September is arguably fashion's most important month—there's the September issue, New York Fashion Week and, this year, the Met Gala. Whether you're drawn to the glamour, the garments, or the dynamic personalities who inhabit this world,  these books offer a window into this ultra-creative, yet ultra-competitive industry.

Fiction

The Last Collection: A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel by Jeanne Mackin

A widowed American teacher visiting 1938 Paris accepts an art job under influential designer Elsa Schiaparelli before being caught up in an intense rivalry between her employer and Coco Chanel.

 

 

 

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

Landing a coveted position as the assistant to a prominent fashion magazine's editor, Andrea Sachs immerses herself in the office's appearance-driven culture and her employer's idiosyncratic demands in the hopes of launching her own career.

 

 

 

 

The Designer by Marius Gabriel

In 1944 Paris, recently separated Copper Reilly finds an unlikely new friend: an obscure, middle-aged designer from the back rooms of a decaying fashion house whose timid nature and reluctance for fame clash with the bold brilliance of his designs. His name is Christian Dior. Realizing his genius, Copper urges Dior to strike out on his own, helping to pull him away from his insecurities and towards stardom. With just a camera and a typewriter, she takes her own advice and ventures into the wild and colourful world of fashion journalism.

 

 

The Dressmaker by Rosalie Ham

Returning to her small Australian town after decades abroad mastering the art of dressmaking, Tilly begins making articles of clothing that arouse competition and envy in town, but it soon becomes clear that Tilly's mind is set on revenge.

 

 

 

 

From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant by Alex Gilvarry

Relocating to New York after finishing design school, Boyet Hernandez devotedly embarks on a promising career only to be wrongly accused of terrorist ties and locked up indefinitely in a tiny cell where he frantically prepares for a trial that decimates his faith in the justice system.

 

 

 

The Knockoff by Lucy Sykes

Discovering that her young former assistant is plotting to steal her job and transform their fashion magazine into an app, editor-in-chief Imogen Tate is challenged to find her inner geek to save her career and the magazine.

 

 

 

 

The Paris Dressmaker by Kristy Cambron

An haute couture dressmaker in 1939 Paris joins the Resistance during the occupation and uses her skills to infiltrate the Nazi elite, sewing for them and collecting secrets at their glamorous headquarters in the Hôtel Ritz

 

 

 

 

Memoirs, Biography & Nonfiction

The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir by André Leon Talley

A deeply revealing memoir by a noted style icon captures the fashion world from the inside out, in its most glamorous and most cutthroat moments.

 

 

 

 

 

The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled Into the Spotlight and Made History by Robin Givhan

Looks at the 1973 fashion show held in the Palace of Versailles for the world's social elite which showed the work of five American designers against that of five world-class French designers, and how the event prompted a cultural shift in the world of fashion.

 

 

 

Betsey: A Memoir by Betsey Johnson

The internationally famous style icon traces her decades-long career as a successful designer of accessibly priced, rule-breaking clothing, in a personal portrait that includes coverage of her celebrity collaborations, iconic pink store line and appearance on Dancing with the Stars.

 

 

 

 

Fashion Climbing: A Memoir by Bill Cunningham

Growing up in a lace-curtain Irish suburb of Boston, secretly trying on his sister's dresses and spending his evenings after school in the city's chicest boutiques, Bill dreamed of a life dedicated to fashion. But his desires were a source of shame for his family, and after dropping out of Harvard, he had to fight them tooth-and-nail to pursue his love. When he arrived in New York, he reveled in people-watching. He spent his nights at opera openings and gate-crashing extravagant balls. This was his education, and the birth of the democratic and exuberant taste that he came to be famous for as a photographer for The New York Times. Fashion Climbing is the story of a young man striving to be the person he was born to be: a true original.
 

The World of Anna Sui by Tim Blanks

Anna Sui is one of New York's most beloved and accomplished fashion designers, known for creating contemporary original clothing inspired by spectacular amounts of research into vintage styles and cultural arcana. She is especially famous for her textile prints. Sui joined New York's intensely creative cultural underground in the 1970s, forging important relationships in the worlds of fashion, photography, art, music, and design. The World of Anna Sui looks at Sui's eclectic career as a designer and artist, both through her clothing and studio. 

 

Diana Vreeland: The Modern Woman: the Bazaar Years, 1936-1962 edited by Alexander Vreeland

The first Vreeland book to focus on her three decades at Harper’s Bazaar, where the legendary editor honed her singular take on fashion. This book covers Vreeland’s three-decade tenure there, revealing how Vreeland reshaped the role of the fashion editor by introducing styling, creative direction, and visual storytelling. Through more than 300 images from the magazine, this book shows how Vreeland’s work not only influenced her readership, but also forged the path for modern fashion storytelling that endures today.

 

Dapper Dan: Made in Harlem by Daniel R. Day

A memoir by the legendary designer who pioneered high-end streetwear traces his rise from an early-1980s Harlem storefront to the red carpet in Hollywood, working with such celebrities as Salt-N-Pepa and Beyoncé.

 

 

 

 

The Woman I Wanted To Be by Diane Von Furstenberg, Diane

The influential fashion designer describes her pursuit of a creativity and independence, providing coverage of such topics as her childhood in Brussels, her struggles with cancer and her creation of a genre-defining dress design.

 

 

 

 

Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath the Skin by Andrew Wilson

Describes the life and career of the very private, iconic fashion designer, who left his humble beginnings in East London to skyrocket to the upper echelons of the glamorous fashion world before committing suicide at the age of forty in 2010.

 

 

 

 

Fashion Is Freedom: How a Girl from Tehran Broke the Rules to Change Her World by Tala Raassi

Since she was young, Tala Raassi knew her fate lay in fashion. But growing up in her beloved homeland of Iran, a woman can be punished for exposing her hair in public, let alone wearing the newest trends. Despite strict regulations, Tala developed a keen sense of style in backroom cafes and secret parties. She never imagined her behavior would land her in prison, or bring the cruel sting of a whip for the crime of wearing a mini-skirt. Tala's forty lashes didn't keep her down they fanned the flames of individuality and inspired her to embrace a new freedom in the United States. As she developed her own clothing label, her exploration into the creative, cut throat community of Western fashion opened her eyes to the ups and downs of hard work, hard decisions, and hard truths.

Halston: Inventing American Fashion by Lesley Frowick

Examines the life of the designer from his humble roots to the height of fame through the lens of personal archives and early sketches, including his work with Liza Minnelli and Jackie Kennedy.

 

 

 

Walking with the Muses: A Memoir by Pat Cleveland 

One of the first black supermodels describes her time jet-setting around the world, walking runways and partying with rock stars and actors during the wild, glamorous and gritty 1960s and 1970s.

 

 

 

 

 

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Have trouble reading standard print? Many of these titles are available in formats for patrons with print disabilities.

Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.