Fashion Biography

Aurora James’s life is a great American “success story”—precisely because it looks so different from others we’ve seen. Scouted as a teen model, James struggled with body image and became disenchanted by the industry’s objectification of women and commodification of race. After she’d hit rock bottom, dropping out of high school and being arrested for street racing, she was forced to reshape her life. A slew of fashion-related jobs led James to discover the power of the runway, and she started her own business in a flea market.

Versace. The very name conjures up images of outrageous glamour and bold sexuality, opulence and daring. All of course true, but only half the story. Versace is also the legacy of a great creative genius from a poor, backward part of southern Italy who transformed the fashion world through his intuitive understanding of both women and how a changing culture influenced the way they wanted to dress. House of Versace shows how Gianni Versace, with his flamboyant sister Donatella at his side, combined his virtuosic talent and extraordinary ambition to help create celebrity culture.

Karl Lagerfeld stylized himself into a living logo and a myth of the fashion world. In Karl Lagerfeld: A Life in Fashion, journalist Alfons Kaiser, who knew Lagerfeld personally for many years, introduces listeners to the public and private life of the charismatic fashion designer. Kaiser explores the many eras of Lagerfeld’s life: the youthful outsider in the north German flatlands; the urbane genius in Paris; the tireless draftsman; the enthusiastic photographer; the passionate book collector; and the disciplined Prussian workaholic.

From the depths of financial despair to the glittering celebrity world of the rich and famous, Theo Fennell's journey has been anything but predictable. With humour, candour and self-depreciation, Fennell charts the highs and lows of his remarkable career, from dealing with hardened criminals to designing for Elton John, Lady Gaga and Madonna.

Entrepreneur and influencer Mary Lawless Lee, creator of the popular lifestyle blog Happily Grey, brings her distinctive brand of grit and gratitude to this wonder-filled, photo-rich celebration of life lived in the in-between.

Danielle Bernstein spent her youth shopping at discount department stores, getting boozy in suburban backyards, and proposing marriage to every boy she dated. By age 19, she was a college dropout living in a West Village shoebox with three roommates and only six months to prove that her blog, @WeWoreWhat, could become a full blown career...or else board the train back to her mom's house. This Is Not a Fashion Story is the down and dirty tale of how a Long Island-born teenager became one of the most recognizable names in fashion.

Long before Tameka Foster Raymond was known for her high-profile marriage and drama-fueled divorce, she lived a vibrant life as a self-made success in the fashion world, curating the wardrobes and images of many of today’s award-winning entertainers. In this honest, sincere, witty, and at times gut-wrenching memoir, Tameka opens up about her childhood influences, coming of age in Oakland, and losing her first love without losing her decorum, dignity, or her ability to dream.

Le dernier matin, Karl Lagerfeld est mort seulement accompagné de Sébastien, son bodyguard et homme de confiance avec qui il dînait en tête-à-tête presque chaque soir. Lors de la cérémonie funèbre, défilèrent Bernard Arnault et les frères Wertheimer, Caroline de Monaco et Inès de la Fressange, les premières des ateliers de couture Chanel et de jeunes mannequins. L’empereur de la mode avait exigé de disparaître en cendres, avec cette « panoplie » si reconnaissable – lunettes noires et catogan – qui servait de rempart à ses secrets. C’est seulement maintenant que les témoins parlent.

In I.M., Isaac Mizrahi offers a poignant, candid, and touching look back on his life so far. Growing up gay in a sheltered Syrian Jewish Orthodox family, Isaac had unique talents that ultimately drew him into fashion and later into celebrity circles that read like a who’s who of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries: Richard Avedon, Audrey Hepburn, Anna Wintour, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Meryl Streep, and Oprah Winfrey, to name only a few.

Editor in chief Alexandra Shulman kept a diary of British Vogue's centenary year. And what a year. She reveals the emotional and logistical minefield of producing the 100th anniversary issue (that Duchess of Cambridge cover surprise), organising the star-studded Vogue 100 Gala and working with designers from Victoria Beckham to Karl Lagerfeld and contributors from David Bailey to Alexa Chung, all under the continual scrutiny of a television documentary crew.

