FASHION CLIMBING: A Memoir with Photographs

Bill Cunningham

Penguin Publishing Group, New York, USA

Year  2018

Pages 174

The untold story of a New York City legend’s education in creativity and style. For the author, New York City was the land of freedom, glamour, and, above all, style. After two style mavens took the author under their wing, his creativity thrived and he made a name for himself as a designer. Taking on the alias William J. – because designing under his family’s name would have been a disgrace to his parents – he became one of the era’s most outlandish and celebrated hat designers, catering to movie stars, heiresses, and artists alike. His mission was to bring happiness to the world by making women an inspiration to themselves and everyone who saw them. This book is the story of a young man striving to be the person he was born to be: a true original. But although he was one of the city’s most recognized and treasured figures, Bill was also one of its most guarded. Written with his infectious joy and one-of-a-kind voice, this memoir was polished, neatly typewritten, and safely stored away in his lifetime. He held off on sharing it – and himself – until his passing. Between these covers, is an education in style, an effervescent tale of a bohemian world as it once was, and a final gift to the readers of one of New York’s great characters.