The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk

Prada is the first book that documents three decades of ground-breaking fashion, architecture, film and artand#160;by the Prada company, including the work of the design studio and the workshop;and#160;extensive creative partnerships with photographers, designers, architects and film directors; and large scale architectural commissions, the Fondazione Prada, and the development of a new museum.and#160;Among the many features of this rich innovative book with its thousands of images areand#160;a photo-essay by renowned photographer Brigitte Lacombe, stills taken from short films documenting the craftsmanship of the factory, images of the unique fashion show environments, an overview of alland#160;Miuccia Prada's collections with thumbnail pictures of 3,885 different and#147;looks,and#8221; collages of the most influential shoe and bags, photographs of the final product on the runway, celebrated store designs in New York and Los Angeles by Rem Koolhaas/OMAand in Tokyo by Swiss architects Herzog and de Meuron, a film collaboration with director Ridley Scott, Koolhaasand#8217;s radical and#147;Prada Transformerand#8221; pavilion in Seoul, costume designs for a Japanese manga heroine, Prada found on the street and celebrities photographed on the red carpet, and blogs expressing the almost fanatical devotion of lovers of the brand.and#160;Prada both chronicles and epitomizes the achievements of one of the world's most influential and enlightened fashion and design companies.

Dubbed the enfant terrible of fashion ever since his prêt-à-porter collections were first shown in 1976, Jean Paul Gaultier, whose avant-garde and bold fashions very early on reflected the issues facing contemporary society, is one of the leading designers in recent decades. 

Published in conjunction with the first-ever retrospective on Gaultier, organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, this stunning monograph explores the ties between the designer and the pop/rock music scene, film, and dance, and sheds light on his sources of inspiration, which are as eclectic as they are impertinent. 

Packed with rare and unpublished images (archival and fashion-show photographs), this luxurious volume includes many interviews with artists (Dita von Teese, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Catherine Deneuve, Marion Cotillard, Pedro Almodóvar, and others), Gaultier'?s close associates (Martin Margiela, the head of Gaultier's studio, and others), and personalities (Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, Inès de la Fressange, Polly Mellen, and others), as well as an essay by one of the fashion world's most influential figures, fashion editor Suzy Menkes. It also features interviews between Gaultier and each of the exhibition curators, and an expanded and illustrated biography with all his collections. The Fashion Universe of Jean Paul Gaultier is a fitting and much-deserved tribute to a grand couturier, and a reference book on fashion.

and#147;Never in the history of fashion had a single designer made such a revolution in his first showing.and#8221; Timeand#160;In 1947 Christian Dior rocked the fashion world with his New Look, which dominated postwar fashion and firmly secured the name of his house in the minds of the public and the industry. Based on new research, this absorbing and beautifully illustrated book examines the seminal years of Christian Dior, 1947 to until his death in 1957, from a truly international perspective.

Dior drew on historical models of femininity and utilized the unique skills of the Parisian haute couture in textiles, embroidery, cutting, and sewing techniques to produce stunning designs that captured the new mood of optimism after World War II. and#160;Dior also designed and marketed ready-made luxe lines and broke new ground by creating and controlling innovative licensing agreements for all Dior products, from perfume to stockings, jewelry, bathing suits, and even menand#8217;s ties.

One of the most distinctive and influential designers of the second half of the twentieth century, Yves Saint Laurent takes his place in the pantheon of French couturiers, alongside Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, and Jeanne Lanvin. Yves Saint Laurent, the first comprehensive retrospective of his lifeand#8217;s work, will accompany an exhibition of some 250 garments from the collection of the Fondation Pierre Bergand#233;and#150;Yves Saint Laurent at the Petit Palais in Paris.

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From his early days working under Dior and heading the House of Dior after his mentorand#8217;s death, to the opening of his first prand#234;t a porter shop on the Rive Gauche and the debut of the Le Smoking tuxedo, to the muses he adored, Loulou de la Falaise and Catherine Deneuve among them, this volume reveals the breadth and scope of the designerand#8217;s entire career. With a preface by Pierre Bergand#233;, author Faride Chenoune explores the sources of inspiration that drove Saint Laurentand#8217;s continuous innovation, drawing upon painting, sculpture, theater, opera, literature, and cinema.

Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 encompasses seven decades of extraordinary images by Richard Avedon, the most influential fashion photographer of the 20th century.This comprehensive volume offers a definitive survey, from Avedon's groundbreaking early photographs for Harper's Bazaar through his constantly inventive contributions to Vogue, Egoiste, and The New Yorker. Each carefully selected image represents an artistic collaboration with significant models, stylists, and designers. Avedon Fashion accompanies the first major exhibition to survey this body of work, at the International Center of Photography in May 2009. With critical essays by Carol Squiers, curator at the ICP, and photography critic Vince Aletti, as well as an appreciation by photo-historian Philippe Garner, Avedon Fashion chronicles an astonishing record of photographic achievement.

Farid Chenoune is a fashion historian and author of several books, including A History of Men's Fashion and Beneath It All: A Century of French Lingerie, as well as a contributor to French Vogue. He lives in Paris.

Florence Mand#252;ller has written many books and catalogues and organized several exhibitions on fashion history and the phenomenon of contemporary fashion. She teaches these subjects at the Institut franand#231;ais de la Mode. She worked as UFAC Director and Curator at the Musand#233;e des Arts de la Mode, Paris. Among other titles, she has published Costume Jewelry for Haute Couture and Art and Fashion.and#160;