I was scrolling through clips the other night and landed on an episode of Ride, the podcast hosted by Mary Beth Barone and Benito Skinner. They weren't talking about dating disasters or pop culture drama. They were talking about their outfits. Skinner points at Barone's top. She says it's vintage Miu Miu. He runs through his own look — a society archive T-shirt, vintage Ralph Lauren Polo shorts, flip flops by The Row.

That's not a fashion podcast. But it sure felt like one.

Turns out that's exactly the point. Podcasts have quietly become one of the most powerful platforms in fashion, and brands are scrambling to figure out how to show up in them.

Why This Is Happening Now

Skinner sits front row at Prada. He's shot campaigns for Tory Burch, J.Crew and Ralph Lauren. Barone's been at the Tory Burch show three seasons running. Their podcast carries brand deals with Tonal, K18 and Jones Road. And they're not alone — Jake Shane of Therapuss sat front row at Calvin Klein and Dior Men this season, Owen Thiele of In Your Dreams showed up at Louis Vuitton, and Chris Black of How Long Gone has become a regular at Copenhagen Fashion Week.

Here's the number that explains it: the global podcast industry pulled in an estimated $9.2 billion last year, up 23% from 2024, according to Bloomberg. The driver is video. About 81% of weekly podcast listeners now watch rather than just listen, on YouTube or streaming platforms. Netflix, Hulu, Tubi and Disney+ are all getting into podcast distribution now, alongside Apple and Spotify.

"Over the last three years, the definition of a podcast has changed entirely," says UTA creator agent Rebecca Steinberg, who represents Shane along with Josh Peck and Ben Soffer's Good Guys. The format used to be audio in the background. Now it's a show you choose to sit down and watch for 45 minutes.

Trust Is the Real Product

That's the part I find interesting. Podcast ads reportedly outperform every other brand channel. Why? Because people choose to press play. WME agent Marissa Hurwitz, who represents Skinner, Barone, Paige DeSorbo, Tinx and others, says podcasting used to be a side hustle for talent. Now it's the main event — and the trust built up over hundreds of episodes is worth more than a billboard ever could be.

UTA's A.J. Leone, who works with Bowen Yang, Matt Rogers, Emma Chamberlain, Jonathan Van Ness and Brittany Broski, puts it simply: listening to a podcast feels like being on FaceTime with a friend. Try getting that from a banner ad.

From Niche Voices to Taste Arbiters

Las Culturistas runs its own Culture Awards. How Long Gone launched The Goneies this year, naming Barone It-Girl of the Year. Half-joking award shows, sure, but they signal something real: these hosts are functioning as cultural gatekeepers.

"Established podcasters should be understood as brands in their own right," says Parisa Parmar, strategist at Attachment. Stylus analyst Annie Corser adds that podcasters carry built-in credibility because the format is nonfiction — we're there for information, not performance.

The Visual Shift — and the Next Frontier

Las Culturistas signed a deal with Disney+ and Hulu in October. Shane signed with Netflix back in January. Alo tapped him as an ambassador this summer after three years of training at its LA Wellness Club. "The customer can just feel it," Alo CEO Benedetta Petruzzo said of the partnership.

But Corser thinks the next wave is live events. Barone and Skinner toured Ride across the US and Europe last year, sold-out rooms full of fans wearing shirts with in-jokes only they'd understand. Heather McMahan took Absolutely Not onto a cruise ship. People will follow a podcast they trust almost anywhere — even onto a boat.

The smart brands get out of the way. Hurwitz points to a recent Ride ad read for Squarespace, which Barone actually used to build her own site, and one for Nocd tied to Skinner's own OCD diagnosis. No script, just truth. Steinberg calls alignment "the biggest thing" — let the host talk in their own voice or don't bother showing up.

It's a good reminder that the loudest marketing isn't always the most effective. Sometimes the thing that actually moves people is just somebody you trust, talking honestly, for 45 minutes, about shoes they bought secondhand. There's a lesson in there for more than just advertising.

Source: Vogue

Before this, we covered: Podcasts Are Catching Up to Radio Fast - At Least If You're Under 35