NOTES FROM THE COFFEE TABLE
There are relatively few people that have never sent a collection down a runway, taken a photo for a magazine, or become the face of a brand that are as widely-respected in the fashion industry as Diana Vreeland (1903-1989). Super editor of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue then special consultant to The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute, Vreeland’s touch still resonates through her collaborations and oft-quoted points of view. I’ll avoid turning this into a Wikipedia page but if you live for style, she’s one to know. And, because there’s no better introduction to a life than a beautifully compiled coffee table book, you should consider picking up Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel. Written and edited by her granddaughter in-law, Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Travel gives you a glimpse of the glamour, wit, and humor Diana Vreeland brought and left to fashion. The book is full of fun anecdotes like the one involving the photo of Mick Jagger (below):
July 1964 – Photographed by David Bailey
Vreeland’s “People Are Talking About” pages in Vogue were full of the most important cultural highlights of the 1960s. David Bailey, who photographed this famous picture of Mick Jagger, recalls that “British Vogue said ‘No, who is this guy’ when he offered them the picture and it went on to become the first American published picture on Mick Jagger because when Vreeland saw it, she said ‘I don’t care who it is, I’m going to publish it. It’s such a great picture.’ “
Illustration by Michelle Ricks, Photos from Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
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