Louis Vuitton fosters the idea that an atelier can be a place of fulfillment and individuality. A place where savoir-faire can be learned, respected and transmitted - and innovation nurtured - by artisans who routinely challenge the image of a traditional workshop. In pursuit of regional expertise and artisanal excellence, Louis Vuitton's ateliers span the length and breadth of France and beyond, from Geneva (Switzerland), to Fiesso d'Artico (Italy) and even Texas (USA). Sites of historic interest or outstanding natural beauty will often have a Louis Vuitton workshop nearby: in Normandy, the sea-girt fastness of Mont-Saint-Michel can be seen from the workshop at Ducey, and in Beaulieu-sur-Layon, the light-flooded facility promises low environmental impact.
Featuring photographs commissioned exclusively for this book, the volume showcases the extraordinary locations and buildings of Louis Vuitton's ateliers, and the equally extraordinary artisans who express their talent through Louis Vuitton's creations (trunks, bags, fragrances, watches, shoes, high jewellery and readyto- wear), while carrying the founder's techniques and savoir-faire into the twenty-first century. It is to these ateliers and the inspiring people who work there that this book is dedicated.
When Virgil Abloh took his first bow for Louis Vuitton in June 2018, fashion changed forever. The newest addition to the Classics Collection, Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh honors the designer's boundary-breaking creativity on and off the runways. With over 250 stunningly iconic images and personal reflections from Abloh's inner circle, including Nigo, Naomi Campbell, Luka Sabbat, Kendall Jenner and Kid Cudi, the book is the definitive chronicle of a partnership that redefined not only dress codes but their very vocabulary.
Made in Italy, the Classics collection editions are available in two different silk hardcovers. One cover features a cartoon artwork from Virgil's spring-summer 2021 show by cultural icon and artist Reggieknow, and the other cover is taken from Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton's spring-summer 2022 spinoff show in Miami.
Please note that the interior content is the same for the Classics and Ultimate editions.
Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé were worldbuilders of an unparalleled caliber; true tastemakers who approached each interior project with imagination and rigeur, crafting grand spaces infused with personality and provenance. Connoisseurs in every sense of the word with a deep knowledge and appreciation for art and interior design, the two built and lived among a spectacular and carefully-considered collection. In close collaboration with world-class designer Jacques Grange, they crafted private spaces full of wonder and enchantment.
Readers are invited to discover the couple's savoir-faire through the most exquisite photographs of the interiors and gardens of Yves's Château Gabriel, the dacha in Deauville; the Villa Majorelle in Marrakech; the apartment on rue de Babylone and his maison de couture on avenue Marceau. With photographs by Marianne Haas, and texts and special contributions from Jacques Grange, Catherine Deneuve, Betty Catroux, Laurence Benaïm, Louis Benech and other members of Yves' tribe, the creative couple's legacy lives on.
Hen Charles Lewis Tiffany opened his first store in 1837 in New York City, selling fancy goods imported from Paris, he could not have imagined the visions of glamour that his name would conjure around the world. Tiffany & Co. has transformed from a modest purveyor of gift items to a globally renowned byword for luxury and romance, sublime and rare gemstones, joyful objects of love and an inimitable mix of tradition and modernity. Tiffany is a name that resonates across generations and cultures, part of the fabric of social and cultural history, an American institution gifted to the world, an emporium of escapism, a repository of dreams.
During its 185 years, Tiffany & Co. has continued to evolve creatively, embracing artistic and cultural influences, finding exciting ways to renew its rich legacy. Since the 1950s, Tiffany has brought on designers who have become iconic names, from Jean Schlumberger to Elsa Peretti and Paloma Picasso, ensuring that Tiffany remains dynamic and relevant to each generation. The company's design-driven dynamism honors and perpetuates the founder's pioneering spirit.
Today Tiffany continues to bring fantasy to its annual high jewelry collections, while also speaking to new generations through original collections that offer personal self-expression, so much part of Charles Lewis Tiffany's original concept. The beat goes on, the pulse of New York and of creativity, the quest for modernity and originality intertwined with reverence for Tiffany's great heritage.
