last week, i had the pleasure of attending the harper’s bazaar greatest hits book signing with editor-in-chief glenda bailey at the coach flagship store. bailey, who has been with the magazine for ten years, has gone through ups (winning the american society of magazine editors cover of the year in 2006) and downs (dropping newsstand sales, cutting down to ten issues a year, and rumours of her demise).
from top: jeanne and melissa at the event, erin gets her book signed, glenda and i
the book is her chance to “look back,” as she said when we met, but she is more interested in looking forward to the future of bazaar. in that future is a redesign coming with the march issue. the magazine is getting larger with better paper, and she’s hired robin derrick (formerly the creative director of british vogue) to work on a new look (presumably alongside current bazaar creative director stephen gan). while i’m not always a fan of bazaar (sometimes the editorials can be a bit stale), i do love bailey’s sense of humour about fashion…i doubt you’d see a feature with the simpsons or a spoof of the 2-hour late marc jacobs show in vogue. while vogue went more subtle for their refresh and elle going more ultramodern in their approach, i can’t wait to see the new “face” of bazaar.
if you’re in the market for a fashion coffee table book for yourself or as a gift this holiday, here are some other great options.
1. vogue: the covers by dodie kazanjian
2. irreverent by carine roitfeld with cathy horyn, olivier zahm, and alex wiederin
3. dior couture by ingrid sischy and patrick demarchelier
4. christian louboutin by christian louboutin
5. harper’s bazaar greatest hits by glenda bailey
6. diana vreeland: the eye has to travel by lisa immordino vreeland