In Vogue (Rizzoli £45) Many books have quarried Vogue’s unique archive of images, but none has explained the enduring influence of the world’s most charismatic glossy. Until this, an illustrated history that assesses all the elements that go into making the magazine.
How have editors such as Edna Woolman Chase, Diana Vreeland and Anna Wintour, and photographers of the calibre of Avedon, Penn and Weber, combined to create a barometer of taste that has endured for nearly 100 years? The secret is the way Vogue has adapted to the democratisation of high fashion. Anybody with an interest in fashion, professional or otherwise, should read this.
Balenciaga Paris (Thames & Hudson £48) Recognised by many as the most directional of mid-20th-century designers, Balenciaga has been waiting for a book produced to the same high standards as everything that ever came out of its atelier. And this is it: without question, the most beautiful and confident fashion book of the year. Large-format and soft-covered, it is, in fact, a catalogue of the highly successful Balenciaga exhibition that is currently on show at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, in the Louvre. Don’t let that put you off. The intelligent commentary by Pamela Golbin, the design by Fabien Baron and the wealth of historic pictures — including rare studio photos of Balenciaga at work — make this an essential for anyone interested in either fashion or book design.
Dolce & Gabbana: Fashion Album (Skira £100) This is a whopper. Heavy, huge and well beyond glamorous, it is the designers’ personal choice from their advertising campaigns and editorial coverage over the past 20 years, and a roll call of honour for fashion photographers such as Ellen von Unwerth, Steven Meisel, Juergen Teller, Mario Testino and Paolo Roversi. In it, we learn that “the boys” like raunch verging on sleaze, and love it when photographers encourage the girls to be full-on. In decades to come, historians will use this book to trace how dramatically female sexuality changed in the last years of the 20th century.
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Louise Brooks: Lulu Forever (Rizzoli £32.50) Louise Brooks was born in Kansas, made her showbiz debut in Ziegfeld Follies and ended up as a New York store clerk. Her portrayal of Lulu in the silent classic Pandora’s Box gave her film immortality; her affairs with powerful men such as Charlie Chaplin provided notoriety. But it is her hairstyle that made her an enduring fashion icon. Her deeply fringed, bobbed cut and wide eyes epitomised the 1920s. She is often cited as a muse by fashion designers, few of whom are likely to have seen her films. This book fleshes out the story of a rather tragic figure and brings together just about every known image of Brooks. It will have its place in every designer’s studio and will affect fashion for seasons to come.
Gucci by Gucci (Thames & Hudson £85) A company riposte to Tom Ford’s fat tome, published in 2004, Gucci by Gucci sets out to prove that one of Italy’s most prestigious names is bigger than that of even the most high-profile designer. It has a point. This is a rich plum pudding of a book, documenting how Gucci has been at the centre of Italy’s dolce vita society since the 1930s. Beautifully produced, it is nothing less than a checklist of top people’s taste over the past 80 years. Fashionistas and social snobs won’t be able to put it down.