Soothing and glorious: Fashion Neurosis reviewed

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Sometimes the mind needs to take a break. And I can’t think of a better stopping-off place than the soothing, gloriously bonkers discussions on the Fashion Neurosis podcast, hosted by the British fashion designer Bella Freud. Its premise is that Freud, daughter of Lucian and great-grand-daughter of Sigmund, encourages guests to recline on her couch and talk over any and every aspect of their relationship to fashion. Her mellifluous, affirming manner is much more soft soap than wire wool, but this is not territory that requires a Robin Day, and the concept proves a surprisingly fruitful route into family history, personal stories and high-grade gossip. The pool of guests is a commendably eclectic one: they have thus far included Nick Cave, Kate Moss, Cate Blanchett, Zadie Smith and the Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard.

Alongside the audio of each interview, there is a little video of Freud and her subject talking: the fact that interviewees are lying down somehow renders them more innocent and unguarded than usual, like rambling children at bedtime. Even those who favour low-key apparel reveal moments when fashion has delivered a notable thrill or anxiety. Knausgaard, who exudes a thoughtful melancholy, arrives clad in his out-there-meeting-people outfit of black jeans, black T-shirt, black shoes and, for winter, a black sweater. In his early teens, he said, he annoyed his father by shaving his head and getting a cross-shaped earring in each ear. When his father saw the new look, ‘he said, “Well, you look like an idiot.” And that was kind of what I wanted to achieve, I think.