Synopsis -
Beautiful. Willful. Charming. Blunt. Grace Coddington’s extraordinary talent and fierce dedication to her work as creative director of Vogue have made her an international icon. Known through much of her career only to those behind the scenes, she might have remained fashion’s best-kept secret were it not for The September Issue, the acclaimed 2009 documentary that turned publicity-averse Grace into a sudden, reluctant celebrity. Grace’s palpable engagement with her work brought a rare insight into the passion that produces many of the magazine’s most memorable shoots.
With the witty, forthright voice that has endeared her to her colleagues and peers for more than forty years, Grace now creatively directs the listener through the storied narrative of her life so far. Evoking the time when models had to tote their own bags and props to shoots, Grace describes her early career as a model, working with such world-class photographers as David Bailey and Norman Parkinson, before she stepped behind the camera to become a fashion editor at British Vogue in the late 1960s. Here she began creating the fantasy “travelogues” that would become her trademark. In 1988 she joined American Vogue, where her breathtakingly romantic and imaginative fashion features, a sampling of which appear in this book, have become instant classics.
Grace will introduce listeners to the colorful designers, hairstylists, makeup artists, photographers, models, and celebrities with whom Grace has created her signature images. Grace reveals her private world with equal candor—the car accident that almost derailed her modeling career, her two marriages, the untimely death of her sister, Rosemary, her friendship with Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief Liz Tilberis, and her thirty-year romance with Didier Malige. Finally, Grace describes her abiding relationship with Anna Wintour, and the evolving mastery by which she has come to define the height of fashion.
Review -
I didn't grow up around fashion. We were low income and our focus was on getting by. So it was interesting when I fell into interviewing people in the fashion world for a few magazines, and then co-owning a local fashion magazine, I quickly realized how little I knew about history of the industry, so have been working my way through memoirs by those - like Grace Coddington - who have had a long career, and fabulous stories.
Like others I have read, this one is really two books mixed together. In parts she shares her personal stories outside the fashion world - where she was born, what her childhood was like, how she entered the fashion world, personal stories from her time as a model/editor/creative director, marriages, her beloved cats and more. She writes beautifully, so I felt I was right there along with her.
The other part of the book is all taken from her decades in the fashion world. There are lots of insider stories and short tales from her work with a wide range of professional photographers, makeup artists and more. She gives behind the scenes looks at what is was like to work in the publishing industry, including Vogue, and shares some of the quirks of many of the talented artists she dealt with. There are photo shoot stories - both favorite shoots that went well along with those that slid out of control. I simply skipped over all the names as I didn't know them, and focused on the story told.
If you are interested in looking back on the fashion world starting at a time when models did their own hair and make-up, or if you know all the famous names and want to hear more about them, then you'll find this a great read. I loved this as an audio book as hearing Grace tell her story brought it alive for me.
Connect: Art+Commerce ~ Instagram
Comments
Post a Comment