Suzy Menkes | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Menkes in 2019 | |
| Born | Suzy Peta Menkes (1943-12-24)24 December 1943 (age 81) Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, England |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, fashion critic |
| Years active | 1966–present |
| Notable credit(s) | Vogue,The Times,The New York Times,The International Herald Tribune,Harper's Bazaar |
Suzy Peta MenkesOBE (born 24 December 1943) is a British journalist and fashion critic. Formerly the fashion editor for theInternational Herald Tribune, Menkes also served as editor, Vogue International, for 25 international editions ofVogue online until October 2020.[1]
Menkes was born inBeaconsfield, Buckinghamshire. She was educated atBrighton and Hove High School. As a teenager in the 1960s, she moved to Paris to study dressmaking at what has now becomeESMOD.[2] Her landlady gained her entry into her firstcouture show atNina Ricci, which sparked her interest in high fashion.
On her return from Paris, she read history and English literature atNewnham College, Cambridge while her sister studied at Oxford. During her college years, she became the first female editor of the college newspaper[3] and of a university newspaper,Varsity.[4]
After Cambridge, she worked forThe Times reporting on fashion. In addition to her journalism, she has written several books, particularly on British Royal style.
Menkes professes to admire "good journalism",[5] especially the work ofPrudence Glynn at theTimes of London andEugenia Sheppard of theNew York Herald Tribune. After leaving Cambridge in 1966, where she was the first woman who signed up to work forVarsity, and later became its first female Editor-in-Chief, the university's newspaper, she joinedThe Times as a junior reporter. At age 24, Menkes took her first job as a fashion journalist at theLondon Evening Standard, where she had been recruited by editorCharles Wintour, who became her mentor.
He really made me understand that as a fashion editor, or any other role at the paper, you are conduit to the public. You’re supposed to take in this information and then pass it on – that idea that, as a journalist, you’ve got to really take things in and then explain them in a way that's comprehensible to other people. That's the job.[6]
Then, she joined theDaily Express, before returning to The Times, where she met her late husband and father of her three sons, David Spanier. She leftThe Times and joinedThe Independent in 1987, which she later left for theInternational Herald Tribune in 1988.
After 25 years commenting on fashion atThe International Herald Tribune, she left in 2014 saying that:
The Tribune left me. It morphed [in 2013] into the International New York Times. New people came in; nothing felt the same. It was the ideal time to move, and my new job is a terrific idea because is there anything more international than fashion?[7]
In 2014, Jonathan Newhouse, chairman ofCondé Nast International, appointed her the online voice ofVogue's international editions, working as "a critic and reporter on Vogue's websites across the world".[8] She was also responsible for organising Condé Nast International's annual Luxury Conference.[9]
During the first lockdown of 2020, she launched her podcast,Creative Conversations with Suzy Menkes. Here she presents in-depth interviews with the fashion industry's most influential designers, thinkers and executives, including Duro Olowu, Giancarlo Giammetti, Maria Grazia Chiuri of Dior, Marine Serre, Michael Kors and Natalia Vodianova.[10]
Menkes is widowed and has three sons, three granddaughters and three grandsons. Menkes is a Jewish convert.[11]
She holds theLegion d'Honneur in France and a BritishOBE.[12]
Menkes's trademark is herpompadour, an exaggerated hairstyle that was first popularised byMadame de Pompadour, the favourite mistress ofKing Louis XV, in the 18th century. She has been nicknamed "Samurai Suzy" by the fashion press for her frankness and taste for fashionmaximalism.[13]
In November 2009, she appeared as one of the judges on the finale of theLifetime TV seriesProject Runway. In 1996, she appeared in the second "Last Shout" special in the British comedy seriesAbsolutely Fabulous, playing herself. In 2016, she appeared inAbsolutely Fabulous: The Movie.
Unlike many of her fashion counterparts, Menkes systematically refuses gifts from fashion brands.[14] She openly criticised what she called "The Circus of Fashion" in an article issued inThe New York Times in 2013,[15] denouncing the attitude of bloggers and stars followers of street style dressed like "peacocks" to draw the attention of photographers duringFashion week.
During her marriage to David Spanier, she converted to Judaism, and now refrains from attending fashion shows that take place on Holy days. Accessible and curious, Menkes has a reputation for being eager to discuss fashion with young designers. "Like a slightly mad auntie, she is",Kate Moss toldThe New Yorker magazine, in its 2003 profile of Menkes.[13]
In fashion circles, Menkes is known for her sharp critiques, both positive and negative. In the 1990s, she caused a stir by declaring thatChanel's iconic quilted handbag was "over". In response, Chanel took out a full-page advertisement in theInternational Herald Tribune refuting her claim.[13] In 2008, she chastisedMarc Jacobs for having delayed his runway show by two hours. She is also known for having fosteredNicolas Ghesquière as a fledgling designer, and for predicting the departure ofMartin Margiela from Maison Martin Margiela.
In 2013, she held an auction atChristie's online, selling over 80 pieces from her personal wardrobe.[16]
