Spanning four centuries, the V&A's Fashion Collection is the most comprehensive in the world, housing unrivalled collections of dress, accessories, shoes and hats from the seventeenth century to the present day. This thoroughly revised and redesigned edition shows the collection, from rare eighteenth-century gowns and exquisite bodices to 1930s evening wear, post-war couture, and show-stopping ensembles by contemporary designers. Among the designers featured are Charles Frederick Worth, Madeleine Vionnet, Coco Chanel, Cristobal Balenciaga, Christian Dior, Mary Quant, Stephen Jones, Vivienne Westwood, and Alexander McQueen.

About the Authors:

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator in the Department of Furniture, Textiles & Fashion at the V&A and Professor in Fashion Curation at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. She has curated many exhibitions including Vivienne Westwood (2004) and The Golden Age of Couture (2007) and co-curated Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2014). Jenny Lister is a Curator of Textiles and Fashion at the V&A. She co-curated the V&A exhibitions Swinging Sixties and Grace Kelly Style and co-edited the accompanying books.

High-end 20th-century fashion explored through sumptuous detailed photography of some of the most luxurious garments in the V&A’s collections

Revealing the elaborate embroidery, intricate pleats and daring cuts that make up some of the 20th century’s most beautiful garments, this book explores the specific techniques used by couturiers as tastes and textile technologies evolved. Work by designers such as Mariano Fortuny, Madeleine Vionnet, Paul Poiret, Hubert de Givenchy, Mary Quant, Yves Saint Laurent and Vivienne Westwood is rediscovered, and exquisite haute-couture pieces, from sequinned Chanel trouser suits and richly embroidered Schiaparelli jackets to striking Balenciaga creations and Dior evening gowns, are examined.

Part of the ‘Fashion in Detail’ series, this updated edition features a revised introduction and list of designers followed by chapters dedicated to a particular technique. Each garment is illustrated through detailed photography and line drawings and is accompanied by a commentary by leading experts in textiles and fashion.

An extraordinary exploration of the techniques used by couturiers in the construction of these exceptional garments, 20th-Century Fashion in Detail will delight all followers of fashion.

About the Authors:

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator, Department of Furniture, Textiles and Fashion at the V&A and Professor in Fashion Curation, London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London.

Valerie D. Mendes, formerly Head of Fashion and Textiles at the V&A, is a freelance fashion and textiles historian.

Contents List:

Introduction • List of Designers • 1. Seams • 2. Gathers, Tucks and Pleats • 3. Collars, Cuffs and Pockets • 4. Fastenings • 5. Bows • 6. Beads and Sequins • 7. Applied Decoration

Frida Kahlo (1907–1954), as an artist and a woman, has a unique international appeal. Her instantly recognizable work draws extensively on her life and her extraordinarily personal reflections upon it.

On Kahlo’s death, her husband, Diego Rivera (1886–1957), ordered that her most private possessions be locked away until 15 years after his death. The bathroom in which her belongings were stored in fact remained unopened until 2004. Through this incredible archive, Frida Kahlo: Making Her Self Up gives readers a unique window into Kahlo’s life. It will focus on the personal, combining her prosthetics, jewelry, and clothes with self-portraits, diary entries, and letters to build an intimate portrait of the artist through her possessions, setting this in the context of her political and social beliefs.

 - Includes six inset booklets, containing photographs of Kahlo’s most intimate possessions
 - 16 page section showcasing Kahlo’s wardrobe, specially conserved and mounted
 - Spectacular details of embellishments and textiles

About the authors:

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator of Fashion at the V&A and Professor in Fashion Curation at the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London. She curated the exhibitions Vivienne Westwood (V&A, 2004), The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947–1957 (V&A, 2007) and Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (2015), and edited the accompanying catalogues.
Circe Henestrosa is an independent curator and Head of the School of Fashion at LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore. She curated the exhibition Appearances Can Be Deceiving: The Dresses of Frida Kahlo (Museo Frida Kahlo, Mexico City, 2012).

This definitive publication on Alexander McQueen (1969–2010) invites you into the creative mind and world of one of Britain’s most brilliant, daring, and provocative designers, and the many themes and references that shaped his visionary fashion collections.

A truly comprehensive study, this catalogue is the first in-depth look at McQueen and explores key themes of the exhibition — tailoring, gothic, primitivism, naturalism, and futurism. The book also features previously unseen material as well as groundbreaking essays and feature spreads by multiple authors and leading fashion commentators. This kaleidoscopic approach explores themes central to the designer’s work and his collections, such as the psychology of fashion, natural history, the theatre and spectacle of his shows, and the key creative collaborators during McQueen’s lifetime.

Alexander McQueen also offers an encyclopedic survey of McQueen’s catwalk collections, illustrated with striking images by leading fashion photographers, and specially commissioned photographs that capture the breathtaking skill of his designs and awesome theatricality of his shows.

About the Author:

Claire Wilcox is senior curator of the Furniture, Textiles and Fashion department at the V&A and lecturer at the London College of Fashion.

