Traditional clothing is essentially haute couture. Made with high quality fabrics and elaborate workmanship, it embodies cultural heritage and style. Encompassing a surprising variety of garments, it represents premium handcraft, an awareness of tradition, a sense of belonging, and an affinity to one's homeland. At the same time, folkloric clothing is inspiring some of today and tomorrow's most ambitious and radical fashion designers. In 'Traditional Couture,' photographer Gregor Hohenberg succeeds in building a visual bridge between the outmoded and the avant-garde in German folkloric fashion. He portrays the individuals, young and old alike, who wear traditional attire in all the regions of his homeland, as well as their surroundings.

A stunning exploration of fashion's premier art form with internationally renowned illustrator Megan Hess. Hundreds of hours, many expert hands and unimaginable metres of fabric: couture is truly wearable art, where creativity and craftsmanship collide. Megan Hess has spent her career documenting fashion's most beautiful people, places and pieces. In The Illustrated World of Couture, she brings to life its most important - and intriguing - art form, with fascinating insights and exceptional illustrations. Worn by only a handful of people worldwide, couture still has incredible influence, even beyond the traditional boundaries of fashion. In this unique collection, follow Megan through the intricate details, multifaceted inspirations and dramatic shows that define the couture experience. Let her introduce you to the generations of creators who conceive and craft these fantastical garments, and the collectors who treasure them. And travel with her to the exclusive ateliers and glamorous events of the world's fashion capitals to see how couture is both designed and displayed. Megan Hess invites you to discover The Illustrated World of Couture in this essential volume for all fashion devotees.

Couture Korea highlights traditional ways of dressing and shows how contemporary haute couture is rooted in Korean tradition. Through garments including baeja (woman's vest), po (man's outerwear), and baegilbok (child's costume for the 100th-day celebration), this Korean fashion book explores how each gender dresses during different seasons, on special occasions, and according to social status. Interviews with contemporary fashion designers Jin Teok and Karl Lagerfeld and historians Minjee Kim and Cho Hyo Sook examine how historical and modern clothing design reinvigorates Korean cultural identity.

"I thought I knew almost everything about the history of fashion until I met Kerry Taylor. The inside-out knowledge she has of garments will inspire both students and designers to look at fashion with fresh eyes." - Sarah Mower, US Vogue "This beautiful book by Kerry Taylor - the go-to woman for vintage and antique couture - is a treat for collectors and fashion lovers alike." - The Wall Street Journal "Whatever my question about vintage, Kerry Taylor has the answer. Her expertise, knowledge and historical anecdotes have raised the level of interest in this subject hugely." -Lisa Armstrong, Daily Telegraph Named one of Glamour Magazine's "Must-Read Style Books"! Profiled by Vogue and The New York Times and courted by style icons with wardrobes to sell and top designers in search of inspiration, Kerry Taylor is one of the world's leading experts on vintage fashion and couture. In this lavishly illustrated book, Kerry tells the story of a century of fashion through the work of its key design talents and the memorable women who have worn their creations. All the fashion stars are here from Poiret to McQueen via Lanvin, Chanel, Schiaparelli, Madame Grès, Dior, Balenciaga, Mary Quant, Ossie Clark, Vivienne Westwood, Alaïa, and Margiela. For each designer Kerry explores their career through a dazzling range of clothes and accessories, explaining what makes each item so desirable to the collector or wearer of vintage fashion. Each chapter includes at least one 'style icon' whose relationship with fashion has had a lasting impact, including Baba D'Erlanger, Lauren Bacall, Grace Kelly, Catherine Deneuve, Paloma Picasso and Kate Moss. Illustrated with a mix of gorgeous fashion photography plus images from Kerry's own astonishing archive, this book is set to become an invaluable guide for collectors of vintage (whatever their budget) and all those who love fashion. Contents includes... Foreword by Hubert de Givenchy Prologue by Christopher Kane 1900s - Paul Poiret - Lucile - Mariano Fortuny 1920s - Jean Patou - Jeanne Lavin - Chanel in the Twenties 1930s - Elsa Schiaparelli - Style Icon Wallis Simpson - Madeleine Vionnet - The Architect of Couture 1940s - The effects of War on Fashion in Europe - American Fashion in the Forties - Christian Dior - The Saviour of French Haute Couture 1950s - Pierre Balmain - Cristóbal Balenciaga - The Master - Style Icon Grace Kelly 1960s - Mary Quant - Hubert de Givenchy - Style Icon Audrey Hepburn 1970s - Yves Saint Laurent in the Seventies - Zandra Rhodes - Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren 1980s - Italian Masters - Azzedine Alaïa - John Galliano 1990s - The New Romantics - Thierry Mugler - Style Icon Kate Moss 2000s - Later McQueen - Style Icon Daphne Guinness - Collecting Vintage ..And so much more!

