Is fashion art? I think it’s sometimes very creative, but I’m not sure I would call it art; that’s pushing it a bit. I certainly don’t think fashion photography is art, because if it is art, it’s probably not doing its job … In fashion photography, rule number one is to make the picture beautiful and lyrical or provocative and intellectual – but you still have to see the dress. Of course, I like to push the boundaries; I think that’s the most interesting element much of the time, when you walk the line. But you can’t forget to show the clothes and, in that end, not alter them beyond recognition; to pretend a dress is something it is not is unfair to the reader, too.
– Grace Coddington, creative director at Vogue.
This quote is taken from Ms. Coddington’s memoir, Grace (Random House, 2012), which I just finished reading and I throughly enjoyed. Ms. Coddington’s stories are brief, interesting and unpretentious. Crossing good humor with a sense of earnestness, she describes her 1940s and 50s childhood in Anglesey, a small island off the northern coast of Wales, and her life as a model in Swinging Sixties London. Later she goes into detail about working first at British Vogue and later at US Vogue with editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. She spends quite a bit of time discussing her favorite photo-shoots and the book includes plenty of photos (a rarity these days) as well as Ms. Coddington’s charming sketches of herself, her colleagues, and her beloved cats.
Grace is an entertaining and informative read for anyone interested in a behind-the-scenes personal tour of fashion publishing.
OverDressed for Life 
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