Product Description

What is fashion? What is fashionable? Who decides what is in? What is out? Why is it green one year, and blue the next? Why is one little black dress worth three thousand pounds and another thirty quid? Is the catwalk that catty? Is everyone high on drugs and full of champagne? What makes a supermodel so super? And a designer too hot to touch? Who is making the money? Who owns who? Who hates who? And who's in each other's pocket? Following in the glamourous footsteps of "Hotel Babylon" and "Air Babylon", "Fashion Babylon" will get under the well-cut skin of the fashion industry. Using a world renowned source, "Fashion Babylon" will take you through six months in a designer's life. Starting at the end of one catwalk show, it will explain how a collection is put together - from the rail of found objects, to how it gets on to the catwalk, into the shops and onto the covers of a magazine. It will tell you who goes to the shows, where they sit and whose backside one needs to kiss to get there. It will introduce you to a host of places and characters, it will take you into a world where women get paid tens of thousands for getting dressed in the morning and where a wrong shirt length can cost you your career. Witty, naughty and full of gripping detail "Fashion Babylon" will explain the mark -ups, talk you through fashion's two seasons and discuss the money and commerce behind one of the most international, lucrative and secretive of businesses. With something for the simple follower of fashion as well as the hardcore fashionista, "Fashion Babylon" will change the way you sashay into Top Shop, flick through the pages of Vogue and enter the portals of Harvey Nichols forever.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #144652 in Books
• Published on: 2006-07-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 336 pages

Daily Express, 21 July 2006
‘Witty and naughty, it is a must read for every fashionista’

Evening Standard
'By avoiding cliché but including colour and explaining the money, Fashion Babylon will appeal to the consumer in everyone'

From the Inside Flap
What is fashion? What is fashionable? Who decides what’s in and what’s out? Why is it green one year and blue the next? Why is one little black dress worth three thousand pounds and another thirty quid? Is the catwalk really that catty? Is everyone high on drugs and full of champagne? What makes a supermodel so super? And a designer too hot to touch? Who is making the money? Who owns who? Who hates who? And who’s in each other’s pockets?

Following in the glamourous footsteps of Hotel Babylon and Air Babylon, Fashion Babylon gets under the skin of the fashion industry. Taking you through six months in a designer’s life, it explains how a collection is put together - from the rail of found objects to the catwalk, into the shops and, hopefully, the cover of a magazine. It explains who goes to the shows, where they sit and whose backside they have to kiss to get there.

Exquisitely cut and gorgeously detailed, Fashion Babylon explains the mark-ups and the come-downs, the fabulous extremes and the shoddy short-cuts behind one of the most lucrative and secretive of businesses. Whether you just like a bit of shopping or you’re a hardcore fashionista, Fashion Babylon will change the way you sashay into Top Shop, flick through the pages of Vogue and worship at the temple of Harvey Nichols for ever.

Customer Reviews

Fashion up Close and Personal
I really, really, really enjoyed this book and am glad I read it and finished it within 24 hours. I heard Imelda talking about her book on a London radio show and was gently intrigued. Then I watched 'The Devil wears Prada' and knew that I had to read this book to get the real deal on the fashion industry.

My dreams of becoming the first black male supermodel from London have been taken off the shelf, locked up in a safe, and the key thrown away. Whilst this book is really funny, there are things in this book that just make you u shake your head with amazement. What the heck is a model doing with two sexy toys inside them and a pair of handcuffs? That aint fashion- that is WRONG!! Lol!! It was interesting to read about the mark ups, cabbage, knock-offs, model hierarchy, backstage drama, and fashion parties. Whilst on one hand you feel sorry for the designers and all the hard work they put in, all of it in a razor edge of whether or not the industry will love it. On the other hand you read about the hotel suites, money spent wining and dining models and editors, and your sympathy for them starts to wane.

This is a good book for those who want to know what it is like behind the scenes and how much time and effort goes in to creating a line for a show. If you enjoy anything about fashion then make sure you read this. It makes me feel really sorry for the thousands of people entering those supermodel shows, because if this is what it is really like, they'd take a 9-5 job any day. Good read!!!

Calling all fashionistas!
I was expecting more of an expose with this book but I found there to be too many cliches within the covers such as the models who don't eat, and the drugs... nothing too surprising there, so.... but I did enjoy the hierarchy of the fashion shows and who gets to sit where depending on their importance! This novel would also make me think twice about spending a fortune on 'designer' clothes from high end boutiques. The main character, a fashion designer who has dropped from Hot to Not in just one season is anything but loveable but nevertheless, she is highly amusing and although there isn't much of a storyline here, this book is a must read for anybody involved in the fashion business or anybody thinking of entering this fickle world and all the nonsense that goes with it. I found it easy to read and the book has interesting facts about the fashion business interwoven into the story if you can just try and ignore the obvious cliches that unfortunately pop up too often. This is my second book by this author and I'd definitely try one of her other ones as she's a witty, informed writer. If you're interested in fashion at all, pick it up - you won't be disappointed!

Interesting and amusing read
Despite working in various fashion related circles in various jobs over the years, I had no idea of half the stuff that this book digs up (yes call me stupid, I like to think of it as seeing the glass as half full too much :P). Couldn't put this down due to the witty writing style (much like the other Babylons I've read), although the ending was a little frustrating - what happens next?! Was it all a wonderful success, does the lead remember to draw backs next season, does she get picked up by the big fash house?
Despite the ending I enjoyed this a lot and learnt a hell of a lot about the fashion world that I see so many girls getting light headed about - they should read this and realise just what a lot of old tosh the entire industry is and that paying several hundred pounds for a label piece of clothing is generally not worth it - especially when someone gets paid to sit around and draw pretty pictures all day and thats it! (I know we're meant to like the lead but I really disliked her intensely as she seems to believe she has it hard - go get a proper job love and then you can moan.)
Overall though I'd recommend this whether you want a light-hearted read, an interesting expose into the fash world or just something to take away your thoughts of life before bed time.