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Empresses of Seventh Avenue

World War II, New York City, and the Birth of American Fashion

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available

A NEW YORK TIMES MOST ANTICIPATED

  • "Reads like a work of fiction, but remarkably, it's all true" (Airmail)
  • In the tradition of The Barbizon and The Girls of Atomic City, fashion historian and journalist Nancy MacDonell chronicles the untold story of how the Nazi invasion of France gave rise to the American fashion industry.
    Calvin Klein. Ralph Lauren. Donna Karan. Halston. Marc Jacobs. Tom Ford. Michael Kors. Tory Burch. Today, American designers are some of the biggest names in fashion, yet before World War II, they almost always worked anonymously. The industry, then centered on Seventh Avenue in Manhattan, had always looked overseas for "inspiration"—a polite phrase for what was often blatant copying—because style, as all the world knew, came from Paris.
    But when the Nazis invaded France in 1940, the capital of fashion was cut off from the rest of the world. The story of the chaos and tragedy that followed has been told many times—but how it directly affected American fashion is largely unknown.
    Defying the naysayers, New York-based designers, retailers, editors, and photographers met the moment, turning out clothes that were perfectly suited to the American way of life: sophisticated, modern, comfortable, and affordable. By the end of the war, "the American Look" had been firmly established as a fresh, easy elegance that combined function with style. But none of it would have happened without the influence and ingenuity of a small group of women who have largely been lost to history.
    Empresses of Seventh Avenue will tell the story of how these extraordinary women put American fashion on the world stage and created the template for modern style—and how the nearly $500 billion American fashion industry, the largest in the world, could not have accrued its power and wealth without their farsightedness and determination.

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      • Publisher's Weekly

        May 13, 2024
        Fashion writer MacDonell (The Classic Ten) delivers a colorful chronicle of the female journalists, designers, and retailers who revolutionized American style during WWII. American designers, who’d long deferred to French couturiers for inspiration, were at a loss after the Nazis invaded France in 1940, according to the author. Thankfully, with the “flow of ideas” from Paris cut off, a coterie of New York fashion innovators stepped up to the plate. They included designer Claire McCardell, who introduced comfortable ready-to-wear separates marketed to working women; Lord & Taylor vice president Dorothy Shaver, who spearheaded promotional campaigns spotlighting American designers; and Harper’s Bazaar editor Diana Vreeland and photographer Louise Dahl-Wolfe, who teamed up for fashion shoots that depicted the confident and athletic “modern American woman.” By the war’s end, the popularity of the “American Look” and the country’s supercharged mass production capabilities had elevated New York City to a fashion capital on par with Paris. MacDonnell’s fine-grained character studies (Dahl-Wolfe could be “huffy and thin-skinned, especially if she thought another photographer was infringing on her territory”) complement her fascinating insights into the political and cultural forces that ushered in a new era of American style. Fashionistas won’t be able to put this one down.

      • Library Journal

        Starred review from July 1, 2024

        MacDonell is an adjunct professor at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, author (The Classic 10; The Shoe Book), and fashion journalist. Her latest title describes the birth of American fashion through the colorful New York City women whose vision, influence, and advocacy put American design on the global stage. Prior to World War II, American designers looked to Paris for leadership and imitated French styles for a largely ready-to-wear market and a smaller couture market. However, with Paris occupied by the Nazis in 1940, the French couture houses fell silent. Into that void, these women of Seventh Avenue--fashion magazine editors, publicists, retailers, and advertising executives--gave opportunity and support to American designers; through their efforts, the likes of Claire McCardell and Elizabeth Hawes were championed. By the end of the war, the "American Look" was firmly established, and the way was paved for future designers such as Halston, Michael Kors, and Calvin Klein. VERDICT Well written and informative, with extensive research notes. Highly recommended for fashion merchandising and women's studies readers.--Jane Scott

        Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • Booklist

        Starred review from August 1, 2024
        Paris dominated all things fashionable during the three centuries preceding WWII. Louis XIV, who exerted control over everything from court dress to guild membership to the manufacturing of mirrors, established international standards. While WWI barely caused a ripple, the WWII Nazi invasion of Paris and the subsequent blow to Parisian couture created mass pandemonium. Prolific journalist and fashion historian MacDonell (The Classic Ten, 2003) meticulously documents the deliberate and incredibly successful campaign mounted by clothing manufacturers, the media, and politicians to promote American design and make New York City the fashion capital of the world. She concentrates on the women who orchestrated these changes, providing satisfying profiles of archrivals and competitors like Edna Woolman Chase, the editor in chief of Vogue, and her avowed enemy, Carmel Snow of Harper's Bazaar, and also highlights the battle between ready-to-wear and haute couture. MacDonell effortlessly weaves in period detail: celebrities and the uber-rich, luxury liners, society galas, department stores, gossip columnists, magazine fashion spreads. The story ends in 1973 with the triumphant victory of American fashion at the much-ballyhooed ""Battle of Versailles"" fashion show. This rich, engaging, and insightful title will enhance fashion history and popular culture collections.

        COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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