Customer Reviews

The End of Fashion: How Marketing Changed the Clothing Business Forever

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm glad that I finally got the book after seeing Teri on the Oprah show and the Metro Channel. Her reporting genius and years of experience show as she single-handedly unveils this industry which too often tends to believe its own hype. It was especially interesting to read her accounts of the ways in which the homogenization of large American retail stores has bolstered designers' marketing and branding efforts and subsequently, and ironically, led to the death of fashion. This read was especially timely as I watch my hip trendy New Yorker friends spending $200 on banal denim pants in assorted hues. My only regret is that Teri never once conceded that designers are artists; her approach was strictly business and on those terms this book is brilliant.

Teri Agins did a terrific job with her book "The End of Fashion". The title sounds a bit fatalistic, but the content and tome is fantastic. I've always wanted to know the history, business practices, personality and profiles of accomplished designers and Teri Agins delivers all this beautifully. No malice is detected and Ms.Agins' professionalism is evident throughout. No catty swipes are made, even when she discusses Donna's exorbitant overhead and sample process or when she discusses Tommy's obsession with everything Ralph Lauren. Remember Ralph: imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. I'm so glad to know what really happened to Mossimo and Zoran. This book about fashion designers and the fashion industry is a great read. I highly recommend it to fashion and garment industry types as well as for the informed or curious customer.

I bought this book 2 years ago and I still read it over and over again. When you're in Fashion Business, you always want to know what others - "your competitors"- do at the same time. How they react to the same trends, how they manage their works, how they do their fashion shows, what they think of, etc. This book tells all the backstage, all the things about Fashion Designers, all you wanna know and things you'd never think of. It's easy and fun to read. If you're a beginner in Fashion, you must have this book. This book is like a kitchen and every single page is a recipe...

Fashion books fall into a few categories: designer biographies, coffee table books and encyclopedic guides. The End of Fashion is a stunning exception--a hybrid that shows just how the business of fashion works and fails. I bought this book after seeing Teri as a guest judge on Project Runway, and after hearing Tim Gunn's podcast about how important a journalist she is. He didn't exaggerate. This book breaks through the hype and for once I was able to fully understand, to connect the dots about how the fashion business really works. This book came out a few years ago, but the case studies are so thorough that it seems even more current and relevant than most of the drivel about fashion we always read about. Check it out.

This book will be a great read for anyone interested in fashion, and frankly it's a good read for any consumer who spends more than a few hundred dollars a year on clothes. It explains not only the rise and fall of the Paris couture houses, but also the impact of licensing and retail giants such as Tommy Hilfiger and the Gap. If you're at all interested in the fashion industry, this provides fabulous insight. Agins did a good job of organising a lot of information, and then writing it in a way that remains engaging and meaningful. I bought this to do some research on a story, but then I found it so interesting that I finished this book in a couple of days!

Teri Agins manages to write about fashion with authority and fluency and with no superfluous over the top 'fluff'. Although some bits may seem a bit too technical and not of much interest to some, overall it is a very well written and sophisticated piece of work about the workings of the fashion industry. After reading this book it is hard to look at clothes the same way again! For me at least, it really changed my perspective on the idea of fashion in an enlightening way, though it did strip away some of its glamour.

Fashion journalism is often written with bias and is just generally badly written - those who hold an interest in fashion are more likely to enjoy the visual qualities of fashion rather than expressing them in words. So it is really refreshing to see this well written book about a subject often mocked as frivolous without any cattiness.

Teri Agins provides wonderful insight into the gradual demise of the old fashion world. I found the first chapter-and-a-half to be a bit dry and textbook-like. However, once I got used to Agins's style, the book completely came to life. Not relying on her own analysis, Agins cites the opinions of many big names in fashion and fashion writing, which offers a variety of perspectives. The biographical information on several top designers is very interesting---I personally had no idea that Ralph Lauren grew up in a Russian Jewish family in the Bronx. Along with being well written, the book is honest. I agree with Teri Agins that the fashion world is not what it used to be at all---and I'd recommend this book to anyone who shares that perspective and wonders where the fashion went. Moreover, I believe that anyone who is interested in the fashion business would benefit from reading this book.

As owner of a budding accessories company, I found Terry Agins' "The End Of Fashion" an excellent book that is very well written and highly informative. After reading her profound insight about the industry's hits and misses, I was propelled to rethink my vision of creating a fashion house to strategically building a company driven by style and numbers. I highly recommend this book for any one looking to get into the fashion business and retailers alike.

Terrific book with great insights into how the fashion world has changed. Although not super current, this book truly reveals what has happened in the world of fashion and retail. Terri presents the subject clearly and interestingly and the topics and designers she has chosen clearly illustrate how fashion has become big business.

I had high expectations that the book failed to meet. The beginning chapter is great, explaining the "end of fashion" - clearly organized and interesting. However, much of the rest of the book was a poorly organized slow read. It starts with some history of the "old" French labels, then it goes all over the place, in chapters devoted to individual designers or pairs of designers. There is little rhyme or reason in those chapters, and everything seems to happen from the late 1960's until the late 90's, so much of it is contemporaneous and it is hard to see what point the author is making about the evolution of fashion. The worst part of the book, however, is that it is dated - it talks of labels that nobody cares about, or about movie stars and events that were relevant in the 80's up to mid 90's - the early Clinton days are as hip as it gets.

Overall, if you are interested either in the design aspects of fashion, or the business side, you are better off trying to find better reading somewhere else.