Conceived as the catalog to accompany the exhibition Vision and Virtuosity at the Saatchi Gallery in London, this volume encapsulates all the romance and heritage of this world-famous American icon, highlighting Tiffany's creative inspirations, witty advertisements and window displays, Blue Book jewel collections and diamond expertise, plus the stories behind the blue box, the classic film Breakfast at Tiffany's and the fabulous yellow Tiffany Diamond.
In celebration of the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the house of Dior comes the first volume in a series devoted to each designer of the couture house. Dior by Christian Dior is the ultimate compendium of the most iconic haute couture designs conceived by Christian Dior. Carefully conserved in the world's great museums and institutions, these fashion treasures have been photographed and exclusively compiled for this indispensable collection.
Internationally acclaimed interior design sensation Miles Redd is known for his quirky brand of cozy glamour. His unique aesthetic vision is characterized by playful mélanges of high and low, invigorated with whimsical splashes of color and modern gestures. Drawing on inspirations ranging from Richard Avedon fashion photographs to Rene Gruau illustrations, Redd has crafted interiors for a wide array of venues. His Trademark approach to design has brought to life rooms infused with boldness, fantasy, and sophistication. This lavishly illustrated volume will be an inspiration to anyone interested in spirited, eclectic design.
During his time as a student at London's Central Saint Martins, Gibraltar-born British fashion designer John Galliano worked as a dresser at the National Theatre, learning the art of costume and the power of illusion. As a regular in London nightclubs, Galliano met a coterie of artists and colorful personalities, forging strong ties with kindred spirits who would play a decisive role in his career - among which Stephen Jones, who would become Dior's milliner.
Following the success of his own brand (founded in 1984,) he was appointed Creative Director of ready-to-wear and haute couture at Givenchy in 1995, before joining Dior in 1996 as Artistic Director of the women's collections. There, he distinguished himself with his extravagant shows that combined eclect...
Pour Pierre Cardin, citoyen de l'univers, le présent est en réalité un futur visionnaire et le cercle en est la métaphore absolue. L'histoire se souviendra de Pierre Cardin et ses créations futuristes (des robes en forme de structures organiques, des meubles mêlant sculpture et de architecture), lequel semble venir tout droit d'un atelier de l'ère spatiale. La mode, les accessoires, les bijoux et les parfums, les produits pour la maison, les restaurants, un théâtre et des festivals d'art..., l'univers créatif de Pierre Cardin est très varié et très ambitieux car l'homme lui-même est plus grand que la vie.
Premier couturier à avoir transformer son nom en marque internationale, Pierre Cardin est unique dans son mode de création et d'auto-promotion. Son elixir de jouvence (le travail rigoureux) l'alimente sans cesse. Reconnu pour sa prodigieuse inventivité, il demeure aujourd'hui une sorte d'électron libre, faisant rayonner son nom sur toute la surface de la Terre.
Coffret en langue française Assouline and Chanel present a newly updated trilogy celebrating the timeless spirit, signatures, and heritage of the house of Chanel, this slipcase set includes three Mémoire volumes: Chanel Fashion, Chanel Jewelry And Watches, and Chanel Fragrance And Beauty.
Gold-pure, indestructible, dazzling: Since the dawn of time, this precious metal has generated countless fantasies and beliefs. Whether it leads powerful rulers to the afterlife, casts a delicate glow on the Buddhist pagodas of Southeast Asia, illuminates the halos of saints, adds brilliance to the crowns of kings and popes, gleams on haute couture runways or glitters on a rapper's grill, gold is an eternal symbol of wealth and glory, the prized element's highly malleable nature lending itself to infinite metamorphoses.
What accounts for such a lasting and universal fascination? Thanks to its irresistible luminosity and remarkable resilience, gold is the ideal medium to symbolize both visible and invisible forces. Artists from Gustav Klimt to Andy Warhol and Yves Klein have exalted its metaphysical and fantastic nature. Ancient Egyptians regarded gold as «the flesh of the gods,» and Louis XIV, the Sun King, adopting Apollo as his symbol, transformed Versailles into a palace bathed in gold and light, setting a standard for all the other royal courts of old Europe. As a symbol of victory, it imparts a glowing aura to the new gods of awards podiums and sports stadiums.
