Search results for ""author valerie steele""

An astute exploration of the most outrageous shoe designs of the 21st century This fabulously illustrated book explores western culture’s fascination with extravagant and fashionable shoes. Over the past decade, shoe design has become increasingly central to fashion, with fashion companies paying ever more attention to shoes and other accessories. High-heeled shoes, in particular, have become the fashion accessory of the 21st century.Co-written by one of the world’s leading historians of fashion and an authority on fashion accessories, the book features approximately 150 pairs of the most extreme and ultra-fashionable styles of the past 12 years, including work by such prominent designers as Manolo Blahnik, Pierre Hardy, Christian Louboutin and Bruno Frisoni for Roger Vivier, as well as shoes by influential design houses such as Azzedine Alaïa, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Prada. Avant-garde styles by up-and-coming designers such as Japan’s Kei Kagami and Noritaka Tatehana are also highlighted.Shoe Obsession examines recent extreme and fantastical shoe styles in relation to the history of high heels, the role of shoes as a reflection of their wearers’ personality traits, and the importance of shoes in art and exhibitions. The book is lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs of spectacular contemporary shoe designs.Published in association with The Fashion Institute of Technology, New YorkExhibition Schedule:The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York(02/07/13-04/13/13)

Read more less

This ambitious and fascinating book traces the history of fashion in every part of the world, from Greco-Roman woven-cloth clothing and the silk court dress of the Chinese Tang dynasty to contemporary sportswear designers and Japanese street culture. Organized chronologically, the book traces the evolution of fashion period by period and trend by trend, while detailed timelines provide historical and cultural context. Fashion: The Whole Story is indispensable for everyone who loves the line of a superb suit or knows the joy of wearing a great pair of shoes.

Read more less

Paris, Capital of Fashion accompanies a major exhibition at The Museum at FIT, New York’s only museum dedicated solely to the art of fashion. This lavishly-illustrated book is edited by MFIT’s director and chief curator, Valerie Steele, also the author of the acclaimed Paris Fashion: A Cultural History. This new book opens with an important essay on how and why Paris became famous as the international “capital of fashion.” Steele traces how the mythic “aura” of Paris fashion was constructed over generations, as the splendour of the court at Versailles came to be echoed by the spectacle of the haute couture. Yet Paris has faced repeated challenges from other fashion capitals, especially London, Milan, and New York. Essays by Christopher Breward, David Gilbert, Grazia d’Annunzio, and Antonia Finnane place Paris within a broader global narrative, while Sophie Kurkdjian investigates the cultural value of the Parisian couture, and Agnès Rocomora explores the online imagery of the chic Parisienne. As The New Yorker recently put it, Paris is “the most glamorous and competitive of the world’s fashion capitals.” No other city has been branded “Fashion” as Paris has. By opening the study of Paris fashion to new approaches, this book explains why Paris still retains its position as the world’s undisputed fashion capital.

Read more less

One of the few surveys of Black style and fashion ever published, How to Slay offers a lavishly illustrated overview of African American style through the twentieth century, focusing on the last thirty-five years. Through striking images of some of the most celebrated icons of Black style and taste, from Josephine Baker, Michelle Obama, Maya Angelou, and Miles Davis to Rihanna, Naomi Campbell, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams, this book explores the cultural underpinnings of Black trends that have become so influential in mainstream popular culture and a bedrock of fashion vernacular today. A preponderance of Black musicians, who for decades have inspired trends and transformed global fashion, are featured and discussed, while a diverse array of topics are touched upon and examined hats, hair, divas, the importance of attitude, the use of colour, 60s style, the influence of Africa and the Caribbean, and the beauty of black skin.

Read more less

Sky-high, ornate, and the pinnacle of glamour, both restrictive and liberating, art object and deeply ordinary, shoes tell the story of shifting attitudes toward desire, power, and wealth throughout history. Lace up for a journey through the most enviable shoe closet from the permanent collection at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology—and four centuries of fashion’s hardest working accessory.Featuring designs from the likes of Louis Vuitton, Salvatore Ferragamo, Chanel, Gucci, Saint Laurent, Roger Vivier, Christian Louboutin, and more, Shoes A–Z. The Collection of The Museum at FIT celebrates fashion’s most revolutionary and coveted labels with more than 400 styles selected from the Museum’s pristinely preserved collection. Texts from Daphne Guinness, Valerie Steele, Colleen Hill, and The Museum’s expert team of curators explore the unique legacy of each of the featured designers and the lasting cultural impact of the shoe. Also featured are custom portraits of the designers by illustrator Robert Nippoldt. Exclusive access to original sketches, advertisements, and photographs from the designers’ private archives further illuminate the genius behind the functional, sculptural delights we cannot live without. Also available as Collector’s Edition of 1,000 numbered copies, including three prints by Manolo Blahník created exclusively for this edition with a hallmark stamp. The 6/8 color drawings are printed on 100% cotton paper, by famed Italian company Fabriano, and are housed in a luxury portfolio with gold foil embossing and with a ribbon closure.

Read more less

Long before 'collabs' became a buzzword, artists influenced every aspect of the fashion world. This approachable collection compares fashion and art side-by-side to highlight a variety of relationships: inspiration, collaboration, and artists working to create their own fashion or fashion photography. Art X Fashion introduces readers to designers like Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli, who famously worked with artists like Picasso and Dali in the early twentieth century, as well as to iconic fashion moments like Yves Saint Laurent s 1965 homage to Piet Mondrian. Art and fashion pairings like John Galliano (inspired by Tutankhamun s death mask, Arcimboldo, Gustav Klimt, and Hokusai), Guo Pei (inspired by Velazquez), Margiela (inspired by Gaugin), and Iris Van Herpen (inspired by Paul Delvaux), reveal surprising connections. Projects by street artists like Keith Haring and Kaws introduce the era of collaborations, which saw artists such as Yayoi Kusama and Takashi Murakami work with Louis Vuitton. More recent collaborations include Raf Simons with Sterling Ruby and Kerby Jean-Raymond with Derrick Adams. Chapters on striking purses and other accessories designed by artists, and artists creating in fashion including Cindy Sherman, William Wegman, and John Baldessari round out this fresh and delightful take on fashion design.

Read more less

From Azzedine Alaïa, Cristóbal Balenciaga, and Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Vivienne Westwood, more than a century’s worth of fashion greats are celebrated in this new edition of Fashion Designers A–Z. An accessibly priced and updated volume features photographs of hundreds of garments selected from the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) museum's permanent collection. Elegant gowns from the turn of the century, Mondrian-style minimalist chic, and everything inbetween. Each of these works of art is chosen not only for its beauty but also for exemplifyingthe unique philosophy, skill, and aesthetics of each of the featured designers. In her introductory essay, the museum’s director and chief curator, Valerie Steele, writes about the rise of the fashion museum and the emergence of the fashion exhibition as a popular and controversial phenomenon. The foreword is contributed by international style maven Suzy Menkes, texts by the museum’s curators help shine historical light on each label and garment pictured, and beautifully drawn portraits by the artist Robert Nippoldt pay homage to the creators behind them.

Read more less

The more than eighty collaborators featured in this book comprise an A to Z of Vuitton s creative collaborations, especially from the last decade, with significant chapters devoted to the work of Nicolas Ghesquiere, Marc Jacobs, Takashi Murakami and other key collaborators. Never forgetting the long tradition of the house, the period covered by the book from the late 1990s through the present day will describe the role that Louis Vuitton is playing in a crucial moment in global fashion. Now with 536 pages, this edition features more than 130 pages of stunning new imagery that showcases the increasingly symbiotic relationship between fashion, art, and design.

Read more less