Bill Cunningham Strikes a Pose for The New Yorker

Bill Cunningham has been working in fashion since the late 1950s, when he started in the hat trade as a milliner. He then became a writer, a photographer, and later, the most famous trend-spotter in New York, identifying and capturing fashion movements for his “On the Street” column that runs every Sunday. Cunningham’s portraits have become a yearbook for the tony Upper East Side, and when he calls a trend, most fashionistas treat it as gospel. The New Yorker’s Lauren Collins explores how Cunningham became the ultimate man on the street.