Style between the covers

Encompassing food, fashion, renegade gear and leading designers who leave a gap with their passing, these compelling reads are cut out for those keen on styles and trends

THE ART OF RUTH E CARTER: COSTUMING BLACK HISTORY AND THE AFROFUTURE, FROM DO THE RIGHT THING TO BLACK PANTHER

In an interview with The Guardian, Ruth E Carter said: “When we made [Do the Right Thing, in 1989], we were seeing a future of Black people in storytelling.” That future is here. Carter is the first Black woman to pick up two Oscars — for costume design for the superhero film Black Panther in 2019 and its sequel Black Panther: Wakanda Forever last month. She is using her creations to celebrate Black heroes and shape the story of their experience on screen. Through ’80s streetwear like the black leather or gold metallic fringe mini dresses Tina Turner sizzled in on stage, chunky jewellery, clashing leopard prints and neon jumpsuits, and royal regalia for a mythical family in Wakanda, Carter has brought Afrofuturism to the mainstream. She talks about her origins and three decades of work in this book, which also packs film stills, sketches and mood boards. It is available from May 23.

RENÉ HUBERT: THE MAN WHO DRESSED FILM STARS AND AIRPLANES

Edited by Andres Janser

If actors stay in our minds because of what they wear on screen, then many a big star owes his or her fame to Swiss costume designer René Hubert (1895–1976), a two-time Academy Award nominee for his work on Désirée (1954) and The Visit (1964). “Opulence was his style,” film historian Andres Janser said of Hubert, whom Gloria Swanson hired to design and tailor all her clothes for theatre, film and personal wardrobe. They met in Paris in 1924 and on her advice, he relocated to Los Angeles, where he began dressing stars such as Tallulah Bankhead, Ingrid Bergman, Laurence Olivier, Yul Brynner, Marlene Dietrich and Marilyn Monroe in films by René Clair, Alfred Hitchcock and Otto Preminger. Hubert also “demilitarised” Swissair’s staff uniforms and defined the shade of blue for its costumes. “Swissair Blue” became part of the airline’s brand identity from 1950.

PARADISE NOW: THE EXTRAORDINARY LIFE OF KARL LAGERFELD

By William Middleton

In 1954, 21-year-old Karl Lagerfeld wrote to his mother, saying that being noticed “is the only thing that matters to me … I don’t care what people say as long as they say something”. Lots have been said since about the German designer who was the creative director of French maison Chanel for 35 years. Lagerfeld died in 2019 at the age of 85. William Middleton, who first met him in 1995 while working in Paris, wrote Paradise Now to document his public image — sharp suits, dark sunglasses, powdered white ponytail, acerbic remarks — and also look behind it to “see how Karl became Karl”. The journalist-cum-author takes readers from the catwalk to exclusive rooms to meet stars, socialites and artists, some of whom Lagerfeld fell out with. He presents another perspective of the man whose “basic premise is to make fashion easier for a woman. Because a woman, especially one who is active and involved and for whom I especially enjoy designing, has to live with her clothes just as easily as she lives with her skin”.

QUEEN ELIZABETH II: A LIFETIME DRESSING FOR THE WORLD STAGE

By Jane Eastoe

Whether she was standing tall in her coronation gown decorated with embroidered latticework, stepping out in a tailored suit on her North American tour, or flashing that beloved smile beneath a hatful of flowers, Her Late Majesty’s dress choices showed a strong sense of style, developed and refined throughout her life, Hazel Clark, a professor of design and fashion studies at Parsons, said in Time magazine. “That consistency creates a sense of confidence and continuity.” Here, Eastoe looks at how practicality and the finest fabrics stitched the wardrobe of the queen, who always dressed with poise and diplomacy when carrying out her duties. With her “rare understanding of the value of impeccable dressing”, she influenced style and left a legacy of clothes created by some of the world’s best designers.

KIMONO STYLE: EDO TRADITIONS TO MODERN DESIGN

By Monikaa Bincsik, Karen Van Godtsenhoven + Masanao Arai

At the time when Western clothing was being introduced to Japan during the Meiji period (1868–1912), Japanese women began to gain more access to silk kimonos because of modernisation and social change. Around the 1920s, affordable meisen or ready-to-wear kimono became very popular, reflecting a more Westernised lifestyle. Department stores sold them following marketing strategies used in the West. With the influx of Western culture and art, the traditional kimono slowly changed from a garment denoting the wearer’s social position and wealth to one that proclaimed emancipation and the “new woman”. Conversely, the garment’s rectangular shape inspired Western designers to pick up fabrics from Japan and break away from traditional forms and silhouettes. Juxtaposing never-before-published Japanese textiles from the John C Weber Collection with Western couture, the authors trace the modern history of the kimono and its relationship with Western culture.

THE REBEL’S WARDROBE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF MENSWEAR’S RENEGADE PAST

By Bryan Szabo

Remember how screen rebels James Dean and Marlon Brando flaunted rough-edged masculinity and bulging biceps in a white tee, turning it into a symbol of cool? What fans may not know is that, more often than not, it was the working-class heroes who pushed utilitarian menswear to the forefront of fashion. Szabo pulls out 40 iconic pieces from the male wardrobe and traces who first produced them and how they became an indispensable part of our lifestyle. From everyday wear such as denim trousers to polo shirts, five-pocket pants, cable-knit sweaters, engineer boots, bomber jackets and competition sweaters, he reveals the stories behind each rebel style so the renegade brigade will better understand the clothes we wear and why we wear them.