Amazon.co.uk Review
James Abbe, a 1920s fashion photographer, and Zoran, the designer whose simple, monochromatic clothes were extremely popular in the 1970s, anchor the 500 entries in this massive encyclopedia of fashion. Each designer, photographer, model or icon gets a page with a large photo and informative but short caption. This has the wonderful effect of weighting each entry equally, thereby devoting the same amount of space to Charles Revson, creator of the Revlon cosmetics empire and relative makeup newcomer François Nars, pioneering clothing designer Mariano Fortuny and contemporary favourite Tom Ford.
Clearly, a good set of eyes edited this book. It's a tall order to choose just one image to define the many facets of a designer, model, or photographer. The choices made here are excellent and often surprising. The indomitable Coco Chanel demonstrates the ease of movement her designs afforded women by briskly swinging her arm out to one side, while Kate Moss is shown at the height of her waifdom, likely the mode in which she will best be remembered. Model Linda Evangelista is pictured with curly locks of hair. It's obvious, too, that the editors employed the haphazard juxtaposition created by the alphabetical organization. Facing entries, no matter how seemingly incongruous, are united by a visual theme to spectacular effect. The ovals made by the either screaming or yawning mouths of Kurt Cobain and his infant daughter are mirrored in a 1937 Jean Cocteau illustration of an Elsa Schiaparelli design. A model in a 1930s outfit by John-Frederics faces a portrait of post-punk design queen Betsey Johnson, whose floral outfit echoes the flowery silhouette behind the model. A troika of Robert Lee Morris bracelets matches the arcs of a bombed-out London building in a 1941 Cecil Beaton photo of a Digby Morton design. The vibrant prints of Emilio Pucci and Lilly Pulitzer fall together naturally. The reams of fabulous images and the inventive design alone make The Fashion Book a treat at any cost, but the low price-to-size ratio (like its cousins The Art Book and The Photography Book) makes it a real bargain.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Product Description
Following the format of "The Art Book", this volume looks at the fashion world and the people who created and inspired it. The book contains an A-Z guide to the 500 most important names in fashion since the 1860s, including clothes and accessory designers, photographers, models and iconic individuals who instigated or symbolize a fashion movement. Designers represented include Paul Poiret, Christian Dior, Balenciaga, John Galliano, Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain, Alexander McQueen, Stella McCartney, Jeanne Lanvin and Issey Miyake. The book provides a survey of fashion photography with work from Cecil Beaton, David Bailey, Guy Bourdin, Irving Penn, Steven Meisel, Nan Goldin, Eve Arnold, Craig McDean, Richard Avedon and Helmut Newton. The book is arranged alphabetically, and a cross-reference system and glossary explain collaborations and techniques used in fashion.
by Caroline Tatham
by Phaidon
by Robin Derrick
by Terry Jones
by Cally Blackman
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