It Doesn't Get Any Realer Than Fern Mallis' Book

The fashion world gets real and personal in Fern Mallis’ latest book, Fashion Lives . I love how the word “Lives” can be both a noun or a verb because Mallis opens up about the lives of different major fashion icons and reveals how fashion is living in their lives. Mallis has been holding lectures in New York on 92nd Street Y since 2011 talking about the realities of the fashion world and opening up about Calvin Klein and Tom Ford. Fashion Lives is a compilation of these insightful lectures that give personality to these huge fashion figures who we normally only associate their labels to.

Mallis gives her readers a peek into Tom Ford’s family life from when he was younger as well as his relationships with Yves Saint Laurent and Marc Jacobs. Her book is an extremely refreshing perspective that is about to open up the eyes of so many people outside of those who attended her Y Interviews. Mallis told Style.com that she wants her readers, “to walk away seeing and feeling the humanity of these people, the width and breadth of their lives, the qualities that make somebody successful, the amount of work [put in], and how creative they are, and how hard it is to succeed and stay at the top of your game.”

She continued to explain how during one of her Y Interviews with Marc Jacobs, she pointed out to the audience that Marc Jacobs had gone bankrupt four times. She said, “This is the fourth time that they’ve gone bankrupt. The fourth time that they had to close the business and try to figure out, ‘What are we doing, and are we going to do this again?’” Honestly, it can’t get any realer than Fashion Lives. The theme of transparency is amazing because everyone is struggling with some aspect of life yet no one ever wants to admit to it, but Mallis shows that we’re all struggling.

As for her plans about talking to Kanye West, Mallis tells Style.com, “Well, we’re waiting for that answer. They’re still working; they’re trying to clear the schedule. We are in touch with them every few days to see if it’s going to happen. We’re holding a date for him, and we’ll see if it happens.” Until then, I’ll for sure be behind my copy of Fashion Lives.

Image: Fern Mallis/Facebook