“The Knockoff” is “The Devil Wears Prada” for the Millennial Set
Think of the new novel, The Knockoff, as The Devil Wears Prada in reverse. In this scenario about an assistant and her boss at a magazine, the tables are turned. Imogen is the 40-ish editor in chief of Glossy who comes back to the magazine after a sick leave only to find that Eve, her former assistant, is in charge of the magazine’s website and campaigning to turn the whole thing into an app. Imogen must very reluctantly learn to navigate the new world of technology and move with the times. Coauthors Lucy Sykes and Jo Piazza are media world veterans who give the novel the kinds of details (cameos from makeup artist Pat McGrath and the late designer Oscar De La Renta) that make it feel both real and current. Yahoo Style recently spoke to both of women about their new book.
Yahoo Style: There must be some real-life stories behind this book.
Jo Piazza: There is an interesting story there! I’ve known Lucy for a long time and essentially she feels like she got aged out of magazines. Not in an age way, but that all these up and coming young women knew everything about technology and could school her and she felt like a dinosaur. She didn’t know how to use Instagram or Twitter, she could barely use her laptop. I would send her emails of the manuscript. She would print them out, write on them in pen, and have her nanny deliver them to my doorman. She was feeling like she was left behind and it’s happening to women in every industry. She wanted to write a story about ageism, how to reinvent yourself in your 40s, how to change yourself.
YS: So she’s Imogen?
JP: Lucy said I have an idea for a book and it was called Tech Bitch–that’s still the title in the UK–and I said I want to write this with you. She comes from the perspective of Imogen, the main character. I’m not nearly as big a bitch as Eve, though.
YS: The timing seems particularly good with Lucky and WWD and other publications going digital.
JP: This has been gearing up for ten years. We’ve been talking about it happening and now it did. We’re going to see more and more women like Imogen who become obsolete and forced to adapt.
YS: I imagine there will be many comparisons to The Devil Wears Prada. How do you feel about that?
JP: We’re totally cool with it. The Knockoff is loosely based on All About Eve, one of our favorite movies, we watched it together 45 times. Now the power is in the hands of people with technology. The assistant in Prada would have stormed out of the office and Periscoped all the terrible things Miranda was doing.
Lucy Sykes: Hello!
YS: Jo was saying the book has some resonance in your own work history.
LS: The story of The Knockoff is every woman’s story of a certain age. Yes, it’s a fashion novel and it’s inspired by a lot of real life and my friends and yes, myself.
YS: So you’ve relented and figured out social media.
LS: I’ve fund social media has been incredibly rewarding. Instagram is my diary. I know what I’ve done and where I’ve been and so do 5000 other people. And then there are incredible people you respect, like illustrators and actors, responding to you.
YS: How will younger women react to being the villain?
LS: My babysitter was obsessed with it. My great aunt who is 80 read it in a sitting, too.
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Lilly Pulitzer’s “Pink Palace” Headquarters is Perfect… Except For the Fat-Shaming Thing
Studio Visit With Pam Skaist-Levy and Gela Nash-Taylor, the Designers That Invented Athleisure
