Simon Doonan (born 1952) is the Creative Ambassador-at-Large of the New York City-based clothing store, Barneys.
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Doonan hails from the English town of Reading. He got his first retail job as a summer job working at Heelas, a department store in Reading that belonged to the John Lewis Partnership. Returning to the same store after university, he first encountered the art of window dressing. Leaving Reading for London, he then worked dressing the windows at Aquascutum before moving to Nutters of Savile Row.[1]
Invited to dress his windows by the proprietor of Maxfield, a department store in Los Angeles, Doonan moved to the United States in 1978. He joined the Barneys staff in 1986 as a window dresser.[2][1]
In addition to his work at Barneys, he writes a column on style for Slate. Previously, he wrote a similar column for The New York Observer.
In his latest book, Eccentric Glamour, he has decried porno chic in Western society in general. Interviewed for an article for the New York Daily News, he said, "There are two horribly worrying trends! Celebrities are becoming so gun-shy that there is no diversity, no sense of fun on the red carpet. There's no experimentation - which is incredibly important to fashion." On "porno chic," (the second trend) he said, "Imagine if you said to people 20 years ago that in 2008 a significant number of women would be going around dressing like porno stars with fake hooters and butt cracks showing? No one would have believed you." [2]
On VH1's I Love the New Millennium Doonan said that his favorite movie was Brokeback Mountain.
Simon has made appearances on VH1's I Love the series, offering social commentary on each decade.[3]
Simon Doonan has also been a guest star on America's Next Top Model season 2, 3 and 5 to teach the models about style.
He was recently married to his partner of 14 years, designer Jonathan Adler, in California in September 2008.
Doonan's memoir Beautiful People has been adapted for TV and began airing on BBC Two in the UK on 2 October 2008 as Beautiful People.
Simon reads "Fear of Squat" from his memoir for The Moth podcast.
Doonan appeared as a judge on Iron Chef America for Battle Sparkling Wine.[4]
We could also notice him in fifth season (third episode - "The Jewel of Denial") of Gossip girl, where he escorted Blair Waldorf on Jenny Packham show.