British Vogue: Biography of an Icon
British Vogue has always been far more than just a fashion magazine. For more than a century it has defined the tastes and style of successive generations, playing a leading role in the continuing story of Britain’s national identity. It is an institution, a major business and a character in its own right. But the true nature of that character has always been a closely-guarded secret, sealed within the walls of an intensely private empire. But the true nature of that character has always been mysterious, defined by a select and talented team who contribute to a unique enterprise.
Founded in 1916 as a remedy to wartime shipping restrictions faced by the American publisher Condé Nast, British Vogue has forged its own path from the very start. From the trauma of the wartime years through to the freedom of the swinging Sixties, the rise of the supermodel to the groundbreaking editorial direction of Edward Enninful: the magazine’s chameleonic ability to move with the times has ensured its perennial status at the vanguard of British cool. And now, for the very first time, the full, turbulent and oh-so-glamorous history of British Vogue can finally be told.
Beautifully illustrated with exclusive images from the Vogue archive and behind-the-scenes interviews with Vogue insiders such as stylist Grace Coddington, editor Alexandra Shulman and fashion editor Lucinda Chambers, British Vogue: The Biography of an Icon is the story of a magazine and so much more. This is the story of a legend and the individuals who created (and curated) it, told against the backdrop of an extraordinary century of change, upheaval and beauty.
Reviews
“This is a fascinating book. Impressively researched, full of new insights, and a joy to read, it puts into proper perspective Vogue’s unrivalled role, not merely as a fashion magazine, but as a record of British cultural, social and artistic life in the changing world of the 20th and early 2lst centuries. I loved it.” ― Josephine Ross, author of The Crown in Vogue
“This excellent book chronicles the entire history of British Vogue accurately and enthrallingly. It is important, because it records the ever-changing creative climate and cast of characters of a publishing phenomenon, and preserves it all lest it ever be swept away” ― Sir Nicholas Coleridge
“A gem. Julie’s book is a delicious reveal on how gently revolutionary a glossy magazine has been, charting everything from the open acceptance that wildly creative editor Dorothy Todd was living with VOGUE’s fashion editor, Madge Garland, to the platonic bond between war correspondent Lee Miller and the editor she could not have survived WW2 without, Audrey Withers. It takes us right up to the modern age and the brilliance of Edward Enninful’s editorship when the world was locked down for COVID-19. Every page has some rich and juicy fact I didn’t know before…” ― Marion Hume, former editor of Vogue Australia, co-writer of the screenplay for LEE starring Kate Winslet as Lee Miller and Andrea Riseborough as Audrey Withers
“Julie Summers has written the first book to give British Vogue its rightful place at the centre of an impeccably researched biography…always changing and always fascinating” ― Alexandra Shulman, former editor of British Vogue
British Vogue: Biography of an Icon was published by Weidenfeld
in October 2024
