“The Chiffon Trenches” is a chronicle of the remarkable life of trailblazing fashion icon Andre Leon Talley as he breaks new ground in an industry rife with racism, prejudice and bias.

From the pages of Vogue to the runways of Paris, “The Chiffon Trenches” (Ballantine Books; $28.00) by legendary style icon Andre Leon Talley is a deeply revealing memoir that captures the fashion world from the inside out, in its most glamorous and most cutthroat moments.

Propelled into the upper echelons by his knowledge and adoration of fashion, Talley moved to Paris as Bureau Chief of John Fairchild’s Women’s Wear Daily, befriending fashion’s most important designers (Halston, Yves Saint Laurent, Oscar De La Renta).

A racist encounter with a member of the house of Yves Saint Laurent sent him back to New York (following a brief stint at Ebony Magazine with Eunice Johnson and the Ebony Fashion Fair) and into the offices of Vogue under Grace Mirabella.

At once ruthless and empathetic, this engaging memoir tells with raw honesty the story of how Talley not only survived the brutal style landscapes but thrived—despite racism, rumors, and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry—to become one of the most renowned voices and faces of fashion.

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