The essential volume on the great fashion designer, entrepreneur and Louis Vuitton artistic director, back in print.

This authoritative Virgil Abloh compendium, created by the designer himself, accompanies his acclaimed landmark 2019–23 touring exhibition and offers in-depth analysis of his career and his inspirations. More than a catalog, Figures of Speech is a 500-page user’s manual to Abloh’s genre-bending work in art, fashion and design.

The first section features essays and an interview that examine Abloh’s oeuvre through the lenses of contemporary art history, architecture, streetwear, high fashion and race, to provide insight into a prolific and impactful career that cuts across mediums, connecting visual artists, musicians, graphic designers, fashion designers, major brands and architects. The book also contains a massive archive of images culled from Abloh’s personal files on major projects, revealing behind-the-scenes snapshots, prototypes, inspirations and more — accompanied by intimate commentary from the artist. Finally, a gorgeous full-color plate section offers a detailed view of Abloh’s work across disciplines.

Virgil Abloh (1980–2021) was a fashion designer and entrepreneur, and the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s men’s wear collection from 2018 to 2021. He was also CEO of the Milan-based label Off-White, a fashion house he founded in 2013. Born in Rockford, Illinois, to Ghanaian parents, he entered the world of fashion with an internship at Fendi in 2009 alongside rapper Kanye West. The two began an artistic collaboration that would launch Abloh’s career with the founding of Off-White. Time magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world in 2018.

An enchanting exploration of the creative inspiration of the Bloomsbury Set on Kim Jones’s artistic direction of the fashion house Fendi.

In September 2020, Kim Jones was named head of Fendi’s couture and womenswear, marking a new era for the Italian brand. This publication examines Jones’s relationship to the legendary Bloomsbury Set: the early twentieth-century community of British writers, intellectuals, and artists, including Virginia Woolf, Duncan Grant, and Vanessa Bell, who inspired the collection and his creative process.

Enriched by ethereal photographs by Nikolai von Bismarck, this book spotlights the iconic landmarks of the Bloomsbury Set and Fendi. Beginning with Charleston House, Knole House, and Sissinghurst Castle in England, then travelling to the set of haute couture in Paris, the volume comes full circle at Rome’s Villa Medici and Villa Borghese — where the histories of Fendi and the Bloomsbury Set meet. Diverse photographic methods such as Polaroid, traditional film, and Super-8 film stills bring Jones’s creations to life, as well as reflect the Bloomsbury Set’s experimental techniques, while his eternal muses, including Christy Turlington, Demi Moore, Gwendoline Christie, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell, conjure the poetry of the present. With letters, diary entries, and excerpts from Bloomsbury members, this exquisite book will appeal to aficionados of fashion, literature, and photography

About the Authors:

Fendi is an Italian fashion brand established in Rome in 1925. Kim Jones is the creative director of Dior Men and the artistic director of Fendi’s couture and womenswear. Nikolai von Bismarck is a photographer specializing in portraiture, reportage, and fashion. Professor Mark Hussey is a Bloomsbury Set scholar at Pace University. Jerry Stafford is a writer and the creative director of Premiere Heure.

Exclusive celebrity portraits by photographer Nikolai von Bismarck capture the new course of Dior menswear under the direction of contemporary fashion innovator Kim Jones.

Known for slim silhouettes and precise tailoring, Dior Homme has long been a leader in menswear. In this new volume of exquisite portraits of celebrities and style influencers, photographer Nikolai von Bismarck celebrates the thoroughly contemporary style of the revered French fashion house.

In the world of contemporary men's fashion, Christian Dior's sophisticated legacy has been upheld by innovative designers, especially current creative director Kim Jones, who's received praise for incorporating both couture values and streetwear elements into his work. With his years of experience at the heart of the fashion world and working on photographic reportages all around the globe, von Bismarck captures striking images of Kim's designs, which fuse exquisite detail, romantic patterns, and soft colors with traditionally masculine silhouettes while retaining the modern edge of streetwear through sports shoes and chunky industrial jewelry. Jones's reverence for Dior's heritage is evident in the photographs - even in his most daring innovations he nods to Christian Dior's favorite patterns and floral motifs, as well as tailoring inspired by the signature couture designs of vintage Dior. A rare look inside an iconic menswear brand consistently at the foreground of celebrity style, The Dior Sessions is a must-have for Dior fans, fashion aficionados, and stylish men everywhere.

About the Author:

Nikolai von Bismarck is a photographer specializing in portraiture, reportage, and fashion photography. Born in London in 1986, Nikolai first began working for Mario Testino and became the youngest photographer to shoot for a Condé Nast publication, before attending Parsons School of Design and training under Annie Leibovitz for two years. Vying to explore his own photographic projects, Nikolai travelled widely around Africa, Eastern Europe and Asia; his reportage projects have been featured in The Times and The Daily Mirror. Nikolai's fashion and portraiture work has also appeared in numerous publications, including Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.