The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris
by Alicia Drake
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Book Summary Information
Author: Alicia DrakeEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-05
ISBN: 0316768014
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Book Reviews of The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris
Book Review: A Fascinating Portrait of Two Fashion Legends and the Forces that Shaped Them
Summary: 5 Stars
The Beautiful Fall is a fascinating view into the Paris fashion scene during the intensely creative and revolutionary period of the 60's and 70's (and beyond). The book concentrates on fashion as lived by the rival camps of Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, but its scope is much broader. Throughout a narrative that reads as compellingly as fiction, the author analyzes the socio-cultural events that shaped the Paris fashion world. Drake astutely pays homage to the symbiotic realtionship fashion has always had with society. She also taps into the fashion world's neuroses in all their terrifying glory: Saint Laurent's and Lagerfeld's ongoing fear of being outdone by the other; YSL's battles with his own creative demons; the manic way in which Lagerfeld surrounds himself with an everchanging fashion coterie that fuels his own creativity.
Drake's writing style is fluid, with her prose as rich and elegant as the world she depicts. Turning the pages of the book, one can see, taste and feel the luxe accoutrements that are the lot of fashion royalty: the sumptuous residences, the sit-down dinners for a hundred, the plush privelige of a chauffered limousine. Yet Drake also opens a door to the down side of fashion--the wounded egos as entourage members are cut loose, the heinous drug hangovers after all night parties at Le Palace, or the letdown of a fashion season fallen flat, when an anticipated collection is panned or ignored.
Class, too, is an overriding theme. The weight of the aristocracy is evoked, with its crushing confines of hierarchy and tradition. Overwhelming, too, are the shackles of design superstardom as Saint Laurent cracks under the weight of his own legend, his genius solicited season after season by a voracious Ready-to-Wear industry churning out clothes for the masses. YSL's torturous decades of self doubt are unflinchingly rendered as he struggles not only against drug and alcohol demons, but also to compete against the fashion standard he himself has set in his prolific early years. For as the author points out, it is every designer's damning quest to not only further their own body of work, but to create something new.
The Lagerfeld saga is given equal billing. Karl's veritable style assault on the industry over decades--the creation of tens of thousands of designs for dozens of labels--culminating in his triumph at Chanel--is an unparalleled tour de force in the design world. As Drake describes it, one can't help but feel that no man has poured more of himself into fashion than Lagerfeld, bringing not only a manic drive but a Renaissance Man's arsenal of knowledge, culture, and plain old street savvy. With the advent of youth-driven social forces like Rock music, MTV, and the rise of the supermodels, fashion became in fashion, and no-one has milked it more or used it to better advantage than Lagerfeld. The fact that Lagerfeld is actually taking the book to court in France (citing invasion of privacy) is unfortunate. Drake's portrait of both men is unflinching but not unflattering; it is fascinating, and above all, human.
Given the multiple tales of excess chronicled within, some might try to pass off the book as exploitative journalism or a cheap kiss-and-tell narrative. The book is neither. The Beautiful Fall is an astutely written, brilliant portrait of a history-making period in fashion that will forever stand as testimony to those tumultuous times. It is a must-read for anyone professing a serious interest in fashion.
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Summary of The Beautiful Fall: Lagerfeld, Saint Laurent, and Glorious Excess in 1970s Paris
Drake presents a sublime and dramatic narrative about the high-chic fashion wars of 1970s Paris where two titanic geniuses and rivals, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagefeld, collided and sparked a tumultuous decade.Fashion Books
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