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Book review: The Autobiography of a Snake

Andy Warhol, fashion and snakes.

Once upon a time, a leather goods company commissioned an artist to create its promotional images.

Its business was in tanning reptile leathers for use in the fashion industry. The artist? Andy Warhol.

Warhol created Noa the Boa for the leather goods company, a snake who dressed celebrities from Jacqueline Kennedy to Diana Vreeland.

His images were to be turned into a promotional video, however the film never made it into production. Instead, over 50 years later, the works have been turned into a picture book.

It’s a story that’s open to interpretation, with Noa either a fashion-loving snake with lots of celebrity friends, or a social climber, changing form to mingle with the upper class.

Slippery stuff.

This review was originally published in Fashion Journal 163. You can read it here.

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