Tuesday 11 October 2011

Homage to Diana Vreeland, a Fashion Icon

My last post "All you need to know about getting (un)dressed" ended with a quote from Diana Vreeland. I'm sure her name is familiar, but if you're not sure why, let me tell you she's one of the 20th century's greatest fashion icons.






The woman who advised Jackie Kennedy in matters of style started her career in Harper's Bazaar magazine with a celebrated column intitled "Why don't you", communicating her strong creative force. 

Throughout the years, Vreeland ended up establishing herself as a controversial visionary who had an astonishing ability to invent and discover fashion ideas, designers, personalities and photographers.

"Style is something you're born with." Diana Vreeland

Her inspiration and imagination came rather naturally to her and combined with the way she perceived talent in others was key to her success as a magazine editor.





After Harper's she became Editor-in-Chief of Vogue and ended her career as special consultant to the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In 1984, five years before her death, she wrote her autobiography, D.V., a compelling and entertaining personal account of her glamorous life.

"She was and remains the only genius fashion editor." Richard Avedon

"The Eye has to Travel" is a new documentary about her life, directed by Lisa Immordino Vreeland the wife of Vreeland's grandson. It had its premiere during the Venice Film Festival and is due for international release next year.

It includes different views on Vreeland by a wide range of people such as Anjelica Huston, Manolo Blahnik, David Bailey, Penelope Tree, Veruschka, Lauren Hutton and Diane Von Furstenberg.





A Coffee table book with the same name was published this month, with 350 illustrations including many famous photographs by Richard Avedon, Irving Penn and other legendary fashion photographers.

"She did use fashion to communicate a lot of things but her curiosity for people and her passion were her driving force." Lisa Immodino Vreeland

Diana Vreeland continues to be an inspiration for different generations who love fashion and her legacy lives on as a testimony of her unique vision and creative flair.







Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel
By Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Essays by Lally Weymouth, Judith Thurman and Judith Clark
(£35 Abrams)


Other fashion books:
'Erotic Chic' Fashion Images by Carine Roitfeld
A decade of Fashion and Style