Grace Coddington To Sign 'Grace' In Bridgehampton

If not for “The September Issue”—a 2009 documentary about the behind-the-scenes drama at Vogue during the production of its September 2007 issue—the magazine’s creative director, Grace Coddington, may have remained one of fashion’s best-kept secrets.

But it is her frankness, passion, bold personality and taste—as well as the way she dares talk back to her formidable boss, editor-in-chief Anna Wintour—that endeared the signature redhead to a mass audience three years ago and has pushed the publicly averse, reluctant celebrity into the style spotlight.

And on Saturday, December 15, Ms. Coddington, who splits her time between Wainscott and Manhattan, will swing by The Antique Shop at 2466 Main Street in Bridgehampton to sign copies of her latest book, “Grace,” a memoir.

“Grace has been a customer in this shop for 30 years and we’re all good friends,” store co-owner Brian Ramaekers explained during a telephone interview last week. “We have dinner together once in a while. We’ve always been very close. There was a book before this. We volunteered, ‘Let us do a book signing for you,’ four or five years ago, and we did. When she was telling us about the concept of this book, I said, ‘Oh, let’s do another book signing,’ so here we are. She said yes.”

Working first as a model, Ms. Coddington recounts the early days of her career in her memoir, posing for photographers David Bailey and Norman Parkinson before stepping behind the camera in the late 1960s to become fashion editor at British Vogue. There, she created her trademark “fashion travelogues,” or stories about the shoots that took her to locations such as Soviet Russia and Buckingham Palace to meet Prince Charles.

In 1988, after briefly working for Calvin Klein, to whom she credits her understanding of American fashion, she joined American Vogue and featured the industry’s first personalities—Christy Turlington, Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell, to name a few—with photo spreads.

Outside of her professional life, Ms. Coddington delves into her private world by writing about the car accident that almost derailed her from modeling; her two marriages; the untimely death of her sister, Rosemary; her friendship with Harper’s Bazaar editor-in-chief Liz Tilberis; and her 30-year romance with French hair stylist Didier Malige, not to mention her, at times tumultuous, relationship with Ms. Wintour.

Underscored by Ms. Coddington’s pen-and-ink illustrations, “Grace” introduces readers to the legend herself.

“This is getting a lot of buzz. A lot of people are talking about it,” Mr. Ramaekers said. “During the last book signing, we sold 100 books. This one, we ordered 200.”

He hopes it will be enough, he said.

The Antique Shop at 2466 Main Street will host a book signing with Grace Coddington for her new memoir, “Grace,” on Saturday, December 15, from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Bridgehampton store. Copies of the book will be available for purchase. For more information, call 537-3838.