Turning “New” onto its Head

August 23rd, 2010 | Published in Books

Words and book photos by Nadia Chu. Above photo excerpt from book “The Selby is in your Place” photographed by Todd Selby.

In this series of book reviews, we are turning the meaning of “new” onto its head by checking out books that show people, designs, materials, and spaces that are innovative and inspiring. The word “new” is usually restricted to a time frame; something is only “new” because it has freshly appeared in the “now” and is differentiated from what has come before. Fashion moves so quickly that with a blink, there is already another “new.” A “new” designer is only one who has not yet been established in the industry and a “new” design may only seem “new” because you have never seen it before. These books are eye-openers. They are relevant now because of their snapshots of different facets of the fashion industry, and relevant in the future as a capsule of what fashion looked like in this moment. Explore them and enjoy.

100 New Fashion Designers

by Hywel Davies

100 New Fashion Designers is a slick guide to the new designers that are making waves in fashion for their innovative vision and reinterpretation of contemporary clothing. Published in 2008, some of the names in this book are now well known in the fashion industry for their forward thinking and envelope-pushing designs. Basso & Brooke, Jonathan Saunders, Natalia Brilli, and Peter Pilotto are all present. Canadian favourite Rad Hourani is also included. A brief article on each designer gives you a glimpse into their mind and their inspirations, and the accompanying photographs and illustrations of their work (vivid and detailed) show you fashion as they see it.

Borrow it from the VPL.
Buy it here.

Artwear: Fashion and Anti-Fashion

by Melissa Leventon

Haute couture is probably the first thing to come to mind when one thinks of fashion as art, but in Artwear: Fashion and Anti-Fashion, we learn that wearable art (at least in North America) originally meant handmade textiles that were made into one-of-a-kind garments by a textile artist. Most of the creators of the garments featured in this book consider themselves artists rather than designers, but their works are no less fun to look at despite their different intended purpose. Instead of trying to separate art from fashion, a dress made out of shredded dollar bills or a jacket covered in safety pins shows us just how blurry the line between the two really is. Lady Gaga may enjoy shocking us now with her outfits, but art as fashion and vice versa has been around for over 35 years, and this book is a fun trip into its history.

Borrow it from the VPL.
Buy it here.

The Selby is in Your Place

by Todd Selby

When Todd Selby started his website, www.theselby.com, he tapped into the voyeur in all of us that wondered how and where cool people lived. What do they collect? What do they read, listen to, or like on their walls? And for the fashion lovers, the all-important question of what their closet looks like. This book is the compilation of Selby’s favourite photos from over 40 people’s homes he has visited. The strange and quirky interiors are fun to look at, proving that each person’s home is as unique as they are. Simon Doonan, Karl Lagerfeld, and Erin Wasson are just a few of the big names in this book, and I have to say, flipping through these photos makes me feel like a privileged guest in their home.

Borrow it from the VPL.
Buy it here.

Fashion Jewelry: Catwalk and Couture

by Maia Adams

No matter where you lie on the scale of love for jewelry, this book will open your eyes to the jewelry designers that help define fashion jewelry as we know it today. Fashion Jewelry: Catwalk and Couture is the first book to showcase contemporary catwalk and couture jewelry, and the designs range from the unusual yet wearable to the spacey and extreme. The photos are inspiring and tantalizing; they tease the imagination. The designers’ sketches, on the other hand, are very real and thorough, and show an important part of the designing process. For each designer there is a short bio or interview, and these do a good job of giving a voice to the designs seen on the pages.

Borrow it from the VPL.
Buy it here.

Textile Designers at the Cutting Edge

by Bradley Quinn

Textiles fill so much of our environment, both intimate and beyond, that we forget how much we interact with them. From our undergarments to the fuzzy seats in a theatre, they are always relevant and present in our lives. In Textile Designers at the Cutting Edge, Quinn explores innovative designers creating textiles for the body and/or the built environment. The use of technology helps to expand the capabilities of a fabric (sensing human traffic or reacting to UV light, for example), but while design moves forward, many designers seek to reduce their environmental footprint by recycling and reusing materials, or reducing their manufacturing waste.

Borrow it from the VPL.
Buy it here.