BOOK REVIEW: BE-SPOKE (REVELATIONS FROM THE WORLD’S MOST IMPORTANT FASHION DESIGNERS)
This book is truly fabulous, and so is its author! A charming, stylish, delightful lady, celebrated fashion journalist Marylou Luther did not set out to be a writer. She was born in Cambridge, Nebraska (population about 1000), her father a farmer/entrepreneur, her mom an avid reader who was head of the University of Nebraska library and nurtured her daughter’s quest for knowledge. Devouring books for hours every night, Marylou became a gifted wordsmith, getting her first journalism job in Nebraska after college graduation in 1951. It was at the Des Moines Register where she was first assigned fashion reporting, a field she knew nothing about. At first, she panicked, then she learned the art of listening, ultimately becoming one of America’s top fashion reporters. She is still winning prestigious awards and still making friends I n high places. She is famous for decades of international trend presentations that she staged each season for Fashion Group International.
“Back in the day, when I was living in LA and working for the L.A. Times, access to designers was easier. Since not too many ventured to the west coast, those who did would call me. I thought it was important to listen to their ideas; they deserved to be heard. In addition to interviewing them, I kept a separate folder of their most interesting quotes. Rediscovering this folder recently, I decided these quotes would make a wonderful book. I mean, we see their designs on runways but what were they thinking when they created these beautiful fashions? What changes in the world did their choices reflect? This is what I wanted to know. Of course, what I really wanted to do was to entice renowned illustrator Ruben Toledo to collaborate on the book, knowing that his brilliant images would add a valuable dimension to the project. And they do: it’s a coffee table book with cream and sugar…”
For all of us who have ever felt that our choice of a career in fashion feels somewhat frivolous, Marylou reiterates fashion’s relevance. “The past is always present, but these days, both the times and the fashions seem a bit murky. There’s no clear direction; it appears that anything goes. But the beauty here is that you can shop your closet; you can create a unique personal style by combining pieces from different eras and disparate sources.” She quotes in her book a favorite designer, 40-year-old Alexander Wang. “Sometimes I feel like innovation moves faster than what we’re prepared to absorb. Maybe the idea of mundane and the rejection of innovation is what feels modern. The street is such a platform: it’s so viral that the idea of being anonymous almost feels like it’s the new attraction.” And from designer Thom Browne, “I think there’s something really refreshing when things don’t change too much.”
Personally, like most New Yorkers, Marylou dresses in black. “This town can be dirty. Black hides the dirt and is also slimming. My other fashion trick is to always wear two long scarves over everything. It’s true: two long scarves that hang to the knees. It works magic!”
As one might guess, she prefers watching fashion shows live rather than online. “Because it’s not just about seeing the clothes but also seeing the movement of the clothes on the body. And seeing the audience reaction to the clothes. At her shows in Paris, Coco Chanel would sit on top of the stairs to better assess how the audience was responding.”
Of course, the late great Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel (1883-1971) is quoted in this book. “Fashion fades, only style remains the same. Only those with no memory insist on their originality. YSL has excellent taste: the more he copies me, the better taste he displays.”
Another of Marylou’s favorite quotes is from French designer Andre Courreges (1923-2016). “Major trends that impact society for seven years or more always begin after a major calamity or scientific breakthrough. Fashion flowered in the 1930s, following the stock market crash. Christian Dior’s new look of 1947 emerged after WWII. The youthquake of the 1960s followed the introduction of the pill. The pants revolution followed man’s landing on the moon.”
From Giorgio Armani: “I don’t believe elegance can be revisited. The reason: it’s not just about the clothes. It’s about a way of being. The allure of Hollywood, the way the stars were photographed with their picture-perfect makeup. Cinema in the 1980s, when I first got involved with Hollywood by dressing Richard Gere in American Gigolo, was about a dream. Now, it’s about reality.”
And this from Tom Ford (creative director emeritus for Gucci and YSL, filmmaker, chairman emeritus CFDA): “Fashion is everything: art, music, furniture, design, graphic design, hair, makeup, the way cars look. All those things go together to make a moment in time. And that’s what excites me.”
What excites and inspires Marylou these days is less the accolades, press, and hobnobbing with celebrities (although she loves her work and has no plans to retire) and more her family, which now includes three grandchildren. She is incredibly proud of her two sons: Walter, an exec at CNN, and Andy, a lawyer who defends the rights of the disabled. Her late husband, she relates with love, was “one in a million. He had a certain charm; he drew people to him. He was also very funny, and it didn’t hurt that he looked important…”
On that topic of looking important, Marylou confides that she’s always impressed when she sees men dressed in suits. “I don’t see this very often these days but when I do, it makes me smile. I always assume that they’re either in fashion or in finance. Either way, seeing men dressed in suits is a true delight!”