At a moment of unprecedented creativity in men’s fashion, and continuing reflections on gender, contemporary designers are questioning established forms, seeking to liberate wearers from traditional models of masculine dress.

This book combines fashion with artistic and broader cultural histories – looking at the designers, tailors and artists who have constructed and performed masculinity from the Renaissance to the present day. It traces connections across and beyond European menswear, celebrating both rich traditions and daring individualists.

Divided into three parts, Undressed reveals the role of the body and underwear in fashioning masculinities. Overdressed explores the power dynamics of sartorial bravado, while Redressed deconstructs a modern masculine uniform: the black suit.

Featuring a staggering range of cultural touchstones from Hercules to Virgil Abloh, Giovanni Battista Moroni to Jawaharlal Nehru, Yves Saint Laurent to Kehinde Wiley, Marcus Rashford, Marlene Dietrich and even Captain America, Fashioning Masculinities challenges our preconceptions about menswear, revealing the fascinating historical roots beneath the power, artistry and diversity of masculine attire and appearance today.

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Больше о выставке Fashioning Masculinities: The Art of Menswear

An impeccably researched and beautifully produced concise history of bags through the ages, with examples drawn from the Victoria & Albert Museum's remarkable collection

From the hand-stitched embroidered purses of the 16th century, to the ‘make-do-and-mend’ bags of the war years and the rise of the ‘It’ bag in the 2000s, bags reflect the needs and desires of their users, as well as the changing attitudes to fashion. Focusing on the V&A’s world-famous collection, Bags tells the story of the bag from the earliest leather pouches through to today’s covetable, luxury pieces.

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Illuminating the evolution of bag designs and uses from the medieval period to today, the author explores early drawstring creations and richly worked ecclesiastical purses, before looking at large work bags of the 18th century, and by contrast the small reticules that were designed to complement high-waisted Empire line dresses. Increased travel in the 19th century brought about the leather handbag as we know it today, while the 20th century saw an explosion of innovations, from 1930s designs reflecting the streamlined American aesthetic and the use of new synthetics such as imitation patent and Vynide, to the rise of the luxury designer handbag by the likes of Hermès, Gucci, Chanel and Prada. After a general introduction, chronological chapters unfold, illustrated throughout; a detailed glossary, bibliography and index conclude the book. An inspiring, impeccably researched and concise history of bags through the ages, Bags: A Brief History is a musthave resource for students, designers and lovers of fashion and costume.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction • Chapter One: Girdle Pouches and Almoners: The 14th and 15th Centuries • Chapter Two: Pokes, Purses and Swete Bagges: The 16th and 17th Centuries • Chapter Three: Pockets, Purses and Work-bags: 1700–90 • Chapter Four: Reticules: 1790–1830 • Chapter Five: Bags, Purses and Châtelaines: 1830–80 • Chapter Six: The Handbag: 1880–1918 • Chapter Seven: Dance Bags, Clutches and ‘Make-do-and-Mend’: 1918–45 • Chapter Eight: The New Look, Shoulder Bags and Designer Handbags: 1945–2000 • Chapter Nine: Man Bags, Totes and Mini Bags: 2000s–The Present • Glossary • Selected Bibliography • Major Dress Collections Featuring Bags • Authors’ Biographies • Acknowledgments • Index

A striking tribute to John Galliano's highly creative collections for his eponymous label (1996–2011), captured behind the scenes by American Vogue photographer Robert Fairer

Robert Fairer – American Vogue’s exclusive backstage photographer for over a decade – opens up his archive to unveil stunning photographs that were, until now, one of fashion’s best-kept secrets.

Presenting John Galliano’s creations for his eponymous label (1996–2011), John Galliano: Unseen celebrates the visionary and exquisitely multi-layered collections that acted as a showcase for the designer’s romantic, theatrical, radical ideas, granting rare behind-the-scenes access to a highly charged world of fantasy, collaboration and beauty.

A striking tribute to Alexander McQueen’s stunning collections, revealing photographs that were, until now, one of fashion’s best-kept secrets

Alexander McQueen has grasped the public's imagination like few other fashion designers before him, with exhibitions dedicated to his work continuing to attract record visitor numbers.

Almost 500,000 people visited the V&A's 2015 Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition, making it the most popular in the museum s history. Opening with a brief essay on the designer's work, Alexander McQueen: Unseen unfolds chronologically.

Each collection is introduced by a concise text by Claire Wilcox, one of the foremost experts on the McQueen's work, revisiting the designer's most iconic creations across his entire career and revealing previously unseen behind-the-scenes moments that capture models, hairdressers, stylists, make-up artists and Alexander McQueen himself at their most candid and creative.

Robert Fairer's stunning and high-energy photographs, all previously unpublished, capture the glamour, grit and spirit that made McQueen's flamboyant shows unique. A treasure-trove of inspiration, they make this publication a must-have reference for fashion and photography lovers alike.

An exploration of the role of the handbag in the history of culture, fashion, and material production

The history of the handbag - its design, how it has been made, used, and worn - reveals something essential about women's lives lived over the last 500 years. Perhaps the most universal item of fashionable adornment, it can also be elusive, an object of desire, secrecy and even fear. Handbags explores these rich histories and multiple meanings.

