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

A new edition of this hugely successful international survey covering all aspects of fashion, organized around crucial shifts in style and major world events

From the turn-of-the-century S-bend silhouette to celebrity couture of the new millennium and the evolution of streetwear, this comprehensive survey explores significant developments in fashion from 1900 to the present day. Fashion historians Amy de la Haye and Valerie Mendes focus on key movements and innovations in style, and explore trends through the work of some of the world’s most original and influential designers and couturiers. Chapters are organized around crucial shifts in tastes and major world events, and exciting advances in fashion are placed within their socioeconomic, political and cultural contexts.

International in scope with colour illustrations throughout, this edition includes updated text as well as a new chapter that discusses some of the defining features of fashion in our time: the industry’s proactive embrace of age, gender and race diversity, and its ongoing efforts to combat labour exploitation and encourage global sustainability.

Contents List:

Preface
1. 1900–1913: Undulations and Exotica
2. 1914–1929: La Garçonne and the New Simplicity
3. 1930–1938: Recession and Escapism
4. 1939–1945: Rationed Fashion and Home-Made Style
5. 1946–1956: Femininity and Conformity
6. 1957–1967: Affluence and the Teenage Challenge
7. 1968–1975: Eclecticism and Ecology
8. 1976–1988: Sedition and Consumerism
9. 1989–1999: Fashion Goes Global
10. 2000–2010: Planet Fashion
11. Fashion 2010–2020
Bibliography

About the Authors:

Valerie Mendes, formerly Head of the Textiles and Dress Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, is a freelance fashion and textiles historian and consultant. She began her career at Manchester University's Whitworth Art Gallery, and has curated numerous exhibitions and published widely. Professor Amy de la Haye is Rootstein Hopkins Chair of Dress History and Fashion Curatorship at London College of Fashion. She was formerly Curator of Twentieth-Century Dress at the Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Her many publications include The Cutting Edge: British Fashion 1947–1997; The A–Z of Style; Chanel: Couture & Industry; and, with Judith Clark, Exhibiting Fashion.

This box set contains the next four titles in the popular V&A series of patterns books. Beautifully designed, accessible and informative, the box set is a respository of ideas for designers of all kinds but also a collectable object in itself. Commercial designers looking to license patterns canuse these books as a starting point for research.

Each book includes a CD of all the images contained within - to be redrawn or reworked.

The new titles for Spring 2010 contained in this box set are Owen Jones, Novelty Patterns, Kimonos and Secret Garden. Carefully branded to draw on the V&A's pre-eminent status, the series will encourage you to collect the entire range. The V&A is the world's greatest museum of art and design. For the past 150 years its collection has been an inspiring resource for designers, reflecting a breadth and depth that represents over 3,000 years of artefacts from all over the world.

'Beautiful and practical, the books are visual summaries of the most sumptuous parts of the V&A collections' Royal Academy Magazine

This attractive series reveals the V&A's spectacular and extensive pattern collections. Each title in the series includes a free CD of high resolution images.

This collector's slipcase edition contains four titles in the series - Owen Jones, Novelty Patterns, Kimono and Garden Florals.

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.

Extravagant and supersexy, the fashions of Gianni Versace (1946-1997) combined the expert craftsmanship and luxury of haute couture with the sheer creativity of the street. Instantly recognizable for their glamour quotient-who could forget Elizabeth Hurley in her slit-up-to-there "Safety-pin Dress"?-the deceptively fragile designs utilized innovative fabrics and meticulous construction to anchor their illusions. Although thoroughly modern, the clothes also drew inspiration from fine art: Versace counted Delaunay, Calder, and Klimt among his influences. This fun, flamboyant paperback befits Versace's duality-high art mixed with media hype, delicate garments built from durable materials. The two separate sections address Versace's artistry and skill individually.

Published to accompany a major exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, this colorful book celebrates the lifework and remarkable legacy of a perennially popular and highly respected designer.