Empress of Fashion: The Life of Diana Vreeland - Softcover

Stuart, Amanda MacKenzie

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062223283 ISBN 13: 9780062223289

Publisher: HarperLuxe, 2012

Synopsis

Diane von Furstenberg once called Diana Vreeland a "beacon of fashion for the twentieth century." Now, in this definitive biography by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart, is the story of the iconic fashion editor as you've never seen her before. From her career at the helms of Harper's Bazaar and Vogue, to her reign as consultant to the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Vreeland had an enormous impact on the fashion world and left a legacy so enduring that must-have style guides still quote her often wild and always relevant fashion pronouncements.

With access to Vreeland's personal material and photographs, critically acclaimed biographer Amanda Mackenzie Stuart has written the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at Diana Vreeland and her world--a jet-setting social scene that included Coco Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Oscar de la Renta, Lauren Bacall, Penelope Tree, Lauren Hutton, Andy Warhol, Mick and Bianca Jagger, and the Kennedys. Filled with gorgeous color photographs of her work, Empress of Fashion: A Life of Diana Vreeland is an elegant and fascinating account of one of the most revered tastemakers of the 20th century.

About this title

Review:

"An intelligent account of the life and accomplishments of legendary Vogue editor-in-chief, Diana Vreeland...A richly detailed and well-researched biography of a fashion icon"--Kirkus Reviews

"A tasty and erudite study of a complicated woman and her turbulent and colorful cultural life and times...Fashion icon Diana Vreeland and her psyche and cultural milieu are superbly deconstructed by Amanda Mackenzie Stuart."--Publishers Weekly

"A sympathetic biography...a cohesive, well-researched volume...Vreeland is a fascinating figure whose life spanned almost the entire twentieth century, of which the author takes dizzying, delightful advantage."--Booklist

"A painstakingly researched depiction of the imperious, mesmerizing virtuoso who wandered onto the fashion stage and stole the show...a biography of fabulous fact."--New York Daily News

."..an insightful new biography...Stuart uses Vreeland's vulnerable roots to create a sympathetic portrait of Diana...Vreeland's life story is oddly inspiring...Why don't you give a copy of EMPRESS OF FASHION to your favorite fashionista this holiday season?"--BookPage

"This is Diana Vreeland's first full-length biography...A cottage industry has emerged around DV...This perhaps has as much to do with how much more seriously we take fashion nowadays as with how quaintly delicious we now find Vreeland's borderline Dadaist sensibility..."--Village Voice

"With EMPRESS OF FASHION: A LIFE OF DIANA VREELAND Stuart does more than celebrate and bear witness. She seeks to explain, to parse, and to ultimately decipher the woman behind the strokes of red rouge and dyed-black hair... Stuart paints a nuanced portrait of a strange and tantalizing woman."--Daily Beast

"The first comprehensive bio of legendary magazine editor Diana Vreeland is a can't-put-down read. Stuart separates facts from "faction" (Vreeland's term for her dramatic exaggerations) and gets to the core of the fashion pioneer."--People

"It is the biography (the Vreeland book) rather than the memoir (the Coddington volume) that offers the most insight into the deep motivation behind the making of such a career and carefully examines the occasional ugliness of a lifetime committed to making things externally beautiful."--New Republic

"An insightful new biography...Stuart uses Vreeland's vulnerable roots to create a sympathetic portrait of Diana...Vreeland's life story is oddly inspiring...Why don't you give a copy of EMPRESS OF FASHION to your favorite fashionista this holiday season?"--BookPage

From the Back Cover:

Vreeland personified twentieth-century American couture and helped transform modern culture. As the innovative fashion editor of Harper's Bazaar and the legendary editor-in-chief of Vogue during the tumultuous 1960s, she redefined women's sense of beauty and style, provoking and challenging accepted ideas in the fashion world and leaving a legacy that resonates today. From Seventh Avenue to leopard print scarves to her red lacquered office, Diana (pronounced DEE-ana, as she demanded) made American fashion relevant. She launched the careers of such luminous beauties as Lauren Bacall, Penelope Tree, and Lauren Hutton, and she knew everyone, including Coco Chanel, Oscar de la Renta, Salvador Dali, Swifty Lazar, Truman Capote, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, the Kennedys, Andy Warhol, Jack Nicholson, and Mick Jagger. Nearly twenty-five years after her death, this icon of style's influence is more prevalent than ever.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperLuxe
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0062223283
• ISBN 13: 9780062223289
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 649