Gold has always added a divine spark to any human endeavor. The dazzling effect of the hypnotic metal is universal, and it remains the supreme representation of luxury. With insightful texts by art historian Bérénice Geoffroy-Schneiter, this handcrafted Ultimate Collection volume showcases 100 of the rarest and most precious treasures marrying natural splendor and human craftsmanship, from amazingly detailed artifacts of ancient global civilizations to surprising modern creations by artists Man Ray, Hu Qin and Chris Burden. The book is also available in a special edition handcrafted volume nestled in a luxury gold-leaf covered case with a clear sliding lid infused with gold flakes.
Complimentary white gloves and a signature canvas tote bag are included with each purchase from Assouline's Ultimate Collection.
With the promise of eternity, jewels bestow gifts of adornment and beauty on those who wear them. Their value is multifaceted: intrinsic, sentimental, magical, human. Since the dawn of time, these few grams of precious metals and gems have acted as distillations of the highest sentiments and catalysts of the lowest passions.
Through its power and grandeur, jewelry has mirrored the human journey through the centuries, and French author and editor Fabienne Reybaud walks readers through all its facets while highlighting the world's most mythical stones and magnificent pieces, from the Hope Diamond to Elizabeth Taylor's La Peregrina pearl.
Extensively illustrated with atelier images, original sketches and colorful photography, this volume covers everything jewelry enthusiasts need to know, including the club of five and the four Cs. It is accompanied by an essential glossary, the best museum collections to visit around the world as well as the budding designers to follow and a buyer's guide to investing in antique and vintage pieces.
Royal Oak: From Iconoclast to Icon retraces how the Audemars Piguet's Royal Oak created a stir upon its release in 1972, with its armor of hand-finished stainless-steel encasing the thinnest self-winding mechanical movement of its era and has shone around the world in the decades that have followed. For the first time, steel was ennobled to the same status as gold. Inspired by the profound cultural, artistic, and industrial changes of the 1960s and early 1970s, this forward-looking timepiece anticipated a more active yet casual lifestyle, while heralding the beginning of a new high-end watchmaking era combining sportiness and refinement.
Although an outlier at birth, the Royal Oak soon found an audience among the free-spirited youth, who recognized the watch's audacious blend of technological advances and ancestral craftsmanship. The Royal Oak has been a canvas of innovation ever since, conversing with art, music, architecture, and sports. Today, a cultural artifact beyond watchmaking, the Royal Oak is an object of permanence in a world of obsolescence, embodying the creative freedom and the youthful spirit of those who have contributed to writing its story.
The book presents the Royal Oak's history from a broader cultural perspective, while shedding light on new archival materials uncovered by Audemars Piguet's Heritage department alongside exclusive testimonies of long-standing friends of the brand. The lively narrative text is illustrated with imagery from six decades of groundbreaking art, architecture, fashion, music, and cultural history, paralleling the evolution of this trailblazing timepiece beloved by innovative tastemakers and influential celebrities around the globe.
Furthering the Royal Oak's unique cultural journey, Bill Prince also gives voice to what he calls Generation Royal Oak, a group of watch connoisseurs who came of age following the timepiece's launch and whose achievements reflect the global, cultural movement that inspired it. This cohort notably includes Kevin Hart, Bjarke Ingels, Elle Macpherson, Mark Ronson, Serena Williams, and Ning Zetao, to name but a few.
Showcasing travel photographs by more than 150 of America's top architects and designers, Travel by Design is an inspiring guide to the power of travel to shape and expand our world. Travel by Design reminds us of the beauty and importance of travel, with images of more than 100 locations in 60 countries, from exotic destinations and global cities to adventure travels and all-American escapes. More than 350 photographs take readers on a global journey through cityscapes, ancient civilizations, luxurious resorts, and stunning natural wonders, all seen through the discerning and artistic eyes of today's leading creative talents. The images are sure to inspire dreams of escape, and the 40 pages of insider resources-from favorite hotels and restaurants to secret shopping sources and must-see monuments-will make planning future trips reassuring and easy.
An inspirational and informative resource, this volume highlights the preeminence of outstanding design and its importance for every civilization.
