Carmel Snow

Carmel Snow (1887 - 1961), the notorious publishing rival of Vogue editor Edna Woolman Chase, left Vogue in 1932 to become fashion editor, then editor of Harper''s Bazaar. This vibrant memoir recalls the glamour and all-consuming work of her passionately conducted career. Determined and opinionated, Snow had a brilliant eye for new talent: she hired Diana Vreeland and Richard Avedon, commissioned editorial from Truman Capote, and applauded Balenciaga’s first collection in a silent ‘hate filled room’.  Fashion photography was transformed by her in the moment she appointed photojournalist Martin Munkacsi’s outdoor motion shoot on a windswept beach. A women of buoyant and unlimited energy, she rarely slept (except in the arms of her partner on the dance floor) or ate, but seldom missed a three-martini lunch. She died just four years after her retirement at the age of 70.

First published in 1962, this book is part of the V&A Fashion Perspectives Series. Selected by V&A publishing in consultation with our world-leading fashion curators, the Fashion Perspectives series offers an access all areas pass to the glamorous world of fashion. Models, magazine editors and the designers themselves take readers behind the scenes at the likes of Balenciaga, Balmain, Chanel, Dior, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue in the golden age of couture.