I AM IMAN
I Am Iman (Rizzoli 2000) is an autobiographical sketchbook of her career that questions the unserious business of fashion and beauty and its serious effect on identity.
Book Description
Iman’s emergence in 1975 sparked an upheavel in cultural identity that continues today, and her first book is a gloriously entertaining hybrid essay on the cultural-cum-political power of good looks.
A quarter century of the most famous photographs by Helmut Newton, Steven Meisel, Herb Ritts, Peter Lindbergh, Bruce Weber, Scavullo, David Bailey, Nick Knight, and many others are contextualized by well-known essayists, a chorus of celebrity contributions, and Iman’s own take on her much-mytholigized career. The book’s outrageous pop design - by graphic designers Barnbrook Studios - makes it plain that this is not just one woman’s success story. I Am Iman captures the funny, infuriating, and often absurd validation of black and ethnic looks in a beauty industry where billions of dollars - and the self-image of women everywhere - are on the line.
Peeks behind the curtain and scintillating interviews are courtesy of feminist critic bell hooks, Interview editor Ingrid Sischy, model and manager Bathann Hardison, and such celebrities as Cindy Crawford, Yves St. Laurent, Naomi Campbell, Bruce Weber, Tyra Banks, and many more. With graphid design featuring gatefolds, diecuts, and other interactive elements, as well as specially commissioned, never-before-seen images by Annie Leibowitz, Ellen Von Unwerth, Sante D’Orazio, and Michel Comte, this book is an assmblage worthy of any fashionista’s dream.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreword: David Bowie
Contributions by: Peter Beard, Sandra Bernhard, Bell Hooks, Bethann Hardison, Fran Lebowitz, Isaac Mizrahi, Isabella Rossellini and Ingrid Sichy.
1. AFRICA, MY AFRICA by Iman- 2. ESCAPE TO KENYA by Iman
- - The Darkness That May Be Felt by Peter Beard
- - The Story of I by Isaac Mizeahi
- - And Now The Real Story by Sandra Bernhard
- 3. EXILE ON MAIN STREET by Iman
- - Knowing Her Glory by bell hooks
- - Shake What Your Mama Gave Ya by Bethann Hardison
- 4. THE CIRCUS COME TO TOWN by Iman
- - A little Less Democracy... Fran Lebowitz interviewed by David Bowie
- 5. THE NEW GIRL NEXT DOOR by Iman
- - The Politics of Beauty by Isabella Rossellini
- 6. THE AFRICAN AND THE ALIEN by Iman
- 7. PHOTO GALLERY
“I met and fell in love with Iman in Los Angeles on October the fourteenth, nineteenth ninety. Moments after we started dating, the press broke “the story” of our relationship. This opened up a strange spin for us both and particularly for me personally.”
- David Bowie
