A book signing by Patrick Demarchelier at Colette, Paris

Saturay 27 September, from 5-6pm - Colette, 213 rue Saint Honoré, 75001, Paris

Born outside Paris in 1943, Patrick Demarchelier relocated to New York in 1975, where he began his editorial career with Harper’s Bazaar/Hearst Publications. His photographs appear regularly on the covers and in the pages of publications such as Vogue and Vanity Fair, among many others. He was the 2007 recipient of the Eleanor Lambert Award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America. He lives and works in New York.

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First name in fashion
The glamorous life and work of Valentino Garavani

Think Valentino: think luxury. Think elegance. Think red carpet. Fashion’s most beloved upholder of refined decadence and the most exciting couturier in business is known around the globe simply by his first name. Only a few years after opening his fashion house in Rome in 1959, Valentino was already at the height of success, counting Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy, and Audrey Hepburn among his devotees. Over forty years later, not much has changed—he’s still dressing the top celebrities, from Gwyneth Paltrow to J.Lo, though now his business is a major economic force in Italy and his fashion house is among the most famous in the world. Valentino has always designed clothes for glamorous and sophisticated women, never wavering from his signature style even when grunge, deconstruction, and other passing fads were all the rage. Though his couture division almost never makes a profit (his ready-to-wear lines are what fuel the business), his heart is most solidly devoted to the magnificent haute couture gowns that earned him his reputation as fashion’s most talented dressmaker.

This luxurious limited-edition publication renders homage to Valentino’s illustrious career via a copious selection of images from his archives, including drawings, magazine shoots, advertisements, portraits of Valentino, and documentary photographs; presented chronologically, the visual material is accompanied by a vast array of newspaper and magazine articles about Valentino throughout the years. Text also includes Vanity Fair writer Matt Tyrnauer’s interviews with twenty of Valentino’s closest collaborators and friends as well as an appreciation of Valentino by International Herald Tribune’s fashion writer Suzy Menkes. All of these elements add up to an in-depth look at the man, his lifestyle, and his genius—a book more comprehensive and stunning than one could hardly dare to dream of. After all, what could be a more fitting tribute to the work of Valentino than a book as beautiful and luxurious as one of his gowns?

Art Edition (No. 1–100)
• Limited to 100 numbered copies, signed by Valentino Garavani
• Accompanied by four prints of original drawings from the 1950s and 1960s, all signed by Valentino, and authenticated with a stamp on the back (frames not included)
• Features gilt-edged pages and is covered in an elegant book cloth with six-color silkscreen printing
• Comes in a clamshell box finished in silk cloth

This book offers a user-friendly reference guide to all aspects of visual merchandising and covers both window dressing and in-store areas. Using examples from a range of shops, from fashion emporia to small outlets, the book offers practical advice on the subject, supported by hints and tips from established visual merchandisers. It reveals the secrets of their toolkit and information on the use of mannequins, the latest technology and how to construct and source props, and explains the psychology behind shopping and buyer behaviour. Presented through colour photographs, diagrams of floor layouts and store case studies, and including invaluable information such as a glossary of terms used in the industry, Visual Merchandising is an essential handbook for anyone working in and learning about this exciting area.

Buy it

A stunning new exhibition showcasing the work of Dutch fashion designers Viktor & Rolf opens on June 18. This is the first time in the United Kingdom that an exhibition has been devoted to this highly influential duo. Over the past 15 years Viktor & Rolf have taken the fashion world by storm with their particular blend of cool irony and surreal beauty.

The House of Viktor & Rolf presents each of the designer’s signature pieces from 1992 to now, shown in a specially commissioned and characteristically theatrical installation that dominates the entire Gallery. Highlights include pieces from Atomic Bomb, 1998–99, featuring dramatic mushroom cloud-like cushioned necklines and Russian Doll, 1999–2000, in which a single model was painstakingly dressed by Viktor & Rolf until she was gasping under 70 kilogrammes of exquisite haute couture. For the collection Bells, 2000-2001, models emerged from a smoke-filled space in clothes embroidered with hundreds of brass bells, so they were heard before they could be seen.

Drawing on the Dutch tradition of silver plating a baby’s first shoe as a keepsake, the climax of Viktor & Rolf’s Autumn/Winter collection of 2006–07, was a strapless wedding dress with a wide petticoated knee length skirt, silver plated, including even the bride’s bouquet.

Publication
A 256 page hardback book, the most comprehensive on the work of Viktor & Rolf to date, including 400 fashion photographers, catwalk images and exclusive illustrations and polaroids

I just discover this book about Brad Kroenig, of course I saw him during few ads. I don t unsterstand, why him.

In Metamorphoses of an American, Karl Lagerfeld traces the physical and emotional development of Brad Kroenig, once an unknown but now the world’s most sought-after male model. Lagerfeld discovered Kroenig in 2003, took his first photographs of him in Biarritz, and since then has observed him through his photographic lens, month by month. In hundreds of pictures Lagerfeld explores Kroenig’s evolution from a young “All American Boy” into a professional model conscious of the subtleties of facial and corporeal expression. These photographs are however not simply documentation; rather Lagerfeld and Kroenig work together to create a new persona, one which Kroenig expresses without losing a sense of his own self.

Lagerfeld selects a spectrum of literary and cultural references for Kroenig to interpret: we see him as James Dean, as Rudolph Valentino, as a Gatsby-like figure from F. Scott Fitzgerald, and as Lieutenant Pinkerton from Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. Yet throughout these transformations, there is never the sense that Kroenig is merely acting; instead he presents newly discovered aspects of himself through the guises of other characters. Metamorphoses of an American contains photography made both within and beyond the fashion world. However

regardless of the purpose of Lagerfeld’s images, each one evidences rigorous formal principles grounded in an appreciation of early twentieth-century photographer such as Alfred Stieglitz and Edward Steichen. Indeed Lagerfeld refers to his work more as “pictures” than photographs, conveying the graphic processes of construction and design from which each image emerges.

His last book was published in 1998 and chances to have another one are slim. Serge Lutens was a talented fashion photographer and later became a fragrances genius. He started to experiment with makeup and photography, using his friends to pose as models. In 1962 he moved to Paris. After seeing his work, Vogue hired him to create makeup, hair and jewelry. Throughout the sixties he collaborated with great photographers such as Richard Avedon, Bob Richardson and Irving Penn. In 1967, Christian Dior commissioned him to create a makeup line which Vogue USA called “ A revolution in makeup.” Serge Lutens has a influence of geisha traditions in his work as a make-up artist. His book is just beautiful.

Books: L’Esprit Serge Lutens: The Spirit of Beauty (Editions Assouline, Paris,1992)

Serge Lutens - (Editions Assouline, Paris, 1998)