Fashion Writer Bios

Suzy Menkes
Fashion Editor, International Herald Tribune

As a fashion journalist, Suzy Menkes interweaves topics such as culture, arts, business and economics with the same keen observation in which she reviews fashion shows.

Menkes was born on December 24, 1943 in Britain. As a teenager, she studied dressmaking in Paris and her first couture show, Nina Ricci, turned her interests towards high fashion. Upon her return from Paris, she attended Cambridge University, studying history and English literature. Subsequently, she attained a position as a fashion reporter for the International Herald Tribune and since then, currently been a Fashion Editor. In addition to her journalism, she has written several books, particularly on British royal style.

Among Menkes's trademarks is her signature pompadour, which has inspired others to call her "Samurai Suzy". She lives in Paris and widowed with three sons, holding the Legion d'Honneur in France and a British OBE.

In a quote attributed by the International Herald Tribune:

"Suzy Menkes, the fashion editor of the International Herald Tribune, has been named an officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to journalism. In January, Menkes was named a chevalier of the Legion of Honor by President Jacques Chirac of France…"

As a Fashion Editor at the Tribune, Menkes has covered every set of collections, attending some six hundred shows a year.

According to an excerpt of a past profile by writer John Seabrook, as a fashion writer, Menkes says, she lives "for those moments when there is a sense that nothing after this show will ever be the same".

Information attributed by:
Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzy_Menkes

John Seabrook
http://www.booknoise.net/johnseabrook/stories/design/menkes/index.html

Also:
Here’s a link to another recent profile and some video interviews by Suzy Menkes for the IHT on a recent global conference:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/11/20/properties/web-1120-luxsuzy.php

Holly Brubach
Brubach grew up in the 1960s outside of Pittsburgh, PA. Brubach began her career as a dancer, switching to writing after she was sidelined by an injury. Her first job was at Vogue, writing fashion blurbs and, eventually, profiles of opera singers and artists. From there, she moved on as a Staff Writer at the Atlantic Monthly and the New Yorker, as a well as a Style Editor for The New York Times, covering fashion, architecture and design.

In 1998 Brubach assumed the role as director of development in regards to Prada’s home and sports collections. Two years later, she formed StudioHollyBrubac, a consulting firm, advising the Ford Motor Company, Banana Republic, Nike Europe, YOOX, and other companies on various aspects of brand identity. Since 2003, Brubach has served as Creative Director for Birks, a Canadian jeweler, a post from which she recently resigned without announcing future plans. She has also written for television, including the documentary “Balanchine” and contributed book reviews to The New York Times Book Review and articles to Vanity Fair.

She has also written "A Dedicated Follower of Fashion,” a collection of her writings from the 1980s and 1990s, taking on subjects like feminism and fashion. "Choura: The Memoirs of Alexandra Danilova," was her profile of the famous Russian ballerina, and "Girlfriend: Men, Women, and Drag," an examination of cross-dressing.

According to a past profile on salon.com, Brubach said, "Fashion is one of the means by which we dream collectively," she writes in her collection of essays, "A Dedicated Follower of Fashion."

Information sourced from:
The National Post
http://www.nationalpost.com/life/story.html?id=110113

salon.com
http://www.salon.com/people/feature/1999/11/11/brubach