The perfect gift for fashionistas of all ages
Michael Roberts' charming text and hand-drawn illustrations tell the story of GingerNutz, an orangutan born in the wilds of Borneo who dreams of making it big in the fashion world. At ten years old, GingerNutz finds a copy of Vogue magazine in a bottle washed up on the beach. Entranced by the glamorous images, the precocious primate sets her mind to becoming a high fashion model. She grooms her coat, creates makeup from exotic flowers and styles her ginger-hued hair. She encounters other like-minded jungle creatures—the creative orangutan duo Disco and Grubbana, a haughty and chic silverback gorilla—who together create their own hyper-stylish coterie, and GingerNutz fulfills her dream of sashaying down the runway.
The story of GingerNutz is inspired by legendary model and fashion editor Grace Coddington, the longtime creative director of American Vogue and a close friend of the author. Inspired by Coddington's best-selling 2012 memoir, Roberts translates Coddington's discovery of fashion on the isolated Welsh island of Anglesey into a whimsical story about a wild Bornean fashion community. Gorgeously produced in a clothbound edition with a tip-on cover, containing 65 colorful hand-drawn illustrations printed on the highest quality paper, GingerNutz: The Jungle Memoir of a Model Orangutan is a fashionable and fun book that makes the perfect gift for fashionistas of all ages.
British fashion journalist Michael Roberts (born 1947) is fashion royalty: former fashion director for Vanity Fair and the New Yorker, he has brought his impeccable style to his work as a writer, illustrator, art director and photographer. He has published several books of his illustrations including The Snippy World of Michael Roberts and The Jungle ABC.
Industry Reviews
A portrait of white supremacy from the outside looking in. -- Miss Rosen * Feature Shoot *
Friends since the early Seventies and confidantes ever since, Grace Coddington and Michael Roberts have pipelined their creativity into a new book...Roberts illustrated and penned the vibrantly colorful story of Coddington's life from the point of view of a baby orangutan. -- Rosemary Feitelberg * WWD *
A new book depicts Grace Coddington as a stylish orangutan named GingerNutz..The story of GingerNutz, the most stylish orangutan in the jungle, begins with a copy of Vogue magazine washing ashore in a glass bottle. -- Emilia Petrarca * New York Magazine, The Cut *
Coddington's new book seems to have been shaped in large part by her own journey from normal schoolgirl to elite supermodel. GingerNutz - written and illustrated by Michael Roberts, with a foreword by Grace - is the jungle memoir of its titular orangutan, who finds a copy of Vogue rolled up in a glass bottle and pursues a career as a glamorous supermodel... wasn't sure who or what she was, but when a photographer friend of mine raved about her not long ago, I thought, 'Wow, she sounds a lot like me!' We both have frizzy, orangey hair - although mine does not sprout everywhere, thank goodness, because who could afford those hairdressing bills? We both love beautiful clothes, nature, and the sea. -- Hannah Ongley * i-D *
A winsome charming tribute to Coddington's own memoir. -- Lynn Yaeger * Vogue *