Fall Preview: Simon Doonan Dishes On Fashion Industry in the Asylum

If you follow fashion at all you know that Simon Doonan, the creative ambassador-at-large at Barneys, is a hilarious light in the fashion industry that (most of the time) takes itself way too seriously.

That’s why we couldn’t be more excited that on Sept. 3, Doonan’s latest book, The Asylum: A Collage of Couture Reminiscences…and Hysteria, is set to hit bookshelves.
Expect plenty of Doonan’s infamous quips in the tome, including his take on models. “Average-looking people, squat people, homely people are always much smarter, more competent, and more fun than fashion models,” Doonan says in the book. “Average people have to make more of an effort. Is it fair to generalize so brutally about fashion models? Is it fair to mock their lack of brain power? Of course it’s not fair, but who said life was going to be fair or even remotely fact based. Isn’t it more fun to exaggerate?”
There is also plenty of dirt in the book like the time Doonan was involved in throwing a party for Alexander McQueen at Barneys. McQueen’s people informed the Barneys team: “‘Alexander will need a room…a room where he can do his drugs.’” Barneys declined, according to Doonan, and McQueen was a no-show for a party held in his honor.
The cast of characters in the book includes everyone from Kato Kaelin (of O.J. Simpson trial fame) to Diana Vreeland to Thom Browne. If you are obsessed with the fashion industry, you are definitely going to want to get your hands on this.
The Asylum: A collage of couture reminiscences…and hysteria by Simon Doonan is available for pre-order at amazon.com .