We present a series about personalities whose not only style, but also life stories are an inspiration to us. In dressing, the way of life, the approach to doing things your own way. Timeless icons that have never succumbed to trends, yet often inadvertently shape them.
As journalist Morwena Ferrier wrote in her article for The Guardian, Fran Lebowitz is not a fashion icon - she is a style icon. The American author, known for her unique style of social commentary on the American lifestyle as well as her close friendships with prominent figures of the New York art scene of the 70s and 80s, which included Andy Warhol, Martin Scorsese or Jerome Robbins, became famous for publishing the cult books Metropolitan Life and Social Studies and was the subject of two Scorsese projects - Public Speaking and the great Netflix documentary series Pretend It's a City (recommended!).
She was expelled from high school, shortly after that she moved from her hometown in New Jersey to New York, where she survived by writing assignments for students, cleaning, driving a taxi or creating pornographic texts. She later got to work for independent magazines, Andy Warhol hired her as a columnist for Interview. After all, the successful debut of Metropolitan Life was a collection of her journalistic publications, columns in which she described New York life without embellishment and could name the problems in her characteristic dry, sarcastic tone. Over the years, she became a recognized public figure from a writer, her witty remarks on political, cultural or artistic topics became legendary.
Prestigious magazines repeatedly rank her among the best dressed women in the world. Her style has not changed over the past fifty years, it is her hallmark and an endless source of inspiration for entire generations. “I hate money … but I love things … I love clothes,” she says in one episode of Scorsese's ode to New York, while playing with the sleeve of a sharp white Hilditch & Key men's shirt. In another, he embarks on the origin story of his gold cufflinks made by Alexander Calder - the sculptor known for his kinetic wire sculptures - which are worth around £50,000. Later, she wonders why they refused to approve her mortgage. Do you also think that Carrie Bradshaw had a real role model?
She's revealed many times that she loves Manolo Blahnik shoes, but they're just a slight departure from an unchanging uniform that includes perfectly cut men's suits, tuxedo jackets, broad-shouldered coats (the first ones are said to be from the same tailor who made Marlene Dietrich), cowboy boots with a Cuban heel, lots of Levi's 501 jeans, the aforementioned shirts from Hilditch & Key and of course tortoiseshell glasses.
For us, Fran is the personification of a real icon, whose style you definitely don't need to copy - but she brings great inspiration, for example, for the 9-5 wardrobe on days when we don't want to think so much about what to wear.