Miren Arzalluz – författare

Gabrielle ‘Coco’ Chanel is an icon of fashion, and can lay claim to having invented the look of the 20th century. At the height of the Belle Époque, she stripped women of their corsets and feathers, bobbed their hair, put them in bathing suits and sent them out to get tanned in the sun. She introduced the little black dress; trousers for women; costume jewelry; the exquisitely comfortable suit that became her trademark. Early in the Roaring Twenties, Chanel made the first ever couture perfume – No. 5 – presenting it in the famous little square-cut flagon that, inspired by Picasso and Cubism, became the arch symbol of the Art Deco style. No. 5 remains the most popular scent ever created. This volume, published to accompany a landmark exhibition in Paris, traces the birth and evolution of Chanel’s timeless style. Specially commissioned photographs by Julien T. Hamon showcase the clothing, while essays by fashion historians illuminate a period, an event or a theme. Rare archival documents, including portraits of Gabrielle Chanel herself, round out the book.

A stunning showcase of Azzedine Alaïa’s remarkable fashion collection, most published here for the first time. Azzedine Alaïa (1935–2017) was not only a world renowned fashion designer but also an avid collector of vintage fashion. Based on a major exhibition at the Palais Galliera, Paris, the book showcases the extensive collection he built up over the decades, driven by his fascination with the history of couture and his desire to conserve its heritage for future generations. Accumulated in the utmost secrecy and never revealed during his lifetime, the sumptuous selection of garments ranges from the 19th-century elegance of Jacques Doucet and the House of Worth to the names that shaped 20th-century fashion – Chanel, Balenciaga, Dior, Schiaparelli – and on to contemporary innovators such as Jean Paul Gaultier and Alexander McQueen. Captured in specially taken photographs, these meticulously crafted pieces are a tribute to Alaïa’s unerring tastes, to the couturiers who inspired and influenced him, and to his endless respect for the craftspeople that created such objects of lasting beauty.

Rick Owens remains one of the most daring and influential fashion designers working today. Often described as 'a-grunge-meets-glamor' aesthetic, Owens has cultivated a devoted international following. In his creations, grace and grit are paired with an obsession with structural transformation and movement, where diaphanous, flowing shapes contrast with opaque forms and sharp edges, an approach to formal invention that is complimented by a mania for new and often exotic materials. Timed to coincide with the first comprehensive show of the designer s work taking place at the Palais Galliera in Paris in summer 2025, the scope and breadth of this exhibition promises to be a treat to both longtime fans and the uninitiated. Owens will reimagine the grand 19th-century palace housing the museum, with temporary installations that will serve as vitrines to his many creations. In effect dividing the book between the conception of showcases, and the precious objects that they display within, the curatorial essays bookending this visual narrative will attempt to describe the multidisciplinary, even architectural approach Owens has to his creations.