Billy Reid

Wheels Off with Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller

Arts, Performing Arts, Music

5.0 • 596 Ratings

🗓️ 8 January 2025

⏱️ 29 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Award-winning fashion designer Billy Reid joins Rhett to talk about the artistry that has shaped his iconic brand. From rebuilding after 9/11 to shaping modern American menswear, Billy reveals how gut instincts have guided his success, shares candid insights on transforming setbacks into opportunities, and explains why he likes to stay close to the design process. As Rhett says, Billy’s story is a masterclass in living a creative life. Billy Reid’s fashion journey began in Louisiana where his mother had a boutique in the hospitable environs of his grandmother’s former home. He studied at The Art Institute of Dallas and cut his chops at Saks Fifth Avenue, later with Reebok. After launching his namesake collections in 1998, he established the Billy Reid brand in 2004. The company now operates from New York City and Alabama headquarters, with 13 domestic retail shops and international luxury boutique distribution. Follow Billy Reid @billy_reid Follow Rhett @rhettmiller Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer Kirsten Cluthe. Editing by Matt Dwyer. Music by Old 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Distributed in partnership with Osiris Media. This podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, The Milk Carton Kids, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	O'SIRMANN.
0:02.0	Welcome to Wheels Off, a show about the messy reality of the creative life.
0:09.0	I'm Rhett Miller.
0:10.0	That's when it got wheels off.
0:13.0	We started ugly ain't gonna stop.
0:16.0	Oh, she made me feel like a good God.
0:19.0	That's when it got wheels off. I'd say it happens
0:24.8	almost more often than not on these wheels off.
0:30.0	That the person, if there's someone I've never met before,
0:34.4	whom I'm meeting for the first time, becomes a friend. In the case of Billy Reed, I've never met before, whom I'm meeting for the first time, becomes a friend.
0:39.6	In the case of Billy Reed, I've admired his work as a designer for years.
0:45.8	I'm pretty sure I mentioned during the interview that my favorite shirt is a Billy Reed shirt.
0:54.0	And if you ever see me wearing it, you know that that's...
0:57.1	Either I just did laundry and I'm wearing my favorite shirt first
0:59.9	or I've saved it for a big gig or a big event.
1:04.6	I just feel like my best self when I'm wearing it.
1:07.8	And clearly, his design is an art. His career, in a lot of ways, is an artistic
1:19.0	feat. The way he navigated the early part of his career, trying out different things,
1:26.1	winding up in the field of design and design
1:29.9	marketing and all the things that he tried out within the larger design sphere before he became
1:36.0	what he is now, which is Billy Reed designer. And I just think he's fantastic. And as a human being, you know, he feels like a long-lost friend, a brother from another mother,
1:49.9	all those things that you don't expect.
	...

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