FABRIC OF DREAMS Designing My Own Success

Reveals the man behind the successful line of clothing available in stores across the country and the life philosophy that led him from Elizabeth, New Jersey, to the couture houses of Paris

YA-An inspiring, easy-to-read autobiography of an African-American fashion designer. Starting early in life, constantly designing clothes, even using sheets as fabric, Hankins eventually went to the Pratt School of Design. Later, he contacted the media to assist him in obtaining money to go to the Ecole in Paris. His actions resulted in a plane ticket and a two-part story on the Today show. Once in Paris, he was admitted to the school, and got tuition money and an apprenticeship with Yves Saint Laurent. The remarkable story continued with the young man becoming the first in-house designer at J. C. Penney, apprenticing with Adrienne Vittadini, getting a spot on the Home Shopping Network, and being listed as one of the top people to monitor by Newsweek. Hankins worked harder whenever obstacles came in his way-designing not only his clothes, but also his destiny-to become the owner of a multimillion-dollar business while still in his 20s.
Bobbi Thomas Skaggs, Robinson Secondary, Fairfax County, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

An exceedingly detailed and discursive memoir by the young African-American fashion designer responsible for a very successful line of inexpensive women's wear who in only a few years went from a job in the quality assurance department at J.C. Penny to heading (at the ripe age of 28) his own clothing company, with annual revenues in excess of $40 million. Hankins, one of seven children raised by an indomitable single mother in Elizabeth, N.J., demonstrated a talent for fashion at an early age--he made a dress for his mother to wear to a wedding when he was seven. His memoir (coauthored by People magazine correspondent Markley) stresses the importance of the teachers in grade and high school who encouraged him, as well as that of the many figures in the fashion industry who helped him along. The story is a good one, and Hankins hawks his clothes on the Home Shopping Network, but it's hard to imagine the network's viewers feeling they need quite so thorough a record of events in the life of someone who is, after all, still rather young and whose name is not yet on everyone's lips. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A modern Horatio Alger, Hankins tells his story of success. He was the youngest of seven children of a single mother who worked three jobs, kept them a close-knit family, and moved when neighborhoods deteriorated. His book is a tribute to her as much as to his own success. We learn of the author's interest in fashion, which began in childhood, and throughout his school years his talent and love of fashion grew. From that beginning, Hankins describes his fashion training, his rise through couture houses in Paris, and, by age 30, his ownership of a company with $40 million in merchandise sales. Named by Newsweek as one of the "100 Americans for the next century," Hankins is an African American who achieved success in an industry where young people and minorities are so often held back--because they haven't paid their dues according to the corporate code. Mary Whaley

African American Hankins has made it in the world of couture?at age 28. Here is his story.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.