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My grandmother had given this book on Spain and bullfights to my dad for Christmas. One of my most treasured possessions to this day, it has a striking cover design after a lithograph by Picasso.
Barthes is the one philosopher of my generation to write eloquently about fashion, photography, and the visual arts.
See my comment on Système de la Mode.
This is the first book I ever bought. I purchased it with my pocket money when I was ten years old. The book (whose title translates as “100 Years of French History”) contains lots of old photographs and prints about art and French history.
A book (“History of Western Dress”) I bought with my meager savings when I was young. It’s one of those volumes I keep handy on my desk at all times.
Cocteau’s intimate journal (1955) published posthumously under the title Le passé défini (“The Past Defined,” not translated into English). His lies tell the truth.
My Fair Lady was a momentous film for me. All through my youth, I was fascinated by Beaton’s costumes, his drawings, his stage sets, and his photographs, of course. As a result, I was a self-styled Anglophile, in love with London.
Jeanne d’Arc (1925) is the only book by the French surrealist author Delteil that has been translated into English. He wrote 33 books and worked on the script for Carl Dreyer’s famous film The Passion of Joan of Arc (1927). I love everything Delteil wrote, because of the poetry of his prose, his way with words, and his unique use of language. His work inspired me when I discovered it in 1969, and has been a source of enchantment ever since.
I found this book in New York in a secondhand store at the end of the 1970s.
Along with Michel Tournier, Gracq is an author who creates a world in which I always feel at home.
This was my very first book on the history of dress. It dates back from the 1950s. I consulted, studied, and scrutinized it on a daily basis during the earlier part of my career. A fundamental text for me.
Jullian was a French illustrator, art historian, novelist, and dandy. My French teacher gave me this marvelous book (“Styles”) for my 15th birthday and it has been one of my very favorite publications ever since. Patrick Mauriès and I took the liberty of writing a sequel, titled Styles d’aujourd’hui (“Styles of Today").
This was of one my favorite books in the 1980s, always on my bedside table. I found it in New York in a secondhand bookstore and it was an instant revelation. I knew nothing of American fashion designers in the 1930s, ‘40s, and ‘50s. My only U.S. fashion reference had been costume designer Adrian!
Mauriès is my astrological twin, a scholarly wordsmith with whom I share a love of everything that’s ephemeral and fleeting. He is essential to me because he knows how to capture the nuances of how I feel. (The title of the book, not available in English, translates as "Vertigo.")
Modiano and I have the same passion for nostalgic details that conjure up otherworldly memories and forgotten gems from the past.
One of French novelist Modiano's latest novels (1997). See my comment on Villa Triste.
A master of language whose work I find utterly seductive. (The title of the book, not available in English, translates as “I Remember.”)
The Bible! The best book about art direction, layouts, graphic design. Always contemporary, never dated.
See my comment on Le rivage des Syrtes.
Announcements
Now is Better by Stefan Sagmeister
Now is Better
By Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: October 2023
Combining art, design, history, and quantitative analysis, transforms data sets into stunning artworks that underscore his positive view of human progress, inspiring us to think about the future with much-needed hope.
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future by Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Design Emergency: Building a Better Future
By Alice Rawsthorn and Paola Antonelli
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Published: May 2022
Rawsthorn and Antonelli tell the stories of the remarkable designers, architects, engineers, artists, scientists, and activists who are at the forefront of positive change worldwide. Focusing on four themes—Technology, Society, Communication, and Ecology—the authors present a unique portrait of how our great creative minds are developing new design solutions to the major challenges of our time, while helping us to benefit from advances in science and technology.
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Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World’s Most Creative People by Debbie Millman
Why Design Matters: Conversations with the World's Most Creative People
By Debbie Millman
Publisher: Harper Design
Published: February 22, 2022
Debbie Millman—author, educator, brand consultant, and host of the widely successful and award-winning podcast “Design Matters”—showcases dozens of her most exciting interviews, bringing together insights and reflections from today’s leading creative minds from across diverse fields.
Milton Glaser: POP by Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Milton Glaser: POP
By Steven Heller, Mirko Ilić, and Beth Kleber
Publisher: The Monacelli Press
Published: March 2023
This collection of work from graphci design legend Milton Glaser’s Pop period features hundreds of examples of the designer’s work that have not been seen since their original publication, demonstrating the graphic revolution that transformed design and popular culture.
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Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall
By Alexandra Lange
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Published: June 2022
Chronicles postwar architects’ and merchants’ invention of the shopping mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. Publishers Weekly writes, “Contending that malls answer ‘the basic human need’ of bringing people together, influential design critic Lange advocates for retrofitting abandoned shopping centers into college campuses, senior housing, and ‘ethnocentric marketplaces’ catering to immigrant communities. Lucid and well researched, this is an insightful study of an overlooked and undervalued architectural form.”
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition) by Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Die Fläche: Design and Lettering of the Vienna Secession, 1902–1911 (Facsimile Edition)
By Diane V. Silverthorne, Dan Reynolds, and Megan Brandow-Faller
Publisher: Letterform Archives Books
Published: October 2023
This facsimile edition of Die Fläche, recreates every page of the formative design periodical in full color and at original size, accompanied by essays that contextualize the work, highlighting contributions by pathbreaking women, innovative lettering artists, and key practitioners of the new “surface art,” including Rudolf von Larisch, Alfred Roller, and Wiener Werkstätte founders Koloman Moser and Josef Hoffmann.
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