Fred Samuel, fondateur du célèbre Fred Joaillier, était un maître des pierres colorées qui a beaucoup séduit avec son élégant mode de vie sur la côte d'Azur, alors très en vogue. Né à Buenos Aires en 1908, il était le fils d'un bijoutier français immigré en Argentine. Paris servit de toile de fond à la carrière de Fred Samuel, initiée avec l'ouverture en 1936 de sa première bijouterie spécialisée dans les pierres brillamment colorées (telles que l'extraordinaire Golden Sun, un diamant jaune de cent cinq carats).
Le joaillier devint célèbre en rendant vivant des dessins originaux de Jean Cocteau : la nouvelle de ces créations se répandit bien vite et des têtes couronnées du Népal lui commandèrent des pièces pour accompagner leurs tenues royales. Le fils aîné de Fred Samuel diversifia cette collection joaillière ; il eut un jour l'idée de tresser des câbles marins et de les fixer au bout par des rivets afin de composer un bracelet qu'il offrit à sa femme : c'est ainsi que naquit en 1966 le premier bijou de la ligne « Force 10 ».
Quand Fred Samuel ouvrit une nouvelle boutique à Monaco, il rencontra la princesse Grace qui devint l'une de ses plus fidèles clientes, tout comme certaines actrices, telles que Marlene Dietrich. En 1989, il conçut le collier composé de diamants et serti de vingt-trois rubis taillés en forme de coeur que Julia Roberts porta dans le film Pretty Woman.
Quand la société fut confiée à Yan Sicard en 1996, le nouveau directeur artistique continua dans la même veine de créations novatrices, telles qu'une bague en forme de violon qui rappelait les oeuvres de l'artiste américain né en France, Arman. En 2012, un partenariat avec Kate Moss lança une nouvelle collection exclusive s'inspirant des tatouages du mannequin anglais, maintenant ainsi l'inventivité très contemporaine de Fred Joaillier sous les feux de l'actualité.
Assouline presents a portrait of an iconic yet somewhat mysterious artist whose work illuminated the decorative arts in the twentieth century. Jean-Michel Frank never attended a school of architecture or design, yet during the 1920s and 1930s this self-made interior designer honed and perfected his own unique style, which became a benchmark of Art Deco sophistication. Gold, silk, marble, and fine wood veneers were employed alongside straw marquetry, parchment, plaster, leather, canvas, and distressed oak.
Collaborating with the best artists of the time, including Alberto Giacometti and Christian Bérard, Frank designed and art directed streamlined yet sumptuous interiors for notable patrons from Marie-Laure and Charles de Noailles, Nelson Rockefeller, and Elsa Schiaparelli to French institutions like the Comédie Française and the Hôtel Crillon.
Just like the timeless little black dress, many of Jean-Michel Frank's interior designs still have the power to transform a space with understated elegance and continue to inspire contemporary style today. This definitive volume tells the story and shows the creations of one of the most influential designers of the twentieth century.
This richly illustrated volume traces the story of one of the world's most recognizable wristwatches through archive images and original photography, together with an evocative text by noted author, historian, journalist, and horological specialist Nicholas Foulkes.
Born in 1931, at the height of the Art Deco period, the Reverso was created in response to the challenge of designing a wristwatch that could withstand the rigours of polo matches. It captured the essence of the time - a period when the spirit of modernity changed everything, from social mores to architecture, music, sport and every field of design. Epitomizing this spirit with its sleek form and unique reversible case, the Reverso has remained an eternal expression of modernity for 90 years, continually reinventing itself while never compromising its identity. Its blank metal flip side, which began as a purely functional solution, became a canvas for creative expression, decorated with enamel, engravings or gemstones.
As well as tracing the history of the watch and its evolution over the past nine decades - with more than 50 calibres and several hundred dials - the book explores the social milieu and cultural changes that provided the backdrop to the creation of the Reverso and, later, its continued reinvention. It shares the stories of more than a dozen Reverso owners who have personalized their watches in deeply meaningful ways. And it also tells the fascinating story of Jaeger-LeCoultre's founders, their inventions that have had a profound impact on horological history, and the Maison's development as an integrated Manufacture with 180 skills brought together under one roof.
