The Asylum: True Tales of Madness from a Life in Fashion

(Paperback)

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InThe Asylum, an unabashedly hilarious collection of autobiographical essays, Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barneys New York, tells the real-life stories of glamorous madness and stylish insanity. After nearly a lifetime spent in fashion, author and fashion insider Simon Doonan is ready to let you in on a little secret- his peers in this multibillion-dollar industry are just as nutty as the denizens of your local loony bin. In The Asylum, an unabashedly hilarious collection of autobiographical essays, Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barneys New York, tells the real-life stories of glamorous madness and stylish insanity. With his gimlet eye for the absurd and a love for eccentricity, Doonan's personal and professional stories never fail to entertain. 'The David Sedaris of the style universe' (The Boston Globe) gives us the scoop on the kooky, cutthroat - but always fabulous - fashion world and proves himself one of the sharpest humourist writing today. 'Simon Doonan is one funny gay nugget.' Chelsea Handler 'The fashion world is - in a word - hysterical! Simon Doonan is the one man who sees it and tells it like it (absurdly) is.' Marc Jacobs 'Simon Doonan is the Bon Qui Qui of fashion - stirring things up and reminding us to keep a sense of humor.' Alexander Wang 'In The Asylum, Simon Doonan's comedic genius explodes out of highbrow shoe boxes.' Leandra Medine, author and blogger (Man Repeller)

Reviews

Praise for The Asylum:

Simon Doonan's hysterical first row, firsthand observations are a must-read for fashionistas and non-fashionsitas alike.
Michael Kors

The fashion world isin a wordhysterical! Simon Doonan is the one man who sees it and tells it like it (absurdly) is.
Marc Jacobs

Simon Doonan is the Bon Qui Qui of Fashionstirring things up and reminding us to keep a sense of humor.
Alexander Wang

In The Asylum, Simon Doonan's comedic genius explodes out of highbrow shoe boxes.
Leandra Medine, author, and blogger of The Man Repeller

[A] raucous and revelatory essay collection....[Doonan] knows the fashion world inside out....Even readers whose fashion sense is more Gap than GQ will find keen insight and humor in Doonans cheeky take on what it means to be chic.
Booklist

Hilarious, irresistible essays about the sheer lunacy of the fashion world, from a sharp-eyed (and even sharper-tongued) industry insider.People

The funniest fashion book of all time.Lucky Magazine

These snappy essays find Doonan surprisingly more sincere and charming than ever A gossipy, voyeuristic and reliably campy romp down the catwalks of the fashion asylum.Kirkus Reviews

Simon Doonan, the creative ambassador for Barney's and Slate columnist, is one of culture writing's funniest voices.The New Republic

Simon Doonanis a legend in the fashion world. Wickedly funny, wildly creative...has an insider's view of global style and its peculiar inhabitants....Indeed, those loony, creative types are what have kept Doonan interested for the decades he's been in the fashion business. And what makes his book so entertaining for the rest of us.Suzanne S. Brown, The Denver Post

Author Bio

Simon Doonan is the creative ambassador for Barneys New York and the author of several books, including Gay Men Dont Get Fat, Wacky Chicks, and Beautiful People (published in the U.S. as Nasty), which became a BBC TV series. Originally from England, he worked on Savile Row, at Maxfield in Los Angeles, and with Diana Vreeland at The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art before becoming the creative director of Barneys New York, where he designed legendary window displays for more than twenty years. In 2009, he designed the holiday decorations for the Obamas first White House Christmas. Formerly a columnist for The New York Observer, he is now a contributor to Slate.com, and has appeared on Gossip Girl, Iron Chef America, Americas Next Top Model, and elsewhere. Doonan lives in New York with his husband, Jonathan Adler.