Fashion Hits the Books: 11 Reads for the Informed Fashion Follower
Ermenegildo Zegna
Ermenegildo Zegna: An Enduring Passion for Fabrics, Innovation, Quality, and Style Contributions from James Hillman, Mariano Maugeri, D.T. Max, Suzy Menkes and Maria Luisa Frisa
List price: $100, $67.53 at Amazon
Publisher’s Summary: The extraordinary story of the first century of a great Italian fashion house that has always been a paragon of style. Gorgeously designed, handsomely bound, and abundantly illustrated, this is the first book ever to present the 100-year history of a leader in men’s luxury clothing and one of the oldest business families in Italy. As a family business, Ermenegildo Zegna goes back to the second half of the nineteenth century. Angelo Zegna a watchmaker by trade, decided to open a wool mill. Of his ten children it was the last, Ermenegildo, born in 1892, who took over what was to become one of the best-known and most dynamic family businesses in Italy. The extensive historical reconstruction of the early decades of Ermenegildo Zegna S.p.A. is followed by a detailed description of the fabrics, techniques, and custom tailoring of its most exclusive garments. Numerous images illustrate the lands providing the raw materials: Australia, Peru, and Mongolia. Just as spectacular is the photo album of the celebrities and spokespersons wearing Zegna, the international advertising campaigns, the list of awards won, and Zegna-sponsored sports and cultural affairs (red carpets, openings, car races, environmental and sports events).
Manolo Blahnik
Manolo’s New Shoes by Manolo Blahnik with contributions by Suzy Menkes, Grace Coddington and Cononero Milena
List price: $50, $31.50 on Amazon
Publisher’s Summary: Manolo BlahnÃk’s name is synonymous with beautifully crafted shoes that radiate originality, style, and exuberance. For four decades his unique vision has held the fashion world spellbound, and his creations have become perpetual objects of desire. His design process always begins with colorful sketches as finely executed as the shoes themselves, and which have become equally sought-after by his fans.
Here, more than 130 of BlahnÃk’s witty, seductive drawings are collected into one inspiring volume. Manolo’s New Shoes is organized thematically to express his current inspirations and passions—Africa, architecture, botany, Russia, and urban life. An introduction by Manolo BlahnÃk himself is accompanied by contributions from some of the most prominent names in fashion: Suzy Menkes, head fashion reporter and editor for the International Herald Tribune; Grace Coddington, creative director at Vogue; three-time Oscar-award winning costume designer Milena Canonero; Amy Fine Collins, a special correspondent to Vanity Fair; and Carlos GarcÃa Calvo, who writes for El Mundo.
John Galliano’s Dior
Backstage Dior Collector’s Edition by Roxanne Lowit with a foreword by John Galliano and contributions from Valerie Steele
List price: $2500, $1575 at Amazon
Publisher’s Summary: This historical homage from top photographer Roxanne Lowit traces John Galliano’s glittering realm at Dior. Through her eyes we marvel at the tantalizing backstage story. This is without doubt the ultimate insider chronicle of couture. Safe in its special archival case, this limited edition Collector’s Editions is already part of fashion legend. It comes with a limited hand-signed and numbered large photoprint: kiss 3, Paris 1998 Limited edition of 25 copies, Format: 19 1/8 x 13 7/8 in.
If the collector’s edition is still a bit out of reach the original hardcover, released last year, has a list price of $125 and is available at Amazon for a more affordable $83.15.
The Historians
Valerie Steele
The director and chief curator of FIT’s Museum in New York, Valerie Steele is one of fashion’s most established historians.
The Berg Companion to Fashion by Valerie Steele
List price: $49.95, $35.96 at Amazon
Publisher’s Summary: Derided by some as frivolous, even dangerous, and celebrated by others as art, fashion is anything but a neutral topic. Behind the hype and the glamour is an industry that affects all cultures of the world. A potent force in the global economy, fashion is also highly influential in everyday lives, even among those who may feel impervious. This handy volume is a one-stop reference for anyone interested in fashion — its meaning, history and theory. From avedon to codpiece, dandyism to the G-string, Japanese fashion to subcultures, trickle down to Zoot suit, The Berg Companion to Fashion provides a comprehensive overview of this most fascinating of topics and will serve as the benchmark guide to the subject for many years to come. This volume contains over 300 in-depth entries covering designers, articles of clothing, key concepts and styles.
James Sherwood and Tom Ford
Bespoke: The Men’s Style of Savile Row by James Sherwood with a foreword by Tom Ford
List price: $60, $40.95 at Amazon
Publisher’s Summary: A fully illustrated history of bespoke tailoring—the custom-made men’s clothing that made a small London street a globally known brand to generations of sartorial connoisseurs. Savile Row is renowned for fine custom tailoring—”bespoke” in its own parlance. The term originated when cloth for a suit was said to “be spoken for” by customers who have included generations of stylish and tasteful men, from rakes to royals. Bespoke is the epitome of male sartorial style, exquisite quality, and craftsmanship, and has been worn by a veritable who’s who of famous and important men: Winston Churchill, Cary Grant, Russell Crowe, David Beckham, and countless world leaders. Bespoke charts Savile Row’s contribution to fashion and culture chronologically and features twenty-six profiles of today’s master tailors from historic firms such as Gieves & Hawkes and Henry Poole to more recent ones like Nutters and Ozwald Boateng, who was the first Savile Row tailor to stage a catwalk show in Paris.