Bestselling author Claire Shaeffer teaches you everything you need to know to plan and sew the perfect jacket. Based on couture techniques learnt from master tailors, this book begins with the equipment, materials, design elements, and sewing and construction techniques used in all types of tailoring. Part Two provides an illustrated step-by-step guide to making a couture jacket, explaining all the design options and alternative methods for making every element including collars, sleeves and pockets. Couture Tailoring includes over 800 step-by-step illustrations throughout, over 200 photographs of couture jackets by Chanel, Dior, Yves Saint Laurent and more than 100 couture tips. Any aspiring tailor must have this book in their fashion library.

This captivating book reproduces arguably the most extraordinary primary source documents in fashion history. Providing a revealing window onto the Renaissance, they chronicle how style-conscious accountant Matthäus Schwarz and his son Veit Konrad experienced life through clothes, and climbed the social ladder through fastidious management of self-image. These bourgeois dandies' agenda resonates as powerfully today as it did in the sixteenth century: one has to dress to impress, and dress to impress they did. The Schwarzes recorded their sartorial triumphs as well as failures in life in a series of portraits by illuminists over 60 years, which have been comprehensively reproduced in full color for the first time. These exquisite illustrations are accompanied by the Schwarzes' fashion-focussed yet at times deeply personal captions, which render the pair the world's first fashion bloggers and pioneers of everyday portraiture. The First Book of Fashion demonstrates how dress – seemingly both ephemeral and trivial – is a potent tool in the right hands. Beyond this, it colorfully recaptures the experience of Renaissance life and reveals the importance of clothing to the aesthetics and every day culture of the period. Historians Ulinka Rublack's and Maria Hayward's insightful commentaries create an unparalleled portrait of sixteenth-century dress that is both strikingly modern and thorough in its description of a true Renaissance fashionista's wardrobe. This first English translation also includes a bespoke pattern by TONY award-winning costume designer and dress historian Jenny Tiramani, from which readers can recreate one of Schwarz's most elaborate and politically significant outfits.

Traditional tailoring is a fascinating craft, which has not changed for many centuries, however, the techniques are now known only by a few practising in the best couture ateliers and bespoke tailor's workrooms. Nothing feels quite so luxurious or sophisticated as bespoke clothes, but the tailoring skills they require are often seen to be shrouded in mystery and the clothes therefore only accessible to the rich and famous. This practical book reveals the trade secrets of couture tailoring and brings vintage couture tailoring within the reach of all. With step-by-step photographs and professional tips throughout, it shows how a ladies' jacket is made and thereby introduces a range of fundamental tailoring techniques. These can be used for garments for either gender, as well as other sewing projects: moulding fabric to shape with the iron; employing loose interfacings; hollow shoulder construction; pad stitching canvas; interlining and weighting hems;making tailored and bound buttonholes;.... and many more forgotten techniques.Written by a tailor of international repute, Vintage Couture Tailoring is dedicated to all who appreciate the highest standard of craftsmanship, and who like using their eyes and hands to produce beautiful garments.Vintage couture tailoring is practised by only a few establishments around the world today and this practical book reveals the trade secrets of couture tailoring. An invaluable guide for professionals wishing to further their skills, and for enthusiasts with an interest in traditional tailoring. Shows how to make a ladies' jacket from preparation through to assembly and reveals the exquisite finishing details that are the hallmark of couture tailoring. Superbly illustrated with 417 colour step-by-step photographs.Thomas von Nordheim is a tailor of international repute.

Includes Paul Poiret, Jeanne Paquin, Jeanne Margaine-Lacroix, Maison Lucile, Coco Chanel, Jacques Doucet, Jean Patou, Callot Soeurs, Jeanne Lanvin, Madeleine Vionnet, Elsa Schiaparelli, Adrian, Christian Dior, Madame Gr{grave}es, Charles James, Crist{acute}obal Balenciaga, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Balmain, Pierre Cardin, Emilio Pucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Halston, Ralph Lauren, Kenzo, Christian Lacroix, Thierry Mugler, Yohji Yamamoto, Gianni Versace, Calvin Klein, Martin Margiela, and others.

Suitable for art and fashion professionals, this book offers an overview of the development of fashion.

Covers the history of couture and its top designers.