Photograph of Diana Vreeland by George Hoyningen-Heune

In the midst of the world’s fashion weeks — New York ended yesterday, London starts today and Paris on September 24 — I’m thinking not so much about present day fashion culture but instead about the trailblazing fashion editors and retailers from the first half of the 20th century. Foremost in my mind is the unequaled Diana Vreeland whose twenty-six years as fashion editor at Harper’s Bazaar starting in 1936, subsequent seven years at Vogue, and final eighteen years at The Costume Institute were legendary. Her work in fashion and publishing remains among the most impactful and influential in history. Her great style, huge personality, vitality and curiosity transcended well beyond. I own several books about Mrs. Vreeland, but what brought her most to life for me was the intoxicating 2012 documentary, Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, by her granddaughter-in-law, Lisa Immordino Vreeland. And the newest book about her, Diana Vreeland Memos: The Vogue Years by her grandson Alexander Vreeland, is coming out in October. It will definitely be on the top of my reading list.

www.dianavreeland.com