Claire Wilcox

An expert and intimate exploration of a life in clothes: their memories and stories, enchantments and spells. A linen sheet, smooth with age. A box of buttons, mother-of-pearl and plastic, metal and glass, rattling and untethered. A hundred-year-old pin, forgotten in a hem. Fragile silks and fugitive dyes, fans and crinolines, and the faint mark on leather from a buckle now lost. Claire Wilcox has worked as a curator in Fashion at the Victoria & Albert Museum for most of her working life. Down cool, dark corridors and in quiet store rooms, she and her colleagues care for, catalogue and conserve clothes centuries old, the inscrutable remnants of lives long lost to history; the commonplace or remarkable things that survive the bodies they once encircled or adorned. In Patch Work, Wilcox deftly stitches together her dedicated study of fashion with the story of her own life lived in and through clothes. From her mother's black wedding suit to the swirling patterns of her own silk kimono, her memoir unfolds in luminous prose the spellbinding power of the things we wear: their stories, their secrets, their power to transform and disguise and acts as portals to our pasts; the ways in which they measure out our lives, our gains and losses, and the ways we use them to write our stories.

A Life Amongst Clothes

Patch Work

This volume is a full-length study of Vivienne Westwood's work as a groundbreaking fashion designer. It seeks to convey the dynamism and impact of her ideas from the early punk years to her more recent collections.

Vivienne Westwood

The Golden Age of Couture celebrates a momentous decade in fashion history that began with the launch of Christian Dior's famous New Look in 1947 and ended with his death in 1957. It was Dior himself who christened this era fashion's 'golden age', a period when haute couture thrived and Paris enjoyed renown worldwide for the luxurious creations of designers such as Cristobal Balenciaga, Pierre Balmain and Hubert de Givenchy. While never competing with Paris in terms of glamour, London also proved itself a burgeoning fashion capital, boasting Savile Row, the undisputed home of bespoke tailoring, and prominent couturiers such as Charles Creed, Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell, who dressed debutantes, aristocrats and the royal family.

Paris and London 1947-1957

The Golden Age of Couture

Circe Henestrosa

In 1954, following Frida Kahlo's death at the age of 47, Diego Rivera, Kahlo's husband and Mexican muralist, requested that her possessions be sealed in various cupboards and storerooms throughout the Blue House in Mexico City, where Kahlo was born, lived and died. Half a century later, in 2004, these cupboards were opened and found to contain an extraordinary collection of clothing, jewellery, cosmetics and other personal items, as well as photographs and letters.0'Frida Kahlo's Wardrobe' presents a fresh view of Kahlo's compelling life story. The book expands upon the narrative of discovery, presenting highlights from Kahlo's collection alongside her self-portraits. This pairing is unprecedented, and it will be enriched by specially commissioned photography of her belongings.00Exhibition: Victoria and Albert Museum, London, UK (16.06.-04.11.2018).

Frida Kahlo's Wardrobe

Jenny Lister

Previous edition published: V&A Publishing, 2013.

Revised Edition

V&A Gallery of Fashion

Vivienne Westwood is a global icon whose career has spanned three decades from the early days of punk to the successful establishment of her own fashion-house. The first ever Vivienne Westwood retrospective, this book is also the first full-length study of her work as a groundbreaking fashion designer. Claire Wilcox's perceptive text sheds new light on the sources of inspiration, motivation and working practices of this fascinating and dedicated designer. A stunning sequence of photographs charts the evolution of Westwood's work through key collections such as Pirate, Mini-Crini, Anglomania and Harris Tweed. Together text and images illuminate Westwood's working methods, focusing on her tailoring techniques, fabrics and patterns, and the costumes and paintings form major museum collections that have provided a constant source of inspiration. Over 250 illustrations convey the dynamism and impact of her ideas, presenting imaginative and stunning creations that have been a major influence on fashion, music and art since the 1970s. Outfits worn by the Sex Pistols contrast with more recent creations for Sarah Jessica Parker, Tracy Emin and Cameron Diaz, demonstrating why Westwood is still the most talked-about designer in Britain. The photographs - a mix of ad campaigns, fashion shoots, catwalk shots and rare archive material - have been personally selected by Vivienne Westwood, and present her own vision of the high-points of a career characterised by constant innovation and variety.

Robert Fairer

Unseen

Alexander McQueen

Valerie D. Mendes

Oriole Cullen

Sonnet Stanfill

Revealing the elaborate embroidery, intricate pleats and daring cuts that make up some of the 20th century's most beautiful garments, this book explores the specific techniques used by couturiers as tastes and textile technologies evolved. Work by designers such as Mariano Fortuny, Madeleine Vionnet, Paul Poiret, Hubert de Givenchy, Mary Quant, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood is rediscovered, and exquisite haute-couture pieces, from sequinned Chanel trouser suits and richly embroidered Schiaparelli jackets to striking Balenciaga creations and Dior evening gowns, are examined. Part of the 'Fashion in Detail' series, this updated edition features a revised introduction and list of designers followed by chapters dedicated to a particular technique. Each garment is illustrated through detailed photography and line drawings and is accompanied by a commentary by leading experts in textiles and fashion.