This book features specially commissioned photographs of an extraordinary, newly formed collection of fashionable handbags that dates from the 16th century to the present day. It has been acquired to exhibit in the first museum devoted to the handbag, in Seoul, South Korea. The project is a commission undertaken by experimental exhibition-maker Judith Clark, whose innovative practices are revealed in Handbags.

Essays by leading fashion historians and an acclaimed psychoanalyst investigate the history of gesture, the psychoanalysis of bags, and the museum's state-of-the-art mannequins and archive cabinets. In order to preserve the words that describe the unique qualities of each bag, a glossary of handbags has been compiled.

Published in association with the Simone Handbag Museum, Seoul

About the Author:

Judith Clark is professor of fashion and museology at the London College of Fashion.

A striking tribute to Alexander McQueen’s stunning collections, revealing photographs that were, until now, one of fashion’s best-kept secrets

Alexander McQueen has grasped the public's imagination like few other fashion designers before him, with exhibitions dedicated to his work continuing to attract record visitor numbers.

Almost 500,000 people visited the V&A's 2015 Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty exhibition, making it the most popular in the museum s history. Opening with a brief essay on the designer's work, Alexander McQueen: Unseen unfolds chronologically.

Each collection is introduced by a concise text by Claire Wilcox, one of the foremost experts on the McQueen's work, revisiting the designer's most iconic creations across his entire career and revealing previously unseen behind-the-scenes moments that capture models, hairdressers, stylists, make-up artists and Alexander McQueen himself at their most candid and creative.

Robert Fairer's stunning and high-energy photographs, all previously unpublished, capture the glamour, grit and spirit that made McQueen's flamboyant shows unique. A treasure-trove of inspiration, they make this publication a must-have reference for fashion and photography lovers alike.

The V&A's renowned Fashion in Detail series has become essential reading for historians, costumiers, designers and fashion students alike and this impressive volume brings together for the first time, edited highlights from all the titles in the series.

The V&A's Fashion Collection is the largest and most comprehensive in the world, housing unrivalled collections of dress, accessories, shoes and hats, from exquisite seventeenth-century gowns to twentieth-century daywear and couture.

This chronological survey covers four hundred years of fashion, drawn from the V&A's five best-selling volumes: Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century Fashion in Detail, Nineteenth-Century Fashion in Detail, World Dress Fashion in Detail, Twentieth-Century Fashion in Detail and Underwear Fashion in Detail.

With concise and authoritative texts by V&A curators, glorious colour photography and specially commissioned line drawings of complete garments, the reader is allowed the unique opportunity to look in the closest possible detail at the garments and revel in their breathtaking range of colour, texture and construction.

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator of Fashion at the V&A. She has curated many exhibitions including Vivienne Westwood (V&A 2004) and The Golden Age of Couture (V&A 2007) and edited the accompanying books.

The Ambassador has been described as 'probably the most daring and enterprising trade magazine ever conceived'. With the motto 'Export or Die!', the magazine was renowned for its innovative design and adventurous editorial approach in promoting British manufacturing in the post-war period. This book takes a detailed look at the background and impact of The Ambassador. The magazine was driven by the vision of its founder Hans Juda and his wife, Elsbeth, who was responsible for much of the magazine's striking photography. Focusing on the perceived strengths of British industry, they set up ambitious photo shoots to showcase the latest couture fashions by the likes of Charles Creed and Victor Stiebel. The magazine promoted fine art as an inspiration for design, and commissioned artists such as John Piper and Henry Moore for their covers.

Vivienne Westwood is a global icon whose career has successfully spanned three decades from the early days of punk to the establishment of her own fashion house. Published to accompany the hugely popular Vivienne Westwood exhibition at the V&A, this book is the first in-depth Vivienne Westwood retrospective. It studies her work as a groundbreaking fashion designer and celebrates her visual impact and iconic profile worldwide.

This glamorous book, part of the V&A Fashion in Detail series, illustrates the intricate details of twentieth-century fashion. Spectacular photographs, accompanied by expert commentaries and specially commissioned line drawings, focus on fanciful Dior bows, Chanel button-holes and metal sprinfs on a Schiaparelli jacket. This unique study provides an insight into the techniques and craft practices used by couturiers and the construction of these amazing garments. Twentieth-Century Fashion in Detail will delight all followers of fashion. Previously available as Modern Fashion in Detail.

About the Authors: 

Claire Wilcox is Senior Curator of the Department of Furniture, Textiles & Fashion at the V&A and Professor of Fashion Curation at the London College of Fashion. She curated the exhibitions Vivienne Westwood (V&A 2004), and The Golden Age of Couture: Paris and London 1947–1957 (V&A 2007), and also edited the accompanying catalogues. 

Valerie D. Mendes is a fashion and textiles historian who became Chief Curator of the former Textiles and Dress Department at the V&A. She has curated numerous exhibitions and published widely on twentieth-century dress and textiles.