 09-05-2007, 12:39 AM
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fashion_bible
 
Joined on 01-03-2006
manhattan nyc uptown
Rank NA
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![Geeked [8-|]](/emoticons/emotion-15.gif)
FASHION BABYLON book review !!!!!
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AUGUST BOOK REPORT: Fashion Babylon (Hardcover) by Imogen Edwards-Jones : This book has been touted as a gossipy tell-all that blows the lid off the fashion business and names names dishing all the lowdown dirt about models designers & journalists. While that may be the selling point of Fashion Babylon, that misrepresents what this book is really about. First of all, it's fiction. It's the story of a female english designer [about 27 or so] and her flamboyant and humorous male business partner-co-worker. FB covers 1 season in the designer's career, as she moves from cult darling of the English press, attains some red carpet/Hollywood success, and then shows her spring line in NYC's Bryant Park. Yes there are a lot of famous names in the book, but almost none of the dirt here is new to anyone who follows fashion closely. Surely the publisher's lawyers made sure that anything potentially libellous [ie not already covered/verifiied in the media] was removed. Here are the types of 'juicy' gossip items in the book: Kate Moss was so high on an English Vogue cover shoot with a tiara on that she had to be held up by assistants from falling over. [Kate is the author's favourite model for drug filled anecdotes obvs]. Naomi Campbell has also partied like mad & has a violent temper. [parties with Christy Turlington, Versace & D&G hinted at]. Donatella & marc Jacobs have both been to rehab. Tom Ford hates Posh Spice so much he wanted to stop her from buying & wearing his Gucci clothes. Nadja auermann, the 6' german model, walked around a photographer's studio for an hour wearing only a pair of high heel stilettos, fully comfortable/unashamed in her extra-human nakedness. Those types of tidbits are how FB has been presented in every review Ive read.
They are not the focus of this book at all. This book is much more informative about the business side of fashion [the author has already written expose/business type books about the hotel & food industries]. The real-life problems that a young-ish designer faces make for far more interesting reading than trite, warmed-over gossip. Did you know that many designers shop at high-end vintage stores and get lots of their 'new ideas' from garments from the 40s, 50s, 60s etc? In fact, designers actually sew their own labels into vintage items and send them down the runway & to magazines!! That's why so many 'new' styles on the runway are actually too familiar to observers who have followed fashion for a few decades- the designs are recycled!! FB has interesting info on the sourcing of fabrics [usually in Italy]. the sewers/cutters who actually create the designs from sketches [or copy existing designs for the runway, in new colours of fabrics]. there are interesting studies of the PR & press aspect of the business, from high end magazines like harpers & queen down to tabloids like News of the World & the Sun. Believe it or not, exposure in the SUN or People on a Hollywood actresses back can sell a lot more clothes than a small picture in Vogue- in fact some of the styles seen in the high fashion mags are only produced in tiny numbers- too expensive for mass consumption! Its the one signature piece that is a big hit that makes a designers year/career- and that well-publicized design is seen everywhere- and then ripped off in cheaper versions by other companies! bags & shoes are by far the most profitable categories for designers, but it takes several years of success and a bankable designer name to get those categories working. And if you dont sell fast, you can go out of business. Perfume is another lucrative line, but the scents often have very little to do with the name on the bottle! A perfume license is sold to long-standing fragrance companies who buy the designers name.
I did enjoy 2 opinions expressed by charcters in the book. Heidi Klum is knocked as a very average model with below average brains who has been able to market her body to great success worldwide. And that Justin Portman, Natalia Vodianova's husband, is a scarily posessive type who has to make a big show all the time about their great love by jumping up on the runway to kiss her and just generally flaunting her as his caged bird object- it was interesting to read that kind of psychological speculation [his insecurity, her submissivensss] but thats about as deep as this book will go regarding actual top model names, but I dd agree with those opinions.
Press and store relationships are everything. And once again its the established names/brands that get the top editors and huge numbers from major stores like Harrods & Harvey Nichols. [successful labels buy the most ads in the mags; the mags show those same labels - round & round.] a new designer may be hot for 1 year as the new press darling. once his season is up, the knives are out & the same editors who made him, want to see him fail after!! This book is most successful in outlining the business demands behind the scenes & how the designer courts editors and buyers. From the outside fashion looks so glamorous, but the view here is more about business and the risk of losing money than drug filled disco parties & models. Sure there are anonymous tidbits about models with eating disorders, drug addiction, prostitution, bad hygiene, abortion, laxatives... really nothing new if one has followed fashion for more than a couple of years. But its the inside business stuff- with facts & figures stated here- that is far more interesting. I guess the publisher & the reviewers had to make this book out to be something its not. But if you really love fashion, the larger picture painted here is far more noteworthy than another kate moss coke binge anecdote. in general the names here are the most famous designers & models- to appeal to the casual reader. Maybe one day someone will write a real tell-all with lots of designers & models ffrom late 90s- to present. This book is a superficial look at the drugs & glamour of the fashion business; but a compelling and somewhat in-depth look at the economics of the industry. The author is a fine writer and one can breeze through this interesting book in less than a week. recommended only for those with a serious interest in fashion & how the business works. RATING B+
"....and she'd over-dosed on magazines....
just fade to grey...."
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