than anything, she wanted to bring the idea to life before someone else did. With the ambient background music, soft lighting, and Freud’s measured and intimate tone, the show has an almost ASMR-like quality. In her role as “analyst,” Freud offers a calm, reassuring presence, and the setting itself—the couch, the ceiling-mounted camera—encourages openness. What begins as a conversation about style inevitably unfolds into deeper explorations of identity, culture, and relationships. A natural conversationalist, Freud has always been drawn to people’s inner worlds—their struggles, their creative impulses, and the fire that drives them.
Her first guest, Rick Owens, set the tone for the series. Freud had wondered whether the concept would work, but as soon as Owens arrived, she felt reassured.
“The doorbell rang, and he came in like some kind of angel that had fallen from heaven—dressed in black, with his towering shoes and jet-black hair. He was just so enchanting, and I felt like, everything’s going to be OK.”
Sure enough, Owens opened up about being ashamed of his body as a teenager. In later episodes, Jonathan Anderson reflected on growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, while photographer Juergen Teller revealed his fraught relationship with his alcoholic father. And for Kate Moss—whom Freud has known for years—the podcast offered a rare chance to showcase just how engaging she truly is. “Everyone in the business knows how brilliant and perceptive she is. There’s nobody quicker—nothing gets past her,” Freud says.
She was particularly struck by something Moss said early in their conversation: “Your body isn’t really your own; it’s like a vehicle for other people’s projections.” It was a moment of clarity. “I just thought, this is what fashion is about when it’s at its best. It’s so much more than it’s often allowed to be seen as.
Fashion is frequently dismissed as frivolous—even by those within the industry—but with Fashion Neurosis, Freud is shining a light on those who take it seriously. She hopes the podcast encourages people to think as deeply as possible about what they do, and what fashion—at its most thoughtful—can reveal.
For much of her life, Freud kept her famous surname at arm’s length. But with Fashion Neurosis, she’s embracing it—not as an analyst, but as an observer of human nature. The podcast may be about fashion on the surface, but like her great-grandfather, she’s more interested in what’s going on underneath.
