CULTURE

The impact of the Council of Fashion Designers of America can be felt far and wide, but if you want the true history, make sure you check out this new book, IMPACT: 50 Years of the CFDA, by Patricia Mears. With an introduction from Cathy Horyn and a foreword from Diane von Furstenberg, the current president of the CFDA, this book is sure to have all the nitty-gritty details.

So, what will you find inside? Mears has written an essay on the history of the CFDA, which is anchored with over 300 “personal impact statements” from some of the designers that the CFDA has helped propel to stardom—including Alexander Wang, Donna Karan, Marc Jacobs, and Ralph Lauren, just to name a few. In addition, you will find never-before-seen images from these designers, highlighting the true impact that the CFDA has had on their careers.

IMPACT: 50 Years of the CFDA ($60) is available now at Amazon.com. The book accompanies the upcoming exhibition of the same name, which will take place at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York from February 10 through April 17.

While you may not have heard of Susan Ashbrook, you have definitely seen her work in action. Susan is responsible for introducing Monique Lhuillier to Britney Spears and Escada to Kim Basinger, to name just a few of her celebrity/designer match-ups. Now, Susan is revealing how she created these partnerships, plus a whole lot more, in her new book, Will Work for Shoes. We sat down with Susan to discuss the nitty-gritty of product placement, celebrity seeding, and what she plans to do next. Read on!

Can you tell us a bit about your career in product placement and how you got started?
I was working for Los Angeles-based fashion designer Richard Tyler, as his Director of Public Relations. Richard had many big-time celebrities as clients, such as Julia Roberts, Anjelica Huston, and Mick Jagger. What he didn’t have was publicity and name recognition. I started calling fashion editors to tell them about Richard and mentioned his celebrity clients. They started writing about him and publicity followed. At about this same time, I decided to create my own business representing fashion designers—essentially, becoming an “agent” for them—to connect them to Hollywood.

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