THE GRACE CODDINGTON EFFECT

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN T WO LEGENDS – THE ICONIC 179 -YEAR - OLD TIFFANY & CO. BRAND AND CREATIVE DIRECTOR GRACE CODDINGTON – JOIN FORCES?

WORDS: G race Coddington first burst into the fashion industry as a wet-behind-the-ears model way back when the baby boom was at its peak, Elvis Presley was catching on like wildfire, Fidel Castro came into power, fashion buzzwords were 'shape' and 'sheen' and Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel became an adjective in her own time.

Fast forward almost 60 years and Grace Coddington is still one of the most significant forces in fashion. She has, in fact, spent 50 years shaping, moulding and adding her own special sheen to it during her 28-year stint as creative director of American Vogue, along with her 21 years at Vogue UK. And just because she turned 75 a few months ago, don’t expect this trailblazing fireball of energy and enthusiasm to decamp any time soon. On the contrary, with her transition to a newlycreated role at Vogue – creative-director-at-large – she is now permitted to work on external projects.

The first of these is her collaboration with Tiffany & Co. in her role as ‘fashion visionary’ for their Fall 2016 Legendary Style campaign – Grace’s first-ever brand advertising campaign. Starring Christy Turlington Burns, Lupita Nyong’o, Elle Fanning and Natalie Westling, Grace manages to beautifully blur the lines between advertising and editorial in the head-turning campaign.

Speaking exclusively to Emirates Woman, the fashion doyenne tells us why she is in ‘awe’ of the women she’s just worked with, who she’d like to play her in a film on her life and why Didier Malige, her partner of 30 years, better be reading this… LYNDSEY STEVEN