Fashion Biography

Nice women never wore makeup. Even the word was taboo in polite society—until Max Factor entered the scene. Born in Poland in 1877, Factor worked as a beautician for the Russian royal family, the Romanovs. In 1904, he fled to America, where he opened a cosmetics store in Los Angeles. Creating makeup originally for silent films, then the talkies, and, ultimately, color motion pictures, Factor designed looks for Katharine Hepburn, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, and countless other beauties of the day. Soon women everywhere wanted to look like their favorite glamorous stars, and Factor was there to help, bringing his innovative cosmetics to the general public.

Since posting her first makeup tutorial in 2008, Dulce Candy has become one of the top beauty stars on YouTube - boasting more than two million subscribers and garnering hundreds of millions of views for her bright and energetic how-to videos. But before she became a style icon and a role model to millions of young women, Dulce struggled to make her way in the world.

While working together at a Los Angeles boutique, Pamela Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor became fast and furious friends over the impossibility of finding the perfect T-shirt. Following their vision of comfortable, fitted T-shirts, they set up shop in Gela’s one-bedroom Hollywood apartment with $200 and one rule: Whatever they did, they both had to be obsessed by it. Pam and Gela eventually sold their company to Liz Claiborne for $50 million, but not before they created a whole new genre of casual clothing that came to define California cool.

When Peta Mathias dug through the clothes she had stored away for 20 years in her shed, she realised it was full of valuable, beautiful items that were crying out to be worn again: ‘Fashion is mysterious, irresistible and alluring...they are not just frocks—they are beauty, art, history, emotion, memory, identity and, above all, joy.’ From this arose a new appreciation of buying well but cannily, so your clothes will not bankrupt you nor go out of fashion.

"A diamond is forever." Who among us doesn't recognize this slogan and, with it, the fascination that diamonds hold in our collective imagination as emblems of royalty, glamor, and eternal love? Rachelle Bergstein's cultural biography illuminates the enticing, often surprising story of our society's enduring obsession with diamonds - and the people who have worked tirelessly to ensure their continued allure.

Before Instagram was an art form, fashion photographers were pop culture royalty. From the postwar covers of Vogue until the triumph of the digital image, the fashion photographer sold not only clothes but ideals of beauty and fantasies of perfect lives. Even when they succumbed to temptation and excess, the very few photographers who rose to the top were artists above all.

What greater act of friendship is there than making someone dear look and feel their most beautiful and powerful? That was the priceless gift acclaimed designer B Michael gave to one of Hollywood’s greatest actresses, Cicely Tyson over the course of their close, decades-long relationship. In this glorious memoir, B Michael recalls the bond they shared and what it was like to dress the Queen of Hollywood for all the extraordinary events of her life.

Vergessen Sie Jil Sander und Wolfgang Joop, der erfolgreichste deutsche Designer heißt Philipp Plein! Kaum zu glauben, aber wahr: Alles begann mit einem Hundebett. Die erste Million auf dem Konto, der Weg in die Luxusbranche ... Später startete das Multitalent dann in der Modewelt durch, sein Markenzeichen war ab dem ersten Piece ein funkelnder Totenkopf.

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.

Vivienne Westwood, einflussreichste Modeschöpferin Englands: Leben und Werk in einer Kurzbiografie! Alles, was man wissen muss, kurz und knapp. Infotainment, Bildung und Unterhaltung vom Feinsten!

Cristóbal Balenciaga no se dejaba ver en sus desfiles ni salía jamás a saludar tras finalizarlos. Si hacemos caso a la leyenda, el diseñador vasco seguía con detalle los pases a través de un discreto agujero practicado en las cortinas de terciopelo que decoraban su maison. Apenas existen retratos suyos, e incluso llegó a calar el rumor de que el hombre invisible de la alta costura no era más que una invención, una estrategia comercial elaborada con astucia.

La storia di ogni grande donna è la storia delle sue guerre. Quelle di Coco Chanel sono state almeno quattro: due conflitti mondiali, le battaglie sindacali degli anni Venti e Trenta, e la guerra contro i suoi fantasmi. Questa, la più cruenta di tutte, comincia con l'abbandono da parte del padre, prosegue con l'infanzia lontana dalla famiglia, "esiliata" in un convento di suore – che però, conquistato il benessere, sosterrà economicamente – e poi con la perdita di un grande amore, il più grande, e con la rinuncia a una casa vera e propria per trasferirsi al Ritz.

This book is going to change how you think about clothes and yourself. Part memoir and part guidebook, it features Morgan A. Wider’s personal evolution that led to where she is now - transforming the wardrobes, mentalities, and lives of women across the world.

If you know your Alexander McQueen from your Marc Jacobs, this publication is for you as we take a look at the world's greatest models and designers. Twenty kings and queens of the catwalk strut their stuff in an elite look at some of the industry's biggest names. From established supermodels including Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, and Kate Moss, to current stars like Cara Delevingne, find out who has made the cut as we recall the careers of these icons of fashion.

This couple started their second venture to offer inclusive western workwear for women amidst the pandemic

"Was ich tue? Na, ich lebe!" – warum es nie zu spät ist, sich noch einmal neu zu erfinden. Mit siebzig über Nacht berühmt: Günther Krabbenhöft steht gewohnt elegant auf einem Berliner U-Bahnhof, als ein Tourist ein Foto von ihm macht und es später ins Netz stellt. Was Günther Krabbenhöft nicht ahnt: Innerhalb kürzester Zeit wird das Bild millionenfach geteilt und er als vermeintlich 104-jähriger "Hipster-Opa" weltweit zur Sensation. Eine japanische Modefirma fliegt sogar umgehend nach Berlin, um ihn für ihren Katalog zu shooten.

"Mode muss Teil einer Bewegung sein, das Gegenteil von Stillstand." In allem, was er tut, fasziniert und polarisiert Wolfgang Joop. Hier betrachtet er erstmals sein Leben, das alles ist, aber nicht Stillstand, Sättigung und Zufriedenheit: eine Kindheit in Potsdam, Verlust der Heimat, Neuanfang in Braunschweig, Autodidakt und Star der deutschen und bald der internationalen Modeszene, ein Leben in Hamburg, New York, Berlin und Potsdam, seine Rolle als Ehemann, Vater, Künstler.

Considered "the world's most popular cult novelist" (The Guardian), Haruki Murakami has written books that have galvanized millions around the world. Many of his fans know about his 10,000-vinyl-record collection, and his obsession with running, but few have heard about a more intimate, and perhaps more unique, passion: his T-shirt-collecting habit.

Trailblazing transgender actress, activist, and style icon Candis Cayne has spent a lifetime learning how to see herself for who she really is, and along the way has taught herself and others how to celebrate inner beauty as the perfect starting point for outer radiance. Drawing from her personal journey to self-acceptance and comprised of a unique combination of cross-barrier, body-positive wellness and style advice, Hi Gorgeous! is a one-of-a-kind beauty guide that will speak to all women.

The legendary French designer Coco Chanel was born in 1883. She changed the way women thought about fashion and themselves; her dresses were meant to free women of the corset and allow them to move freely and elegantly. At the dawn of a new century, Chanel stood for a new type of woman. Chanel worked her way up from living in an orphanage to dining with royalty. She personified her own designs.