ALLURE

Garden City/New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc, 1980. First printing. Near fine in very good jacket.. First edition of this photographic meditation on the concept of allure by the "High Priestess of Fashion" - with warm gift inscription from Vreeland's most important protégé: André Leon Talley. André Leon Talley considered himself a graduate of "The Vreeland School" and spoke of Mrs. Vreeland ("Never Diana!") as both "the most extraordinary visionary" and a surrogate mother, second in influence only to the grandmother who raised him. Vreeland, a self-described "enfant terrible," led the fashion industry with exacting vision and iconoclastic sensibilities for nearly fifty years - shaping and influencing the careers of Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Halston, Richard Avedon, Mark Jacobs, Yves Saint Laurent, Manolo Blahnik, and Carolina Herrera, among others. In the early '70s, while serving as Special Consultant to the Costume Institute, she met and immediately claimed as apprentice the young ALT. Like his mentor, Talley would become an undeniable force in the fashion world, using his editorial and creative design influence to champion designers like Issey Miyake, Rei Kawakubo (of Comme des Garçons), Rick Owens, Jason Wu, LaQuan Smith, and comeback king John Galliano. With this copy of ALLURE, Talley gifted not just an inimitable fashion portfolio but a lens through which to trace the chains of artistic influence still visible in today's world of luxury fashion. 15.25'' x 11''. Original red cloth with gilt-stamped titles to spine and initials to front board. In original unclipped ($35.00) typographic dust jacket designed by Alex Gotfryd. Photographic endpapers. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white photographs. 208 pages. Inscribed by Talley in blue ink to half title: "The food of / our dreams / our hopes / Happy Everything / André Leon Jan 81." Book with minor shelfwear, some gentle bumping to corners, trace toning to textblock edges. Jacket with verso tape reinforcements at folds and head / tail of spine. Touches of edgewear, toning. Overall, bright and sound.