Christian Lacroix and the Tale of the Sleeping Beauty

Christian Lacroix and the Tale of Sleeping Beauty: A Fashion Fairy Tale Memoir (and ebook version) was released last week.

Book description from the publisher:

About the Fashion Fairy Tale Memoir Series

Each book in this inspired series from fashion writer Camilla Morton inventively reimagines one of our favorite "Once Upon a Time" stories, blending with it the real-life story of a famed fashion designer. Lushly illustrated by the designers themselves, these tales illuminate each iconic individual's creative magic while celebrating his unique life and career. The result is an intriguing combination of whimsy and memoir.

In this contemporary twist on the tale of Sleeping Beauty, Monsieur Lacroix exercises a stunningly diverse array of artistic styles, revealing many more mesmerizing sides to his fertile imagination than those we have already seen in his magnificent fashions.

 

From Fairytales and furniture for Christian Lacroix by Hilary Alexander:

Christian Lacroix, the flamboyant 'dream-weaver' of fashion, may have shown his last haute couture collection in Paris in July, 2008. But Lacroix has been sprinkling his creative magic throughout a host of other endeavours, from designing costumes for 'Roméo et Juliet' for the Opéra-Comique in Paris, and for the American soprano Renée Fleming in 'Thais' at the New York Met, to designing interiors for hotels, curating photographic exhibitions in his native Arles, and supervising exhibitions of his work in Singapore.

Now, Lacroix is pouring his colourful exuberance into two new areas: fairytales and furniture.

Firstly, he has collaborated with the young, British author, Camilla Morton ('How to Walk in High Heels', 'A Year in High Heels'), by illustrating a fashion fantasy/fairytale, 'Christian Lacroix and the Tale of the Sleeping Beauty', which interweaves elements of his own life with the famous story, originally attributed to Charles Perrault.

The book, in which 'Beauty' ends up appearing in a Lacroix haute couture fashion show, features illustrations every bit as lavish and flamboyant as his own designs.

The next book in this series, Manolo Blahnik's The Elves and the Shoemaker: A Fashion Fairytale by Camilla Morton, is due out in May. Yes, that seems like a perfect fit for a shoe designer, but I admit to a slight disappointment it's not The Red Shoes, but perhaps that would be a better fairy tale for Christian Louboutin to design.