"Every so often, the glamorous veil that conceals the vulnerable and human aspects of the most famous fashion influencers is lifted. Fern Mallis’s enlightening 92nd Street Y interviews were all about those moments. . . . Luckily for those not in the audience to witness these conversations firsthand, the doyenne has compiled transcriptions from 19 of the most intriguing sit-downs in a new book, Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis (Rizzoli). With a foreword by Ralph Lauren, the tome features full recaps as well as photos from the interviewee’s childhoods, career milestones, and editorial achievements. Leaving no stone unturned, Mallis’ questions cover drug and alcohol abuse, personal relationships, and, of course, work, drilling her colleagues with everything from 'Do you believe in astrology?' to 'Do you care about the critics?' In other words, everything you wanted to know about fashion, but were afraid to ask." -W Magazine"[Fern Mallis has] talked to (almost) everybody who is anybody in American fashion." -The Daily Front Row"Since 2011, the award-winning curator of New York Fashion Week has conducted in-depth and entertaining interviews with some of the most prestigious talents in the fashion industry, including Oscar de la Renta, Donna Karan, Michael Kors, Tom Ford and more. Nineteen of those no-holds-barred interviews have been gathered into a new, 448-page coffee table book called Fashion Lives: Fashion Icons with Fern Mallis." -The Fashion Spot"It hasn’t always been pulsing catwalks, Champagne-fueled parties and celebrity hobnobbing for fashion’s superstar designers. . . . [using] Mallis’ “Inside the Actors Studio”-style lectures at the 92nd Street Y, [Fashion Lives] offers candid personal accounts from style-world luminaries, many of whom got their start in and around NYC." -New York Post"...a juicy exploration of the lives of the people who set the trends and dress the stars." -Publishers Weekly"Fashion Lives is big as a MacBook and heavy as a small barbell, but if you like to read about fashion, you’ll find it as light as an airport page-turner. Dish? Honey, the dish does not quit. Emotion? Hey, this is fashion, not physics. Intelligence, compassion, ideas? Yes, in quantity, and not so much because the 19 designers, photographers and editors interviewed here are so verbal but because the interviewer is so hamish and well prepared that her guests nearly forget they’re onstage at the 92nd Street Y." -HeadButler.com"...the material inside is as in-depth, personal, and must-read as they come." -Stylish.com"This revealing volume features intimate interviews with the fashion industry's most talented luminaries, adding a fascinating personal perspective to their work. Profound, funny, and provocative." -SocietyDiaries.com"Mallis paints a vivid picture of the inner workings of the fashion industry and offers unprecedented entrée into the minds of the people who make it great." -Newsday"Many a fashion tome claims to bring readers inside the world of fashion, but trust us; there is arguably no better guide than Fern Mallis to take you there." -AM New York"Fashion Lives should become a textbook or at least mandatory reading for all budding designers, future fashionphiles, and anyone who inhabits the fashion business or considers themselves an aficionado of the 'art form.'" -New York Journal of Books"Fashion has its fair share of influencers, but it is difficult to find one who has profoundly impacted and help mold the industry as much as Fern Mallis has." -The Imprint|The Impression
