3 posts tagged "Harper’s Bazaar"
The Empress Strikes Back
Last fashion week, we got a healthy dose of the legendary Diana Vreeland with the debut of The Eye Has to Travel, the biopic made by the spitfire editor’s grand-daughter-in-law Lisa Immordino Vreeland. Today, we are reminded of the icon’s unwavering legacy yet again with the release of Amanda Mackenzie Stuart’s new book Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland.
A complementary companion to Vreeland’s own fantastical and often hyperbolic memoir, D.V., Stuart’s biography provides a realistic account of the editor’s life, exploring her difficult childhood, her days at Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue, and her time at the Met.
“What really intrigued me about Diana Vreeland was the way she deployed the power of imagination and fairy tale to triumph over the harshness in her life,” says the author, who first stumbled upon D.V. while researching her last book. “At that time, I had only a vague picture of who she was—a terrifyingly hip old lady—raven black hair, snood, Vogue, the Met, Andy Warhol—but I wasn’t quite sure how it all fit together. As I dug deeper, I began to grasp how extraordinary she was and became really fascinated by her.”
What’s not to be fascinated by? From her jet-setting lifestyle to her outrageous photo shoots to guest appearances from Mick and Bianca Jagger, the Kennedys, and every designer under the sun, Vreeland’s life story is decidedly “editorial.”
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Vreeland book without a helping of the editor’s famed sound bites. “I think fantasists are the only realists in the world” is one of Stuart’s favorites. “If readers understand why [Vreeland] said that by the time they get to the end of the book,” says the author, “I may have succeeded in doing her justice.”
Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland is available now at www.barnesandnoble.com
Fashion’s Most Multi Multi-Tasker Adds A New Gig
Carine Roitfeld—who, since her departure from Paris Vogue, has worked with V, Barneys, and launched her own CR Fashion Book—has taken on yet another new position: global fashion director at Harper’s Bazaar, where her V and CR collaborator Stephen Gan is creative director. Hearst announced today that Roitfeld will work on several stories a year for various international editions of the title, beginning in March. Meanwhile, CR Fashion Book will soldier on as well.
PLUS: Last year, Roitfeld spoke with Style.com editor in chief Dirk Standen for the Future of Fashion series. Click here to read the complete interview.
Point, Shoot, Wrap
These Temps des Rêves scarves are a lot to wrap your head around—or, if you’re embracing the summer’s turban trend, a lot to wrap around your head. The images screened on Adrian Mesko’s silk chiffon and satin scarves range from boardwalks in Santa Cruz to journeys through Havana to salt, pepper, and ketchup bottles on the table of a local diner. Each references a daydream—or “dreamtime,” as it’s called in Australian aboriginal culture, hence the brand name—the Aussie photographer has had while traveling the world to shoot. (When not dreaming up scarves and pocket squares, he’s lensing editorials for Harper’s Bazaar Australia and GQ Australia.) The Santa Cruz and Havana scarves ($300) are two of the best sellers since the collection’s launch on MiN.com), but Mesko’s photos reference fashion as much as travel—as with Portobello Furs, with its image of a rack of them at London’s Portobello Market, or Blue Blue Blue, an atmospheric shot from a fall fashion shoot. If foulard fever continues strong for fall, expect to see more of Mesko’s work in the days to come—on the page and off.