Veruschka: From Vera to Veruschka
“Veruschka remains a phenomenon in the world of fashion, and this book provides the reader with proof. A fairy tale story and a beautiful visual chronicle of an era. Who could ask for more?”
Long before the term supermodel was ever conceived, there was the tall, long haired, long limbed Amazonian wonder woman named Veruschka. With the help of Diana Vreeland, Vogue, Richard Avedon, and Giorgio di Sant' Angelo, this woman became the epitome of the fantasy and over the top glamour that was emblematic of an era.
In Veruschka: From Vera to Veruschka, we get an inside view of the man who discovered her and whose photographs of her led to a seismic moment in the world of fashion. It was he who found Veruschka after her first failed attempt to enter the world of fashion in New York City. When the likes of Eileen Ford turned her away and she returned to Italy, it was Johnny Moncada who took a shine to this somewhat otherworldly beauty. In the process he paved her way to legendary status as a model and as an integral part of fashion history.
The never before seen photos that were unearthed by the photographer and his daughter serve as both a diary documenting Italian fashion of the times as well as the evolution of this great beauty. The monograph is superbly simple in presentation, and the text is laser focused on the subject. For a change, the contributors are well qualified to speak on the subject, and they do so in the most reverential and complimentary tones.
What is somewhat but not totally mystifying is that the writer of the book wants his slice of credit for discovering this great beauty—which he did, in a certain way. Simply said, Johnny Moncada paved the way for her stardom on the international stage of fashion, but it was the almost totally neglected names who catapulted Veruschka to fame. It is the aforementioned team in New York who saw a star and proceeded accordingly.
As is the wont of so many in the fashion world, we occasionally rewrite our own histories or possibly embroider them a bit. No matter. The end result here is that Veruschka remains a phenomenon in the world of fashion, and this book provides the reader with proof. A fairy tale story and a beautiful visual chronicle of an era. Who could ask for more?