I.M.

The dynamic life of iconic fashion designer Mizrahi (b. 1961).

Growing up in Brooklyn in a Syrian Jewish Orthodox family, where
he stood out “like a chubby gay thumb,” Mizrahi was considered artistic from an
early age. Though his father worked in the clothing industry, their
relationship was one of mutual indifference. The author was more fascinated
with his mother, Sarah, and they bonded over long conversations on style and
culture. In his late teens, he came out to her, which strained their
relationship, yet the disclosure would become just one of many defining moments
in the author’s life. With an amiable, conversational flow, Mizrahi shares
anecdotes ranging from childhood public shaming, which heightened his
self-awareness, to breakthrough moments when his appreciation of sartorial
elegance became a calling that would escort him from Parsons School of Design
to stints with Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein. Nights out at Studio 54 and
designing for Liza Minnelli led to more hobnobbing with celebrities. Embedded
into the memoir’s chronological narrative are pages of opinion and critique on
the fashion world and how Mizrahi’s career choice has influenced the rest of
his life. He writes frankly about necessity, sacrifice, and the struggle
between his personal life and his desire to wholly immerse himself in the
fashion industry: “the harder we worked and the more devoted we were to
fashion, the further we all seemed to get from our own sex lives—and the more
we used fashion as a diversion from deeper, more meaningful things.” He also
contributes thoughts on darker times: his father’s death, mourning the
devastating number of “fashion glitterati” lost to AIDS, and his battles with
chronic insomnia, anxiety, and depression. His unpredictable courtship of his
husband, Arnold, reads like a Hollywood love story. The key to the warmth and
overall success of the memoir is Mizrahi’s unapologetic, bare-all approach as
he shares the best and worst aspects of his life, all of which helped mold him
into the fashion powerhouse he has become today.

A charming and witty memoir; required reading for fashion aficionados.