100 New Fashion Designers by Hywel Davis (Author)
Madame Gres: Spinx of Fashion by Patricia Mears, Jennifer Park The Fashion Institute of Technology, Pub. Date: March 2008
While the classically inspired “Grecian” gown designed by Madame Alix Grès is widely recognized and admired, little else of the brilliant couturier’s life or work has received close attention. This book, by far the most detailed study yet published on this influential fashion designer, carefully analyzes Madame Grès’ innovative construction techniques and connects her designs to the art styles and movements that inspired and informed her aesthetic. Gorgeously illustrated with images of fabulous clothes designed by Madame Grès, the book focuses on her long career (spanning the early 1930s to the late 1980s) and refutes the previous understanding that her work was static and unchanging. Rather, her designs consistently changed and evolved, even as a thread of continuity connected them. The volume discusses how sculpture and the construction of non-western clothing inspired Grès’s fashion, and examines numerous couture versions of her saris, ponchos, serapes, caftans, three-dimensional sculptural pieces, and Grecian gowns. In addition, the book constructs a timeline of her career and discusses her secretive private life, including the circumstances of her death, inexplicably concealed by her daughter for over a year.
Paris 1962: Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior: The Early Collections by Jerry Schatzberg (Photographer)
On assignment for Esquire magazine in 1962, fashion photographer and filmmaker Jerry Schatzberg documented the ultra-exclusive world of French haute couture in stunning photographs of famous fashion icons. All the glamour and drama of the runway is presented, including images of Yves Saint Laurent’s first collection after leaving Dior, as well as tastemakers such as Diana Vreeland and American Vogue editor Jessica Daves mingling in the chic crowds. As an insider, Schatzberg was permitted entry into the private, behind-the-scenes world of the models and photographers, which he reveals in candid images of renowned photographers such as Helmut Newton, William Klein, Hiro, and Norman Parkinson perfecting their glamour shots.Schatzberg’s images embody an era in fashion history, and document the glamour, intrigue, and opulence of the Parisian runway shows. With an eye for subtle moments of elegance, drama, and humor, Schatzberg captures the essence of the period’s style and grace.
"To live content with small means; to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy,not, rich; to listen to stars and birds, babes and sages, with open heart; to study hard; to think quietly, act frankly, talk gently, await occasions, hurry never; in a word, to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common -- this is my symphony."---William Henry Channing
Lovin Life, Truth Is
