In the gardens of the Palace of Versailles there stands a statue of Jean-Baptiste de La Quintinie, the creator and director of the royal fruit and vegetable gardens; in 1979, inspired by the waistcoat of this great man, with its orderly line of buttons down the front, Versailles-born fashion designer agnes b. re-imagined the garment in cotton fleece, and the iconic snap cardigan was born. A soft and easy-going garment, the snap cardigan immediately took off, becoming a soaring success and conquering the world. Everyone - women, men, and children - can wear this garment and make it their own, as the images in this book illustrate. Featuring a witty, whimsical text by award-winning French journalist Sophie Fontanel, this Memoire volume celebrates 40 years of the snap cardigan, which has become the emblematic piece of the agnes b. fashion house. Since its creation, the snap cardigan has never stopped evolving - long and short, in cotton fleece or in leather, as a long dress, with a high collar or a simple round neckline, in a wide range of colours, polka dots, or stripes. With its minimalist look and straight cut, it complements every style and personality. Now established in the very select club of universal wardrobe essentials, the snap cardigan has never faded into invisibility - wherever it is seen, it is always noticed. And it says something about those who wear it: that in the end, we all have a soft side, that we all need a little tenderness. AUTHOR: French journalist and writer Sophie Fontanel was awarded the Prix du Premier Roman in 1995 for her first novel, Sacre Paul, and she has since written more than a dozen books, including L'Envie, which was featured in The New York Times Best Sellers of the Year list in 2013. She began her career as a journalist for various daily newspapers and was a host for the TV show Nulle part ailleurs before creating the iconic character of Fonelle at Elle magazine. In 2017 she graced the cover of Grazia, becoming the first woman with gray hair to appear on the cover of a French fashion magazine. Currently a fashion critic for L'Obs magazine, she has more than 180,000 followers on Instagram. 50 illustrations
