"She would contrast a brisk iconoclasm—as in the shot of a flame-haired, Grace-ish model in satin hotpants, scarlet tights and platform heels racing an old-fashioned pram past elderly Norland nannies in Hyde Park—with nostalgic, classic pictures."
When I finally got my April 2011 issue of Vogue with RIHANNA on the cover, I was more than thrilled when I read Anna Wintour's, the editor in chief of American Vogue, Letter from the Editor, as it praises and gives kind wishes to the magazine's creative director, Grace Coddington, who will be turning 70 years old this upcoming April! Grace is my hero. She is one of the reasons that I want to become a stylist one day. Her work is so imaginative and beautiful that I've made a point to collect all of her greatest editorial spreads, study, and dream from them. So I thought that it was so proper and fitting when the magazine More Intelligent Life featured Grace as their cover girl for the spring season, with the cover story written by her former assistant in the 70s and long time friend, Julie Kavanaugh.
“Fashion isn’t just frocks, It’s how we do our houses, our gardens, it’s what we eat and drink.”
- Grace Coddington
The article is a memoir written by Kavanaugh herself, which chronicled her experience with Grace as a former assistant and as a close friend [and it also includes a timeline of Grace Coddington's life.] The very lengthy article talked about the many many years of miss Coddington's fashion career, from modeling in her teens to her work in British and American Vogue. It also goes on to talk about Grace's inspirations, like the one shoot she did with Manolo Blahnik, and stories of her personal life -- romantic relationships and friendships. What's amazing to me is that Kavanaugh notes that all of Grace's former assistants have become her really close friends. She said that "you felt like you worked with her rather than for her."
But the most inspiring part of the article is how Kavanaugh described how Grace converted her to world of fashion, which goes on to affect the rest of her life. She said that ever since she has worked for Grace, she is now infected with a love for fashion and beauty, which is inevitable and bound to happen, really, for obvious reasons. She has started to see that fashion plays a very integral part of our world and only a few of us really notice. Kavanaugh was never same after working with Grace. She notes that she looked at things more differently and started to appreciate all of the beauty and aesthetics around her. I can only imagine how inspired one can become when working with one of the greatest stylist and creative director in the fashion industry. I highly recommend that you *read the article, it's such a great story.
So with that, Happy 70th Birthday Grace. Thanks for continuing to inspire me everyday.
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| Grace Coddington with Anna Wintour |
Love, KB
*click the link above to read the More Intelligent Life article
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