Empresses of Seventh Avenue

World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion

De: Nancy MacDonell

Narrado por: Gail Shalan

Duración: 9 h y 51 m

Resumen del Editor

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin’s Press.

In the tradition of The Barbizon and The Girls of Atomic City, fashion historian and journalist Nancy MacDonell chronicles the untold story of how the Nazi invasion of France gave rise to the American fashion industry.

Calvin Klein. Ralph Lauren. Donna Karan. Halston. Marc Jacobs. Tom Ford. Michael Kors. Tory Burch. Today, American designers are some of the biggest names in fashion, yet before World War II, they almost always worked anonymously. The industry, then centered on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, had always looked overseas for "inspiration"—a polite phrase for what was often blatant copying—because style, as all the world knew, came from Paris.

But when the Nazis invaded France in 1940, the capital of fashion was cut off from the rest of the world. The story of the chaos and tragedy that followed has been told many times—but how it directly affected American fashion is largely unknown.

Defying the naysayers, New York-based designers, retailers, editors, and photographers met the moment, turning out clothes that were perfectly suited to the American way of life: sophisticated, modern, comfortable, and affordable. By the end of the war, "the American Look" had been firmly established as a fresh, easy elegance that combined function with style. But none of it would have happened without the influence and ingenuity of a small group of women who have largely been lost to history.

Empresses of Seventh Avenue will tell the story of how these extraordinary women put American fashion on the world stage and created the template for modern style—and how the nearly $500 billion American fashion industry, the largest in the world, could not have accrued its power and wealth without their farsightedness and determination.

©2024 Nancy MacDonell (P)2024 Macmillan Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

"MacDonell’s book introduces us to the extraordinary American women who shaped our industry."—Tory Burch

"Fashion writer MacDonell delivers a colorful chronicle of the female journalists, designers, and retailers who revolutionized American style during WWII. MacDonnell’s fine-grained character studies complement her fascinating insights into the political and cultural forces that ushered in a new era of American style. Fashionistas won’t be able to put this one down."—Publishers Weekly

"Why are so many of fashion’s top design jobs still mostly held by men? At a moment when fashion’s woman problem is once again making headlines, MacDonell’s history of the female designers of early Seventh Avenue is a cheering, illuminating read."—Nicole Phelps, Global Director, Vogue Runway and Vogue Business