Aliza Licht, a personal branding expert, bestselling author, podcaster and founder of Leave Your Mark, is trying her hand at fiction. She has written 60,927 words of a novel, and is leaking it on Substack before it’s finished. The book, titled “Off the Record: Secrets of a 90s Fashion Insider in New York,” is not a memoir, but is inspired by real stories, real behavior and what actually happened behind the scenes in the fashion industry in the late ’90s. In the early part of the millennium, Licht was behind DKNY PR girl, which redefined brand storytelling in the digital age.
Licht has decided to release the manuscript every Wednesday. When she’s reached the end of what’s been written, she will take her readers’ reactions to help shape what’s next.
“Off the Record, Secrets of a 90s Fashion Insider in New York”
Courtesy photo
“As you know, I’ve published two books traditionally, ‘Leave Your Mark’ with Grand Central Publishing and ‘On Brand’ with Union Square & Co., and each one was close to a two-year process,” Licht told WWD. “It’s meticulous and incredibly slow, and this time I felt strongly that the appetite for ’90s fashion is happening right now. I started writing in November 2024, way before ‘Love Story’ and the next wave of ‘Devil Wears Prada’ buzz. I didn’t want to wait for the traditional cycle to catch up to the moment I was longing for. I started writing this for myself, out of pure nostalgia, trying to capture what it really felt like to come up in that world.”
Licht said there’s no direct Donna Karan storyline or connection at all, but her time in fashion magazines and PR informed the backdrop. “Anyone who lived through it will recognize the tone, the dynamics, and the unspoken rules,” she said.
She said the reaction so far has been really encouraging. It’s only been a day and a half, and she already has 281 subscribers with 29 paid, generating about $1,466 in revenue. It’s ranked number five rising in fashion and beauty.
In the story, Licht’s protagonist, Jessica Altman, a successful fashion PR executive, learns her longtime nemesis is about to cement her legacy with a glossy revisionist memoir, and Altman has had enough. She launches Off the Record, an anonymous blog to dismantle the image of one of fashion’s most untouchable public figures and expose the truth behind her rise.
Licht said it’s already shaping up to be an interesting experiment in storytelling, audience building and publishing outside the traditional gatekeeper model. “I’m really trying to explore the space between story, community and how audiences engage with books now,” Licht said.
