Simon Doonan
Simon Doonan (born 1952) is the Creative Ambassador-at-Large of the New York City-based clothing store Barneys.
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[edit] Biography
Doonan comes from the English town of Reading. His first retail job was a summer position at Heelas, a department store in Reading, owned by the John Lewis Partnership. After returning to work at the same store after university, he first got involved in the art of window dressing. He later left Reading for London and dressed windows at Aquascutum before moving to Nutters of Savile Row.[1]
Invited to dress his windows by the proprietor of Maxfield, a department store in Los Angeles, Doonan moved to the United States in 1978. He joined the Barneys staff in 1986 as a window dresser.[2][1]
In addition to his work at Barneys, he writes a column on style for Slate. Previously, he wrote a similar column for The New York Observer.
In his book, Eccentric Glamour, he decried porno chic in Western society in general. Interviewed for an article for the New York Daily News, he said, "There are two horribly worrying trends! Celebrities are becoming so gun-shy that there is no diversity, no sense of fun on the red carpet. There's no experimentation — which is incredibly important to fashion." On "porno chic," (the second trend) he said, "Imagine if you said to people 20 years ago that, in 2008, a significant number of women would be going around dressing like porno stars with fake hooters and butt cracks showing? No one would have believed you." [2]
On VH1's I Love the New Millennium Doonan said that his favorite movie was Brokeback Mountain.
[edit] Appearances
Doonan has made appearances on VH1's I Love the series, offering social commentary on each decade.[3]
He has also been a guest star on America's Next Top Model season 2, 3, and 5 to teach the models about style.
In September 2008, he married his partner of 14 years, designer Jonathan Adler, in California.
Doonan's memoir Beautiful People has been adapted for TV and began airing on BBC Two in the UK on 2 October 2008 as Beautiful People.
For The Moth podcast, he read "Fear of Squat" from his memoir.
Doonan appeared as a judge on Iron Chef America for Battle Sparkling Wine.[4]
In Gossip Girl's fifth season (third episode: "The Jewel of Denial"), he escorted Blair Waldorf on Jenny Packham's show.
[edit] See also
[edit] Bibliography
- Memoir: Confessions of a Window Dresser: Tales from the Life of Fashion (2001) ISBN 0141003626
- Wacky Chicks: Life Lessons from Fearlessly Inappropriate and Fabulously Eccentric Women (2005) Simon & Schuster ISBN 0743257898
- Beautiful People (also published as Nasty: My Family And Other Glamorous Varmints) (2005) ISBN 9780007269549
- Eccentric Glamour: Creating an Insanely More Fabulous You (2008) Simon & Schuster ISBN 1416535438
- Gay Men Don't Get Fat (2012) Blue Rider Press ISBN 978-0399158735
[edit] References
- ^ a b Burton, Laura (2008-09-25). "Fashion should be funny". Guardian News and Media Ltd. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2008/sep/25/television.fashion. Retrieved 2009-11-10.
- ^ a b Colin Bertram, New York Daily News, March 31, 2008 http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/2008/03/31/2008-03-31_simon_doonan_of_barneys_wants_to_take_us-1.html
- ^ Simon Doonan - TV.com
- ^ Jose Garces vs Mike Lata in Iron Chef Battle Sparkling Wine, Raphael Brion, Eater, Monday, December 6, 2010
