Oh how I secretly relish this time of year. Don't get me wrong, I adore summer, but I do love spending an evening curled up under a pile of blankets poring over beautiful books. This season sees a crop of new releases from purveyor of fashion's finest, Rizzoli, four of which are most certainly going on my wish list...
Miles of M•A•C (£30) celebrates the drama of the makeup artistry of M•A•C with stunning photography by the iconic fashion photographer Miles Aldridge. With essays by Val Garland and Valerie Steele, and peppered with quotes by bold-face names from Alex Box, Nicola Formichetti and Brooke Shields, to Iris Apfel, Charlotte Tilbury, Cyndi Lauper, Dita von Teese and Daphne Guinness, these contributors help contextualise the unique vision and collaboration between author James Gager and Aldridge. With striking images of some of the best and most inspiring M•A•C looks to date, this stunning book celebrates the brand with over 200 color photographs and gives readers the opportunity to delve into the vivid and surreal world that makes M•A•C one of the most highly sought-after cosmetics brands in the world.
Since the 1920s, the images of Louis Vuitton—both advertising and editorial—have proven mesmerising to the consumer, changing the way we see travel, fashion, art, and culture. Louis Vuitton Fashion Photography (£50) serves as fascinating window into one of the world’s most prestigious luxury brands, and provides an unprecedented visual history of the company through the language of the lens. This exceptional album features over two hundred images by the most important modern and contemporary photographers including David Bailey, Henry Clarke, Patrick Demarchelier, Karl Lagerfeld, Annie Leibovitz, Helmut Newton, David Sims, Bert Stern, Juergen Teller, Mario Testino, and Bruce Weber, with images from iconic Vuitton advertising.
In 2014, Diane von Furstenburg celebrated the 40th anniversary of her iconic wrap dress which has been celebrated not only with a retrospective exhibition, Journey of a Dress (£45), at the former Wilshire May Company Building in Los Angeles but in this, the accompanying book. For the retrospective, DVF created a 200-mannequin “wrap army” curated by theme and featuring the most quintessential wraps. In this book, it has been documented in vivid colour; from the very first leopard wrap dress produced in 1974 to “anniversary wraps” designed in 2014, the second part of Journey of a Dress serves as a beautiful catalogue of the exhibition and a colorful homage to one of the most enduring styles of all time.
Under the helm of design director Alber Elbaz, Lanvin is now one of the powerhouses of Paris fashion, and his respectful nod to the origins and founding aesthetic of Lanvin is tempered by an unrivaled, transformative energy that has created a new, youthful audience for the house. Accompanied by Elbaz’s handwritten notes, Lanvin: I Love You (£47.50) showcases the fashion and spirit of Lanvin with nearly two hundred compositions, from those shown at their boutiques, to one-offs at the Crillon, and as far afield as Art Basel in Miami, as well as unpublished renderings of concepts hand-drawn by Elbaz.
All books published by Rizzoli.
Love Laurel x
