Looking unbelievably good for seventy years old, Grace Coddington has been the creative director of American Vogue for twenty years. She is just as much of a Vogue institution as the magazine’s formidable editor Anna Wintour.
70 Years old and Grace Coddington has been creative director of American Vogue for 20 years. She is as much of an instution at Vogue as the formidable editor Anna Wintour.
She freely admits it was the documentary The September Issue which is “the only reason anyone has ever heard of me”. Coddington emerged as an outspoken, energetic figure in contrast with the more demure Wintour.
Coddington’s new memoir is a personal and whip-smart account of her incredible life. The striking redhead was first discovered as a model during the 60s, but eventually turned to the publishing side of fashion. After a formidable stint at British Vogue, she moved to its American counterpart where she has remained ever since.
For someone who works in a business that thrives off its air of impenetrability, Coddington is wonderfully candid about her life. She provides plenty of insider gossip information about Wintour and their shifting work dynamic. Her passion for the sartorial world is sprinkled with enough humility to make her a genuinely charming storyteller who has clearly worked hard to stay at the top. This is a lovely hardback with some stunning photography dating back to the 1950s, making it a perfect coffee table book for fashionistas.
About the author: Known through much of her career only to those behind the scenes, she might have remained fashion’s best-kept secret were it not for “The September Issue, ” the acclaimed 2009 documentary that turned publicity-averse Grace into a sudden, reluctant celebrity. Grace’s palpable engagement with her work brought a rare insight into the passion that produces many of the magazine’s most memorable shoots.
Praise: “If Wintour is the Pope . . . Coddington is Michelangelo, trying to paint a fresh version of the Sistine Chapel twelve times a year.”— Time
Find Out More: Grace at The Nile
