The Fashion Book

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.

The book is in an unusual format, one page each for 500 icons, models, fashion and accessory designers, make-up artists, hairdressers, retailers, illustrators, and photographers done in alphabetical order. Each page typically has one person (a few have two), with one image, and one brief textual summary of the person's work.

It is an amazing challenge to capture all of a person's work in one image, and some great successes occurred. Some of my favorites were Madonna, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Harry Winston, Naomi Campbell, Coco Chanel, Noel Coward, and Rudi Gernreich.

On the other hand, some of the old black and white images did not reproduce well. Some of the worst examples are Antoine (a hairdresser with a photograph of Josephine Baker's hair), Maria-Louise Bruyere (a designer), Christian Dior, Max Factor, Barbara Goalen (a model), Gucci, and Hermes. In many cases, these choices appear to have been influenced by the desire to have the facing pages converse with one another. So you will see echoes of design, line, and style in these ways. I appreciate that effort (which is often quite eloquent), but it should not slight the individual whose work is being portrayed. I graded the book down one star for the compromises made here not working well in too many cases.

After you have finished reading and enjoying this book many times, I suggest that you think about where else it would be helpful to have a similar work in your life. Perhaps a scrapbook containing photographs of all of your friends who have something in common would be a possibility. You could write a brief text about each. This could greatly add to your pleasure in remembering these friends, and perhaps expand their interaction when they see how you have put them together.

Keep to the essence, but be bold!


FASHION BIBLE!   November 17, 2003
12 out of 15 found this review helpful

This book is a fantastic coffee table book. It's stylish contempary layout is very simple and informative. The book is laced with excellent enspiring pictures and photos by famous photographers, designers, makeup artists etc! JUST FANTASTIC, ITS A MUST HAVE !


If you love fashion, you'll love this !!   November 5, 2000
24 out of 29 found this review helpful

If you're as mad as i am about fashion, then you'll love this book! This book covers everything from the true British designers to world renowned Fashion Gods!! The photos are very classy, and the layout is very stylish !! In alphabetical order, the book is very easy to use. A definate must have for any Fashion Student.