The Met Gala is the fashion spectacle of the year. Even if you’re a style novice who has spent the last six months living exclusively in an Oodie (no judgement), you know this night of nights means big names, big designs and a carefully constructed theme that everyone will be talking about.
This year’s theme celebrates all things American design, in a massive undertaking to spotlight some of the most well-known designers in the world. ‘In America’ will explore belonging, comfort, delight, exuberance, fear, sentimentality and well-being all through the lens of what it means to be American, and the fashion that has defined the nation.
To prepare for the event, we have selected 10 books that encapsulate modern American style over the past 8 decades – a feast for the eyes for the ultimate Anna Wintour fans or a great starting point to transport beginners to the galleries of the Met Museum.
Read on …
The United States of Fashion
by Anna Wintour and the Editors of Vogue
The editors of Vogue, the ultimate authority on fashion, document the post-COVID changes happening across the fashion landscape in America. Celebrating creators, artisans, and visionaries across the country, the book pays tribute to the democratisation of American fashion and the creativity and artisanship that is no longer confined to the runways of New York and Los Angeles.
Buy it here
Black Designers in American Fashion
by Elizabeth Way
From Elizabeth Keckly’s designs as a freewoman for Abraham Lincoln’s wife to flamboyant clothing showcased by Patrick Kelly in Paris, black designers have made major contributions to American fashion. However, many of their achievements have gone unrecognized. This book, inspired by the award-winning exhibition at the Museum at FIT, uncovers hidden histories of black designers at a time when conversations about representation and racialized experience in the fashion industry have reached all-time highs.
Buy it here
Virgil Abloh: Figures of Speech (Special Edition)
by Michael Darling
From street fashion to high culture, the work of Virgil Abloh, a celebrated multihyphenate artist, is showcased in this book. For Abloh, the museum catalogue is another opportunity to ‘question everything.’ This monograph, produced in close collaboration with the artist himself, explores his creative output in a three-books-in-one format.
Buy it here
Dresses to Dream About
by Christian Siriano
Following the 2008 debut of his eponymous label at New York Fashion Week, Christian Siriano burst into international stardom, becoming a red-carpet favourite and one of today’s most popular young fashion designers. Known for the sophisticated structure and exquisite movement of his gowns, Siriano has also gained fans for his vision of inclusiveness in fashion. In this updated edition of Dresses to Dream About, the beloved designer offers an intimate glimpse into his imaginative design process, featuring fourteen new ensembles.
Buy it here
Prabal Gurung
by Prabal Gurung
Prabal Gurung offers a window into Gurung’s design process, and it is filled with inspiration, mood boards, sketches, runway shots, and photographs of the clothing from the last 10 years. The Prabal Gurung woman is modern, intelligent, elegant, assured, and socially responsible, and this book is a celebration of people of all ages, races, shapes, sizes, sexualities, and identities.
Buy it here
Marc Jacobs: Unseen
by Robert Fairer
The first book on the popular designer, Marc Jacobs is an inside look at the revered collections, and is filled with 280 inspiring and never-before-seen images by Vogue photographer Robert Fairer. Opening with an essay on the designer’s work, the book unfolds chronologically, revisiting the most iconic creations and revealing behind-the-scenes moments that show models, hairdressers, stylists, makeup artists, and Marc Jacobs himself at their most creative. Fairer’s stunning and high-energy photographs capture the youth, glamour, and energy that defined Jacobs’s shows.
Buy it here
Ralph Lauren: In His Own Fashion
by Alan Flusser
From the author of Dressing the Man, the seminal tome on men’s fashion, comes the illustrated biography of Ralph Lauren. Published in time for Lauren’s 80th birthday on October 14, 2019, Alan Flusser’s book looks at the life of the iconic American designer through the lens of fashion and cultural impact. This high-level, yet intimate, reflection on the life and work of Ralph Lauren shows how a preppy young boy from the Bronx created one of the most recognizable brands in American fashion.
Buy it here
The Chiffon Trenches
by André Leon Talley
The Chiffon Trenches is a candid look at the who’s who of the last fifty years of fashion, and proof that fact is always fascinatingly more devilish than fiction. André Leon Talley’s engaging memoir tells the story of how he not only survived but thrived – despite racism, illicit rumours and all the other challenges of this notoriously cutthroat industry – to become one of the most legendary voices and faces in fashion.
Buy it here
Diana Vreeland: Bon Mots
by Alexander Vreeland and Luke Edward Hall (Illustrator)
Diana Vreeland’s insightful edicts and evocative aphorisms remain her strongest legacy. She looked at life as a romantic and lived through dreams and imagination. Showing leadership, vision, and timeless wit, this book celebrates her visionary words that not only transformed the world of fashion, but also gave us sage advice to live by.
Buy it here
Bonnie Cashin: Chic is Where You Find It
by Stephanie Lake
An exhilarating look at the quintessential American modernist, acclaimed for her “Auntie Mame” lifestyle, her iconoclastic approach to fashion, and her visionary designs for the modern American woman. A talented artist who happened to become a fashion designer, Bonnie Cashin was brilliant, free-spirited, and unconventional in all she did. Revered for her intellectual and independent approach to fashion, Cashin changed the way women dressed with her revolutionary, forward-thinking approach to life.
Buy it here
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