Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis

This insider’s view of the luminaries of the fashion world is a red carpet promenade of boldface names. Rather than being a showcase of the celebrities who are frequently asked, “Who are you wearing?” this coffee table book is a juicy exploration of the lives of the people who set the trends and dress the stars. Mallis, a consummate fashion insider who helped create and run New York Fashion Week, collects the interviews of designers and other garment VIPs she conducted as part of a lecture series at Manhattan’s 92nd Street Y. Mallis brings a convivial approach to interviewing; the conversations often read like pals chumming about the past, though with many provocative questions. She wonders whether, growing up, Donna Karan was a “JAP” (Jewish-American princess), and asks Tom Ford about being gay; he humorously replies, “Am I gay? Fern, am I?” The archival photographs—a young Diane von Furstenberg with her Prince Egon, a sultry Tom Ford, a geeky Marc Jacobs, and a luxuriant Calvin Klein, among many others—add a great deal to the book’s entertainment factor. The scope of Mallis’s interviews is to be commended; she spoke with top-notch designers including the late Oscar de la Renta, Vera Wang, and Calvin Klein, along with other big-name players in the industry, such as Barney’s creative ambassador Simon Doonan, New York Times style section photographer Bill Cunningham, stylist and editor Polly Mellen, and journalist André Leon Talley. Mallis’s book emphasizes that these individuals, despite their many differences, are all tenacious, relentlessly hardworking, and profoundly talented. [em](Apr.) [/em]