The End of Fashion: The Mass Marketing of the Clothing Business
by Teri Agins

Publisher:  Morrow, William & Company
ISBN:  0688151604

Don't be fooled by the alarmist title. The end of fashion isn't here, and Wall Street Journal writer Agins expresses what she means much better in the text when she talks about trends that sent "fashion rolling in a new direction."

This book is essentially about the democratization of fashion, explaining how Paris houses lost ground to the likes of Ralph Lauren and The Gap as the industry experienced a paradigm shift.

Agins lists four megatrends as the reason the balance of power changed:

-Women let go of fashion
-People stopped dressing up
-People's values changed with regard to fashion
-Top designers stopped gambling on fashion

Agins avoids high level theories about the commoditization of clothing, and is at her best in the excellent profiles of contemporary designers and retailers at work in the midst of a changing industry. These profiles of Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, Marshall Field's, Emanuel Ungaro, Giorgio Armani and Zoran are the heart of the book and among the best written and most insightful looks into the industry.

Much has been made about Agins' access to designers and ability to accurately report the facts without the fluff because the Wall Street Journal doesn't rely on fashion advertising. But Agins' journalistic skills are keener than the average fashion scribe and it's evident her focus is on broad trends that affect the general public and the business end of fashion.

"I don't respect Tommy Hilfiger as a designer. Everything he did he got from me. He has nothing new to say." - Ralph Lauren
So starts the chapter about the battle for old glory. The snarky comments of each designer and analysis of the fashion roller coaster are enormously entertaining, as is the chapter about Donna Karan's missteps as a CEO of a public company.

Watching icons stumble is current society's favorite past time and this book gives plenty of juicy details about the fall from grace of Isaac Mizrahi and Marshall Field's.

Some things in the fashion industry do still work, and Agins also tracks the successes of designers such as Armani and the reclusive Zoran.

Taken as a whole, this is a great overview of the current state of the industry, with lessons about how to (or how not to) run a fashion business plucked from the real experiences of modern designers.

Cynthia Nellis, your Guide for Fashion