I.M.

January 15, 2019
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.

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April 1, 2019

There isn't a phony note in this memoir from fashion designer Mizrahi, who comes to us as he is, no holds barred, with a forthrightness that should appeal to readers of all stripes. Of course he's famous as a clothing designer, and stories related to that aspect of his life predominate. So, there are accounts of Perry Ellis and Calvin Klein and of the author's friendships with Anna Wintour and Meryl Streep. His commercial success with Bergdorf Goodman and Target give a sense of his place in the canon of fashion with his natural instinct for color and shape. But Mizrahi also discusses growing up gay in a tight-knit Syrian Jewish family, sensitively exploring the topics of his sexuality and finding his true love. VERDICT This memoir deserves a wide audience owing to the clarity of the writing and the poignancy of Mizrahi's storytelling. [Prepub, 8/20/18.]--David Azzolina, Univ. of Pennsylvania Libs., Philadelphia

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2018
The bad news? Readers who recognize iconic fashion designer Mizrahi only from Project Runway: All Stars may be initially disappointed: the show's never mentioned. The good? Everything else about Mizrahi's honest, insightful, and thoroughly entertaining first memoir. Mizrahi comes off in writing just like his onscreen persona: warm, witty, humble?and ready to dish. Celebrity names are scattered throughout the book, but never just to impress. Whether Mizrahi mentions them in brief encounters or long-lasting friendships, just about everyone's shown in a positive light. Mizrahi devotes most attention to his mom, Sarah: his steadfast soul mate, inspiration, and supporter. Mizrahi chronicles the stages of his life?as an ungainly youngster growing up in his uberconservative Syrian Jewish community, a closeted student at New York's High School for the Performing Arts, a gifted newcomer maneuvering through the layers of the fashion industry, a jet-setting superstar, and then, abruptly, yesterday's news?through his current career as a performer and producer. He shares his never-ending anxieties, indecision, and bouts of depression in introspective passages, as well as the ups and downs of his personal life, including the on-again, off-again courtship of his now husband, Arnold. This is likely to get a lot of celebrity buzz; expect enthusiastic demand.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)