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The Kingdom of Prep : : the Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J. Crew

Bullock, Maggie. Book - 2023 381.456 Bu, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Business & Economics / General / Bullock, Maggie 2 On Shelf No requests on this item Community Rating: 0 out of 5

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Call Number: 381.456 Bu, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Business & Economics / General / Bullock, Maggie
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Westgate Branch

Location & Checkout Length Call Number Checkout Length Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor
4-week checkout
381.456 Bu 4-week checkout On Shelf
Westgate Adult Books
4-week checkout
Adult Book / Nonfiction / Business & Economics / General / Bullock, Maggie 4-week checkout On Shelf

"How to be really top-drawer" -- Cognitive dissonance -- Puzzle pieces -- Girl, boss -- Hooked on a feeling -- 625 Sixth -- Malls of America -- California girls -- Go big or go home -- Five...four...three...two...ONE -- Swan song -- Rocket man -- This is your captain speaking -- Panning for gold -- Redemption day -- The tao of Jenna -- Mad men and Brooklyn loggers -- The J in J.Crew -- Everyone's an expert -- Let's make a deal -- Page six on line one -- Cognitive dissonance, part deux -- Knives out -- Three horsemen and an apocalypse -- The cherry pickers.
"Once upon a time, a no-frills J.Crew rollneck sweater held an almost mystical power--or at least it felt that way. The story of J.Crew is the story of the original 'lifestyle brand,' whose evolution charts a sea change in the way we dress, the way we shop, and who we aspire to be over the past four decades--all told through iconic clothes and the most riveting characters imaginable. In The Kingdom of Prep, seasoned fashion journalist Maggie Bullock tells J.Crew's epic story for the first time, bringing to life the deliciously idiosyncratic people who built a beloved brand, unpacking the complex legacy of prep--a subculture born on the 1920s campuses of the Ivy League--and how one brand rose to epitomize 'American' style in two very different golden eras, and also eventually embodied the 'retail apocalypse' that rocked the global fashion industry and left hollowed-out malls across the country. In a juicy business narrative rich with humor and insight, Bullock combines the colorful characters of The Devil Wears Prada, the business insight of Deluxe, and the nostalgia factor of True Prep, to chart J.Crew's origin story, its Obama-era heyday, and its brush-with-death decline through the stories of the mercurial characters who helmed the company. There is founder Arthur Cinader, who set out to sell the Ralph Lauren look for half the price, and his daughter Emily, who turned J.Crew into a new campus uniform, and then a temple to '90s minimalism. Then came ex-Gap CEO Mickey Drexler--the most renowned (and controversial) retailer of his generation--who took J.Crew to a never-before-seen peak, only to contribute to its financial disaster, and the brilliant designer Jenna Lyons, who rose from the anonymous ranks of a catalogue company to become a star in her own right, but burned so bright she left J.Crew in her shadow. Through extensive interviews with more than 100 J.Crew insiders and top industry experts, Bullock crafts an impossible-to-put-down, neon-glitter-sprinkled tale that traces the trajectory of American style, invites us into the inner sanctum of fashion's most bold-faced names, and weaves together the threads of style, finance, and culture like no other brand's story in our lifetime."--Amazon website.

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Cover image for The kingdom of prep : : the inside story of the rise and (near) fall of J. Crew


PUBLISHED
New York : Dey St., an imprint of William Morrow, [2023]
Year Published: 2023
Description: 356 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : mostly color illustrations ; 24 cm
Language: English
Format: Book

ISBN/STANDARD NUMBER
9780063042643
0063042649

SUBJECTS
J. Crew (Firm) -- History.
Clothing trade -- United States -- History.
Retail trade -- United States -- History.
Fashion -- United States -- History.