Whether you’re jet-setting across the Atlantic or curling up in bed with a warm cup of tea, here are our recommendations for the next time you need a good read:
Grace by Grace Coddington
Everyone recognizes the frizzy redheaded creative director of Vogue, Grace Coddington, but not everyone knows her story. Rural Brit turned model turned creative director; this autobiography is filled with charming tales of Grace’s life and even includes her own illustrations, which are whimsically scattered throughout the book. From England to London, Grace takes us through the ups and downs of her life and how she ended up as the right-hand woman to one of the most powerful editors in the world today.
Hungry by Crystal Renn
It seems as though every girl wants to be a model at some point in her life but few realize how grueling the industry is. Crystal Renn recounts her emotional rollercoaster with the world of modeling and how it catapulted her into a life of calorie counting, endless hours at the gym and depression. Now a successful plus size model, Renn looks back on what she would have done differently and implicitly points out the flaws of the fashion industry.
My Paris Dream by Kate Betts
This is the story of the life we’ve all wanted to live but never did. Kate Betts, a fresh Princeton graduate, decides to ignore her new Ivy League degree and moves her life to Paris, in a small apartment she shares with a French host family. From youngest editor in chief of Harper’s Baazar to style journalist for Time, Betts shows us how she learned French, fashion and the art of growing up.
It by Alexa Chung
Everyone loves Alexa Chung—the charming, quirky, simply beautiful model/TV presenter/ editor. IT is Alexa’s an autobiographical hybrid—showing snippets of Chung’s life as well as personal lists and opinions. IT is unique in the fact that it includes photos and polaroids from her life and the charming voice behind the text is no doubt that of Chung, which shines, in its conversational narrative.
Coco Chanel by Justine Picardie
Every fashion lover should learn the history of one of the most influential empires in the world. Picardie peels back the many layers of the multi-faceted woman who changed the conception of female fashion in the 1900s. From her childhood in an orphanage to her brand after her death, this book explores every cog of Chanel and how it came to be the unstoppable machine it is today.
Alek by Alek Wek
Alek by Alek Wek is perhaps one of the most compelling stories of a fashion model that the world has heard. Fleeing from a life of war, violence and inequality in Africa, Alek recounts the difficulties and tragedies she had to endure amongst a civil war in Sudan and how suddenly her life was changed as she went from refugee to supermodel within months.
How to be Parisian Wherever You Are by Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline De Maigret, and Sophie Mas
Us Americans are always desperately trying to embody the French in everything we do—the way we dress, what we eat, how we carry ourselves. This guide gives hilarious insight and commentary on the idiosyncratic mannerisms of the French: their undeniable snobbery, desirable class and unparalleled joie de vie.