Everyone knows Steve Madden's name and his shoes, but few are familiar with his story. Over the past 30 years, Steve Madden has taken his eponymous shoe company from the fledgling start-up he founded with a mere $1,100 to a global, multibillion-dollar brand. But Madden's mistakes, from his battle with addiction to the financial shortcuts that landed him in prison, are as important to his story as his most iconic shoes. In this raw, intimate, and ultimately inspiring book, Madden holds nothing back as he shares what it took to get here and the lessons he's learned along the way.

In Clothes...And Other Things that Matter, Alexandra Shulman delves into her own life to look at the emotions, ambitions, expectations and meanings behind the way we dress. From the bra to the bikini, the trench coat to trainers, the slip dress to the suit, she explores their meaning in women's lives and how our wardrobes intersect with the larger world - the career ladder, motherhood, romance, sexual identity, ambition, failure, body image and celebrity.

Bobbi Brown is a trailblazer in the beauty industry. A New York Times bestselling author of nine makeup tutorial books to date, she is the founder of both her namesake beauty brand, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, and her four-year-old clean beauty brand, Jones Road. Recognized as one of Fortune’s Most Powerful Women in 2021, included in Forbes’s “50 Over 50” list of Most Influential Women in 2022, and honored with the Glamour Woman of the Year Award, Bobbi’s career has been nothing short of groundbreaking. I

Desde pequeña supe que mi vida no iba a ser como la de los demás. La creatividad, el optimismo, el amor por mi trabajo, por los animales, la libertad y la curiosidad por aprender, ver y conocer, han sido mi verdadero motor. Todos los días aparecen oportunidades y hay miles de cosas por hacer. Siempre he tenido clarísimo que dentro de una vida hay muchas vidas. Y en la mía, como en la de todo el mundo, ha habido momentos en los que me he dejado llevar, otros en los que me he reinventado y otros en los que he arrasado.

Carrie Bradshaw’s pairing of a tutu with a tank top is one of the most iconic outfits ever seen on television—and a look that turned avant-garde New York designer and stylist Patricia Field into a household name. But before she was crowned the fairy godmother of haute couture, Field was the owner of the longtime East Village emporium Pat Field, a haven for drag queens, club kids, starving artists, NYU freshmen, and creative visionaries alike.

McQueen had risen from humble beginnings as the youngest child of an East London taxi driver to scale the heights of fame, fortune and glamour. He designed clothes for the world's most beautiful women, including Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. In business he created a multimillion-pound luxury brand that became a favourite with both celebrities and royalty, most famously the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore a McQueen dress on her wedding day. But behind the confident facade and bad-boy image lay a sensitive soul who struggled to survive in the ruthless world of fashion.

An intimate biography of Richard Avedon, the legendary fashion and portrait photographer who “helped define America’s image of style, beauty and culture” (The New York Times) by his longtime collaborator and business partner Norma Stevens and award-winning author Steven M. L. Aronson.

For Eve, Irene, Betty, and Rosemary, working at the exclusive Heyworth's department store in Cambridge is a dream come true. Once the girls step inside the elegant building, the hardships of their own lives are temporarily forgotten. Serving a variety of customers, from glamorous gypsy queens to royalty and the city's fashionable elite, the store is a place where these young women can forge successful careers under the ever-watchful eye of flamboyant owner Mr Heyworth.

Vogue magazine started, like so many great things do, in the spare room of someone's house. But unlike other such makeshift projects that flare up then fizzle away, Vogue burnt itself onto our cultural consciousness. Today, 128 years later, Vogue spans twenty-two countries, has an international print readership upwards of twelve million, and nets over sixty-seven million monthly online users. Uncontested market leader for a century, it is one of the most recognizable brands in the world and a multi-million dollar money-making machine.

Instructive as it is innovative, Unlabel will empower you to channel your creativity, find the courage to defy convention, and summon the confidence to act and compete in any environment. This blueprint will teach you how to grow both creatively and commercially by testing your personal brand against the principles of the Authenticity Formula. Marc Eckō shares the bruising mistakes and remarkable triumphs that reveal the truth behind his success, growing from a misfit kid airbrushing T-shirts in his parents' garage to the bold creator of two hugely successful branded platforms.