So hip it hurts
Want to know what'll be hot next season? Just ask Mim Warner, the best coolhunter in the business. But Mim's latest trend predictions ("slut" T-shirts for eight-year-old girls? Samurai swords for ten-year-old boys?) are troubling, to say the least.
Fearing that Mim's about to be out like last season's Capri pants and worried about what she'll say next, her staff implements a Mim surveillance mission. With clients fleeing in droves and everyone around her in a tizzy, Meghan Resnick, Mim's protegee, seems to be the only one in control of all her faculties. But watching Mim lose her cool is loosening a few of Meghan's own screws. Suddenly she's not sure of anything-her career, her future, her ex-boyfriend, even her judgment. When Mim-watching leads to the scene of a murder-with Mim leaning over the dead body-Meghan can't help but wonder if her boss will be forecasting her next trend from Sing Sing.
An affectionate satire about the ins and outs of coolhunting, Mim Warner's Lost Her Coolmines the mysterious forces that make a trend come together-and a woman fall apart.

"From the author of Fashionistas — a very funny novel and soon-to-be film about the fashion magazine industry — comes this mildly entertaining novel about young Manhattanites in the cool industry. For Mim Warner and her staff at Pravda, 'coolhunting' is a way of life: they predict and track teenage trends to help fashion companies develop and market their products. Pravda founder Mim is famed for her keen trend-sniffing ability, but when she begins making outrageous cool forecasts ('slut' T-shirts for third-graders; snuff pipes as accessories), her credibility and mental sanity are called into question. Meghan — an affable 20-something junior coolhunter, narrates, as she investigates Mim while dealing with her own widowed father, dramatic roommate, and sometime-boyfriend, writer Ian. Of these subplots, Meghan's relationship with Ian is the most detailed and layered: Ian's first book is a gritty urban crime story with — oops! — a Meghanesque villain ('he gave the symbol for the decline of Western civilization my face,' she laments). Ian aside, however, Messina's novel struggles to find juicy subjects: the much-discussed subject of cool, for example, wears thin. A love story and a bizarre mystery develop during the second half of the book, though, and Messina's bouncy chick-lit style will keep the reader curious throughout, if not deeply concerned." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Megan's boss, Mim, has lost her cool. As the president of the cool-hunting (trend forecasting) company Pravda, Mim has just gone on public television and announced that T-shirts with Slut emblazoned across the chest is the next trend in the tween girls' market. Needless to say, her clients aren't happy and neither is the CEO of Pravda. So Megan makes it her mission to discover why Mim lost her cool. And she spends her free time watching Mim, which is a welcome distraction in helping her get over her ex-boyfriend, Ian, who was writing a book about an evil cool-hunter. Hmm, But when Megan discovers that Mim has agreed to help Ian publicize his book and that her strategy lands them at the scene of a crime, Megan finally realizes that Mim really "has lost her cool.

From the acclaimed author of "Fashionistas" comes this new work that mixes social satire, mystery, and a subtle love as it follows a young fashion company assistant who tries to get to the bottom of why her boss has lost her cool. Original.

When Megan discovers that her boss, Mim, has agreed to help Ian publicize his book and that her strategy lands them at the scene of a crime, Megan finally realizes that Mim really "has lost her cool."

Lynn Messina lives in New York City and works in magazines.