Signed First Edition "Bonnie Cashin: Chic Is Where You Find It"

Signed First Edition copy of Bonnie Cashin: Chic Is Where You Find It, inscribed by Cashin heir and biographer, Dr. Stephanie Lake with foreword by Jonathan Adler.

Bonnie Cashin: Chic Is Where You Find It

An exhilarating look at the quintessential American modernist, acclaimed for her "Auntie Mame" lifestyle, her iconoclastic approach to fashion, and her visionary designs for the modern American woman. A talented artist who happened to become a fashion designer, Bonnie Cashin was brilliant, free-spirited, and unconventional in all she did. Revered for her intellectual and independent approach to fashion, Cashin changed the way women dressed with her revolutionary, forward-thinking approach to life. She designed chic, functional clothing for the modern woman "on the go"—women like herself who loved to travel and lived life to the fullest. The most successful independent fashion designer of her day, Cashin worked outside the fashion industry, yet is arguably the most influential designer of our time, revered in the fashion world and a muse for designers working today. Cashin is credited with many fashion "firsts," including introducing the concept of layering and championing such timeless shapes as ponchos, tunics, and kimonos. She is acclaimed for inventing the "it bag," with her classic handbag designs for Coach in the early 1960s. Brimming with a half-century of creative work, Bonnie Cashin celebrates the designer’s incredible, well-traveled life and her revolutionary designs with an unflinching, happy elegance.

 290 Pages.  Lavishly illustrated.  Rizzoli Books.

REVIEWS:

“More than fifteen years after her death, Bonnie Cashin seems to be having a moment.”–Rosemary Feitelberg, WWD

“Bonnie Cashin was one of the great designers.“–Bill Cunningham, New York Times

Bonnie Cashin “influenced the work of countless designers, but her name has largely faded from the history books.  This may be about to change, thanks to a new book about her life and work.”—Fortune

“Cashin is the subject of a beautiful new book from Rizzoli, Bonnie Cashin: Chic Is Where You Find It, edited and with a text by Stephanie Lake and an introduction by Jonathan Adler. Lake met Cashin toward the end of her life and became a very close friend; she also took over the management of her estate after Cashin’s death in 2000 and has been the single strongest advocate for her work. The book will be a great revelation to many unfamiliar with Cashin’s designs. Others, who have long regarded her as one of the iconic queens of American fashion in the 20th century, will simply let out a sigh of relief that this brilliant woman finally has a brilliant book dedicated to her work.”– Judith Freeman, Los Angeles Review of Books

“Does the name Bonnie Cashin ring a bell? She’s not only the original founder of the Coach label, but she’s also the most frequently copied designer, with Céline’s Phoebe Philo and Tom Ford counting her as an inspiration. Now, she’s finally being recognized with a Rizzoli tome.”–Observer

“It’s fitting that the definitive book on Cashin ‘s acclaimed career as a pioneer of American sportswear comes out this month, in the midst of a season loaded with references to her design influence . . . Lake’s book is more than a compilation of greatest hits. It’s a lively biography and scholarly look at 20th century design, which very much informs what we wear today.” –Allison Kaplan, Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine

“Bonnie Cashin, who helped shape both American Sportswear and the New York Fashion world . . . is the subject of a new career-spanning tome.” —Harper’s Bazaar

“Biographer Stephanie Lake recounts the pioneering designer’s bold start . . . and her indelible influence on the birth of American sportswear.”–Harper’s Bazaar

“[S]ome fashion scholars go so far as to credit her with inventing American sportswear.  Stephanie Lake, is a protégé of Cashin’s who owns her vast personal design archive and is the author of a recent monograph, “Bonnie Cashin: Chic is Where You Find It.”  Fashion generates disciples, but rarely ones as devoted as Ms. Lake. She can tell you the value of Cashin’s first contract with Coach ($2,500 for two collections) and the color of the Nelson Marshmallow sofa in her studio (yellow).”–Christopher Petkanas, New York Times

“This is an important and overdue portrait of a visionary whose ground-breaking approach to American fashion makes her the earth mother to virtually every New York designer who came after her.“–Colin McDowell, Business of Fashion