This slipcase volume is filled with striking images of Aldo Cipullo's modern jewelry designs, which are both iconic and universal, intimate yet also intensely personal, contemporary and timeless. Punctuated with Cipullo family photos and fond anecdotes from Aldo's friends, Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern unfolds the story of one of the most innovative and, until now, enigmatic talents of modern jewelry history.
De toutes les grandes maisons de couture parisiennes, Dior est peut-être la plus célèbre et la plus prestigieuse au monde, incarnant la vision sublime de Christian Dior sur la féminité. Après Yves Saint Laurent et Marc Bohan, tous deux engagés par Christian Dior lui-même, le couturier italien Gianfranco Ferré, diplômé en architecture de Milan Polytechnic, a été choisi en 1989 comme nouveau directeur artistique de la maison Dior.Les odes de Ferré à l'essence du style de Christian Dior ont contribué à cimenter l'iconographie de la maison pour une nouvelle ère. Connu pour son sens de l'architecture, son amour des silhouettes féminines, son extravagance et son opulence dans des couleurs audacieuses et ses tissus somptueux, ainsi que pour son drapage dynamique, Ferré a redéfini la notion de «Dior» en tant que style, code, esprit.Ce magnifique volume présente les créations de haute couture les plus emblématiques de Gianfranco Ferré pour Dior, allant de la collection automne-hiver Ascot - Cecil Beaton à la collection automne-hiver Indian Passion.
Beloved by a band of speed demons and rule breakers decked out in leather-strapped pilot goggles and long, wiry beards, the Race of Gentlemen, or TROG as it's affectionately come to be known, is a yearly celebration of American hot rod culture. It takes place once a year on the sandy beaches of Wildwood, New Jersey, where competitors and enthusiasts alike gather in the name of speed. Vintage cars, motorcycles and other weathered machines are raced more for camaraderie than for competition, capturing the best of a bygone era. With a foreword by artist Robert Williams, introduction by Chris Nelson and commentary from the race's founder Mel Stultz himself, The Race of Gentlemen brings readers down to the beach for a front row seat to the action.
For this update to the 2014 original edition, British historian and journalist Nicholas Foulkes has selected the 100 breakthrough timepieces developed since the advent of the twentieth century, weighing the virtues of rarity, costliness, innovative functions, historical importance, grand provenance and pleasing design. The watch-a microcosm of hundreds of minute components interacting harmoniously with each other and bound within a case of precious metal-has the power to awaken emotions, excite the imagination and inspire the same passion as great art. Beautiful timepieces invite us to join a story, and the narrative that these 100 examples unfold is that of one of the most exciting and dynamic periods in human history.
These miniature machines reflect the twentieth and twenty-first centuries' incredible technological advances and social changes, from the invention of the airplane to the effects of two world wars to the advent of space exploration and the dawn of the digital age. Featuring illustrious names such as Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Richard Mille, Rolex and Vacheron Constantin, these 100 timepieces include new additions like the 1925 Patek Philippe Ref. 97975, the earliest known perpetual calendar wristwatch, the 2014 Van Cleef & Arpels Midnight Planétarium and the 2022 Jacob & Co. Opera Godfather Musical Watch. This handcrafted Ultimate Collection volume features hand-tipped images and is presented in a luxury clamshell case.
With the promise of eternity, jewels bestow gifts of adornment and beauty on those who wear them. Their value is multifaceted: intrinsic, sentimental, magical, human. Since the dawn of time, these few grams of precious metals and gems have acted as distillations of the highest sentiments and catalysts of the lowest passions.
Through its power and grandeur, jewelry has mirrored the human journey through the centuries, and French author and editor Fabienne Reybaud walks readers through all its facets while highlighting the world's most mythical stones and magnificent pieces, from the Hope Diamond to Elizabeth Taylor's La Peregrina pearl.
Extensively illustrated with atelier images, original sketches and colorful photography, this volume covers everything jewelry enthusiasts need to know, including the club of five and the four Cs. It is accompanied by an essential glossary, the best museum collections to visit around the world as well as the budding designers to follow and a buyer's guide to investing in antique and vintage pieces.