Former VOGUE editor-at-large and for three decades the highest-ranking Black man in fashion journalism, André Leon Talley narrates his memoir in a confident and charming voice at a perfect pace. The juxtaposition of the title words resonates with the introduction, in which Talley breaks down the design of a seemingly simple Beyoncé magazine cover. He explains quiet activism through subtle suggestions during fashion shoots while also covering frivolity. A lifelong observer, Talley describes the nuance of Anna Wintour’s silence; voices the boozy, languid drawl of Lee Bouvier Radziwill; and replicates Diana Vreeland’s imperial tone. Talley recalls his high-pitched screams of “Andy!” at his wild friend Andy Warhol, and he whines adorably for luggage that suits his wardrobe, part of the dramatics involved with his friendship with the late Karl Lagerfeld. A.L.C. © AudioFile 2020, Portland, Maine
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ¿ From the pages of Vogue to the runways of Paris, this “captivating” (Time) memoir by a legendary style icon captures the fashion world from the inside out, in its most glamorous and most cutthroat moments.
“The Chiffon Trenches honestly and candidly captures fifty sublime years of fashion.”-Manolo Blahnik
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR ¿ Fortune ¿ Garden & Gun ¿ New York Post
During André Leon Talley's first magazine job, alongside Andy Warhol at Interview, a fateful meeting with Karl Lagerfeld began a decades-long friendship with the enigmatic, often caustic designer. Propelled into the upper echelons by his knowledge and adoration of fashion, André moved to Paris as bureau chief of John Fairchild's Women's Wear Daily, befriending fashion's most important designers (Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta). But as André made friends, he also made enemies. A racially tinged encounter with a member of the house of Yves Saint Laurent sent him back to New York and into the offices of Vogue under Grace Mirabella.
There, he eventually became creative director, developing an unlikely but intimate friendship with Anna Wintour. As she rose to the top of Vogue's masthead, André also ascended, and soon became the most influential man in fashion.
The Chiffon Trenches offers a candid look at the who's who of the last fifty years of fashion. At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging memoir tells with raw honesty the story of how André not only survived the brutal style landscape but thrived-despite racism, illicit rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry-to become one of the most renowned voices and faces in fashion.
Woven throughout the book are also André's own personal struggles that impacted him over the decades, along with intimate stories of those he turned to for inspiration (Diana Vreeland, Diane von Fürstenberg, Lee Radziwill, to name a few), and of course his Southern roots and faith, which guided him since childhood.
The result is a highly compelling read that captures the essence of a world few of us will ever have real access to, but one that we all want to know oh so much more about.
"1134850236"
“The Chiffon Trenches honestly and candidly captures fifty sublime years of fashion.”-Manolo Blahnik
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR ¿ Fortune ¿ Garden & Gun ¿ New York Post
During André Leon Talley's first magazine job, alongside Andy Warhol at Interview, a fateful meeting with Karl Lagerfeld began a decades-long friendship with the enigmatic, often caustic designer. Propelled into the upper echelons by his knowledge and adoration of fashion, André moved to Paris as bureau chief of John Fairchild's Women's Wear Daily, befriending fashion's most important designers (Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta). But as André made friends, he also made enemies. A racially tinged encounter with a member of the house of Yves Saint Laurent sent him back to New York and into the offices of Vogue under Grace Mirabella.
There, he eventually became creative director, developing an unlikely but intimate friendship with Anna Wintour. As she rose to the top of Vogue's masthead, André also ascended, and soon became the most influential man in fashion.
The Chiffon Trenches offers a candid look at the who's who of the last fifty years of fashion. At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging memoir tells with raw honesty the story of how André not only survived the brutal style landscape but thrived-despite racism, illicit rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry-to become one of the most renowned voices and faces in fashion.
Woven throughout the book are also André's own personal struggles that impacted him over the decades, along with intimate stories of those he turned to for inspiration (Diana Vreeland, Diane von Fürstenberg, Lee Radziwill, to name a few), and of course his Southern roots and faith, which guided him since childhood.
The result is a highly compelling read that captures the essence of a world few of us will ever have real access to, but one that we all want to know oh so much more about.
The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER ¿ From the pages of Vogue to the runways of Paris, this “captivating” (Time) memoir by a legendary style icon captures the fashion world from the inside out, in its most glamorous and most cutthroat moments.
“The Chiffon Trenches honestly and candidly captures fifty sublime years of fashion.”-Manolo Blahnik
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR ¿ Fortune ¿ Garden & Gun ¿ New York Post
During André Leon Talley's first magazine job, alongside Andy Warhol at Interview, a fateful meeting with Karl Lagerfeld began a decades-long friendship with the enigmatic, often caustic designer. Propelled into the upper echelons by his knowledge and adoration of fashion, André moved to Paris as bureau chief of John Fairchild's Women's Wear Daily, befriending fashion's most important designers (Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta). But as André made friends, he also made enemies. A racially tinged encounter with a member of the house of Yves Saint Laurent sent him back to New York and into the offices of Vogue under Grace Mirabella.
There, he eventually became creative director, developing an unlikely but intimate friendship with Anna Wintour. As she rose to the top of Vogue's masthead, André also ascended, and soon became the most influential man in fashion.
The Chiffon Trenches offers a candid look at the who's who of the last fifty years of fashion. At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging memoir tells with raw honesty the story of how André not only survived the brutal style landscape but thrived-despite racism, illicit rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry-to become one of the most renowned voices and faces in fashion.
Woven throughout the book are also André's own personal struggles that impacted him over the decades, along with intimate stories of those he turned to for inspiration (Diana Vreeland, Diane von Fürstenberg, Lee Radziwill, to name a few), and of course his Southern roots and faith, which guided him since childhood.
The result is a highly compelling read that captures the essence of a world few of us will ever have real access to, but one that we all want to know oh so much more about.
“The Chiffon Trenches honestly and candidly captures fifty sublime years of fashion.”-Manolo Blahnik
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR ¿ Fortune ¿ Garden & Gun ¿ New York Post
During André Leon Talley's first magazine job, alongside Andy Warhol at Interview, a fateful meeting with Karl Lagerfeld began a decades-long friendship with the enigmatic, often caustic designer. Propelled into the upper echelons by his knowledge and adoration of fashion, André moved to Paris as bureau chief of John Fairchild's Women's Wear Daily, befriending fashion's most important designers (Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar de la Renta). But as André made friends, he also made enemies. A racially tinged encounter with a member of the house of Yves Saint Laurent sent him back to New York and into the offices of Vogue under Grace Mirabella.
There, he eventually became creative director, developing an unlikely but intimate friendship with Anna Wintour. As she rose to the top of Vogue's masthead, André also ascended, and soon became the most influential man in fashion.
The Chiffon Trenches offers a candid look at the who's who of the last fifty years of fashion. At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging memoir tells with raw honesty the story of how André not only survived the brutal style landscape but thrived-despite racism, illicit rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry-to become one of the most renowned voices and faces in fashion.
Woven throughout the book are also André's own personal struggles that impacted him over the decades, along with intimate stories of those he turned to for inspiration (Diana Vreeland, Diane von Fürstenberg, Lee Radziwill, to name a few), and of course his Southern roots and faith, which guided him since childhood.
The result is a highly compelling read that captures the essence of a world few of us will ever have real access to, but one that we all want to know oh so much more about.
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Product Details
BN ID: | 2940177235035 |
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Publisher: | Penguin Random House |
Publication date: | 05/19/2020 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
Sales rank: | 781,748 |
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