Published May 19th 2015
Review Copy - 4*
An outrageously stylish, wickedly funny novel of fashion in the digital age, The Knockoff is the story of Imogen Tate, editor in chief of Glossy magazine, who finds her twentysomething former assistant Eve Morton plotting to knock Imogen off her pedestal, take over her job, and reduce the magazine, famous for its lavish 768-page September issue, into an app.
When Imogen returns to work at Glossy after six months away, she can barely recognize her own magazine. Eve, fresh out of Harvard Business School, has fired “the gra hairs,” put the managing editor in a supply closet, stopped using the landlines, and hired a bevy of manicured and questionably attired underlings who text and tweet their way through meetings. Imogen, darling of the fashion world, may have Alexander Wang and Diane von Furstenberg on speed dial, but she can’t tell Facebook from Foursquare and once got her iPhone stuck in Japanese for two days. Under Eve’s reign, Glossy is rapidly becoming a digital sweatshop—hackathons rage all night, girls who sleep get fired, and “fun” means mandatory, company-wide coordinated dances to Beyoncé. Wildly out of her depth, Imogen faces a choice—pack up her Smythson notebooks and quit, or channel her inner geek and take on Eve to save both the magazine and her career. A glittering, uproarious, sharply drawn story filled with thinly veiled fashion personalities, The Knockoff is an insider’s look at the ever-changing world of fashion and a fabulous romp for our Internet-addicted age
Review Copy - 4*
An outrageously stylish, wickedly funny novel of fashion in the digital age, The Knockoff is the story of Imogen Tate, editor in chief of Glossy magazine, who finds her twentysomething former assistant Eve Morton plotting to knock Imogen off her pedestal, take over her job, and reduce the magazine, famous for its lavish 768-page September issue, into an app.
When Imogen returns to work at Glossy after six months away, she can barely recognize her own magazine. Eve, fresh out of Harvard Business School, has fired “the gra hairs,” put the managing editor in a supply closet, stopped using the landlines, and hired a bevy of manicured and questionably attired underlings who text and tweet their way through meetings. Imogen, darling of the fashion world, may have Alexander Wang and Diane von Furstenberg on speed dial, but she can’t tell Facebook from Foursquare and once got her iPhone stuck in Japanese for two days. Under Eve’s reign, Glossy is rapidly becoming a digital sweatshop—hackathons rage all night, girls who sleep get fired, and “fun” means mandatory, company-wide coordinated dances to Beyoncé. Wildly out of her depth, Imogen faces a choice—pack up her Smythson notebooks and quit, or channel her inner geek and take on Eve to save both the magazine and her career. A glittering, uproarious, sharply drawn story filled with thinly veiled fashion personalities, The Knockoff is an insider’s look at the ever-changing world of fashion and a fabulous romp for our Internet-addicted age
It's Imogens first day back at work after six months away, she's excited to return to the normailty she had before the cancer, stepping back into her office she spots the person she wasnt expecting to see, her former assistant Eve - now, Eve was a brilliant assistant, so that really isn't the issue, its more the fact she is sat in Imogens seat and in her office with her quotes all over and a naff plastic bracelet ready for Imogen.
In the six months she has been gone, Glossy is changing from a beautiful print publication into an app, an app basically run by Eve and leaving Imogen feeling overwhelmed. It really is a case of shape up or ship out, because things are moving fast, and for someone who prints out there emails - this could prove interesting. Deciding she isn't going down without a fight, Imogen tackles Eve at her own game,embracing the world of social media she sets about making some firsts for Glossy and trying to bring some of the feel of the magazine to the app, which is proving hard when Eve has everyone pushing out content all hours of the day.
Eve is nasty, she is an office bully and doesnt care who she hurts as she climbs the ladder to fame, before she left for school she was kind and hardworking, now she has a degree she thinks she has the answers to everything. Imogen has got her fame by been nice, and having to deal with someone like Eve on a daily basis takes a lot of patience and im not sure i would have it.
Tech bitch is a fast paced novel that throws you into the sometimes not so glamorous world of publication, that leaves you worn out after reading. Its a wonderful read and i was rooting for Imogen all the way, and with the help of some wonderful characters i felt she was getting the support she needed, Eve - well lets say i wanted her to get everything that was coming for her, karma and all that.
The narrative like i mentioned is fast paced to fit into the world its describing, the descrption is second to non and you almost feel like you are at the fashion shows, taking the instagram pics, that you are sat in the office craving sleep like the workers, for me that is the sign of a good read. At the heart of it, its looking at the fashion and magazine industry changing and leaving people behind, but its the brave ones who stay along for the ride and embrace it - turning it into something wonderful.
Go Imogen
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