Couture Confessions: Fashion Legends in Their Own Words

by Pamela Golbin, Yann Legendre (Illustrator)

Late legendary couturiers of modern fashion speaking eloquently about life, design, and inspiration. Vionnet, Chanel, Dior, Saint Laurent, McQueen—these names define haute couture, and long after the designers have passed away, their influence on fashion continues to be profound. In an exceptional compilation of the original words of these couturiers, Couture Conversations provides a unique and in-depth look at the lives and work of these fashion icons. In this engaging, beautifully designed book, Pamela Golbin, acclaimed chief curator of twentieth-century fashion and textiles at Paris’s Musée des Arts Décoratifs, has ingeniously constructed conversations in the designers’ own words that highlight their compelling personal stories as well as essential fashion "moments"—from designers Paul Poiret, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Madame Grès, Alexander McQueen, Madeleine Vionnet, and Gabrielle Chanel to Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent, Jeanne Lanvin, Pierre Balmain, and Christian Dior.Featuring striking illustrations by internationally recognized illustrator Yann Legendre, each "interview" asks the questions every fashion lover has always wanted to ask, making these legends approachable, human, and ever more inspiring.

Genres: Fashion, Nonfiction, Biography

239 pages, Hardcover

First published February 23, 2016

Reviews

[Camille Taboulot · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who loves talking about elegance so much, I just could not not take this book when I saw it at the library! This book is basically a memento of all of the important ideas of the most prominent personalities of the Parisian Haute Couture. Gabrielle Chanel, Christian Dior, Schiap: everyone has their own part of the book to discuss various topics related to fashion.

A coffee table book, a pleasure for the eyes

That is the type of book I considered buying for myself when I saw the look of it at the library: bright pink with beautiful illustrations inside, printed on a beautiful ans slightly heavy paper and written in the most beautiful, yet easy to read font. This is definitely the type of book you will want to read a few pages of while drinking coffee or waiting for your nail polish to dry.

An interesting book to read

The book is interesting for two main reasons. First, the way it has been written is extremely original: some of the interviews have really been led, but most of them have not. Actually, the book is a work of research based on several interviews led separately and on documents from the time these couturiers lived. I love how it results in what I would call a work of research in an original and less abrupt form. Moreover, it is absolutely no plagiarism and you have access to the sources in the end of each section: a great way to go further if the topics discussed with the couturiers interest you! I also think that this book is particularly interesting because the topics discussed are very different.
Obviously, the interviewees talk about their personal definition of fashion and luxury (which differ a lot from one to the other) but they also discuss more personal topics such as the way they got into fashion and the social environnement they grew up in. Maybe if you already know a lot about these people, you won't learn much but as someone who had only watched a few documentaries on a few of them, I got a lot out of this book.

An inspiring book

Last but not least, I found this book to be very inspiring. Obviously, that is not a self-help book but it had the same effect on me as most biographies. I think there is something beautiful in reading about another person's life, hardships and successes. It always motivated me to follow my dreams and work hard. It also made me want to dress better in a time in which distance learning sometimes makes it tricky to really dress up.

[Beth Oehler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun format, inspiring!

[Ilya Muravyev · Rating 1 out of 5]

By far one of the worst written, I mean compiled, books I’ve ever read. A pure disappointment considering how bad I actually wanted it to read.

[Nancy]

Really fun for us who love fashion history. It's nice to remember that Madeleine Vionnet pioneered great employee benefits: as early as the 1920s, she set up an emergency fund for her employees, gave them maternity leave, and provided medical and dental care. She said: "This is all quite natural...and hardly worth mentioning. One must do all one can to ensure that one's workers are in good health, for one must be in good health to successfully pursue a profession as tiring, exhilarating, and interesting as couture."
It also covers Poiret, Lanvin, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Balenciaga, Dior, Madame Gres, Balmain, Saint Laurent, and Alexander McQueen.

[Bryn]

This was a clever conceit but I was hyper-aware of how Golbin was arranging the extant sources to create narratives where there were no actual narratives. She's very open that this is what she is doing, but it bothered me anyway.

[Spencer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has an entertaining concept - interviews with famous deceased designers- which makes the insight into the designer's lives and creative processes seem all the more immediate.