20th-Century Fashion in Detail

Rosalind McKever

Unique exploration of how the cultural renaissance following independence evolved into today's dynamic African fashion revolution At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men's fashion and reflection on gender, this thought-provoking, richly illustrated book explores how designers, tailors, photographers, and artists--and their clients and sitters--have constructed and performed masculinity and unpicked it at its seams. Fashioning Masculinities first strips things back to consider the naked male body and the continued influence of the classical ideal: the Adonis--enthusiastically reconsidered by successive generations from 18th-century (Grand) tourists to Robert Mapplethorpe, Calvin Klein, and even Captain America. The book then transitions to explore the very opposite--"the peacock." For centuries men have used clothing to express status, wealth, and individuality. In this section, everything from richly embellished fabrics, shimmering textiles, voluminous cloaks, bulging codpieces, and highly polished armor to Stormzy's stab vest and Prince's boots is featured--the uniting factor being that they have all been worn with swagger and defiance. The final section surveys the suit: the three-piece tailored garment that has come to epitomize masculine attire. But for all its homogeneity, the suit has taken on myriad personas, from the historicizing cut of the Teddy Boys and the bold iconoclasm of Alexander McQueen to the creativity of Billy Porter's "Tuxedo" Oscars gown. Fashioning Masculinities challenges our preconceptions about menswear revealing the fascinating historical roots of the styles we see gracing the sidewalks, catwalks and red carpets of today.

The Art of Menswear

Fashioning Masculinities

Valerie Mendes

Chiara Buss

Published to accompany the first major exhibition of the work of Gianni Versace in the UK since his death in 1997, this stylish book provides a glittering retrospective of one of the twentieth century's most innovative and enigmatic designers. Always flamboyant and outrageous, Versace's imaginative and intelligent collections drew inspiration from pop culture and the street, as well as from his impressive knowledge of art and fashion. His work is seen here from two different but complementary perspectives - Art and Craft. Art lays out a glamorous array of designs, from asymmetric tailored suits to flamboyant print dresses, garments in leather and metal mesh, gorgeous evening wear and exotic theatre designs. Scattered through the pages are pictures of some of Versace's most famous clients- Liz Hurley in the notorious safety pin dress and Princess Diana. But the real stars are the exquisite designs themselves, created to flatter the female form and to lend panache to the male wardrobe. Understated elegance was not Versace's aim- his clothes stand out from the crowd, demanding to be admired, and are featured here in stunning, specially commissioned photographs. This is the most comprehensive collection of Versace originals ever exhibited. Craft looks at Versace's highly inventive use of materials, such as Oroton, the metal mesh he created which can be draped like the finest silk. Other innovative techniques include his idiosyncratic weaving methods and his flair for combining unlikely partners- Prince of Wales check with baroque embroidery, denim and diamant . Showing his fabrics, prints, appliqu and embroidery in gorgeous close-up, this section focuses on the detail of Versace's craftsmanship. The stylish page design gives each section its own distinctive look. The paperback cover opens out into page size flaps which features a colourful parade of images to delight fashion lovers and students alike. Everyone will find much to admire in this fascinating retrospective.

The Art and Craft of Gianni Versace

Philippe Garner

Robin Muir

A lifetime of style / Anna Wintour -- Introduction / Susanna Brown -- I. Paris style: 1930s Paris - fashion, art, elegance and imagination / Philippe Garner. Electric beauty / Susanna Brown -- II. Couture fashion in the 1930s: The aura of glamour : couture fashion / Claire Wilcox. Mainbocher corset / Susanna Brown -- III. Stage and screen: From limelight to starlight : portraits of stage and screen stars / Terence Pepper. Marlene Dietrich / Susanna Brown -- IV. Horst and Britain: An English interlude / Robin Muir. Royal still lifes / Susanna Brown -- V. Fashion in colour: Horst's world in colour / Shawn Waldron -- Vogue covers -- VI. Nature: Patterns from nature / Martin Barnes. Kodak negative album / Susanna Brown -- VII. Travel: Middle-Eastern diaries / Horst P. Horst and Valentine Lawford. Persepolis Bull / Susanna Brown -- VIII. The male nude: Hard bodies : male nudes / Oliver Winchester. The classical torso / Susanna Brown -- IX. Living in style: Conversation pieces : interiors of Horst and Lawford / Glenn Adamson. The house that Horst grew / Susanna Brown -- X. Carmen : an interview / Susanna Brown.

Photographer of Style

Horst

Now creative director of Maison Margiela, John Galliano started his career in London in the late 1980s, straight after graduating from Central Saint Martins. After being appointed head designer of Christian Dior in 1996, Galliano continued to create two collections a year for his namesake brand. They acted in many ways as a laboratory of ideas, allowing him to let his imagination run wild, free from both the commercial pressures associated with a house as iconic and as global as Dior and the influence of the hallowed house's iconic pieces - a pure expression of his personal design style. Opening with an essay on the designer's work, John Galliano: Unseen unfolds chronologically. Thirty collections are included, each introduced by a short text by Claire Wilcox, revisiting the designer's most iconic creations and revealing previously unseen behind-the-scenes moments that capture models, hairdressers, stylists, makeup artists and John Galliano himself at their most creative. Robert Fairer's stunning and high-energy photographs capture the glamour and frenzy that defined Galliano's shows. A treasure-trove of inspiration, they make this publication a must-have reference for fashion and photography lovers alike.

Claire Wilcox

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