December 22, 2017

Holidays are the time to browse through the beautiful and inspiring images of art and fashion books and read about the phenomena’s behind the images. I often return back to the old acquaintances as there is always something new to discover. With the wish for inspiring holidays, here are three of my many favourites.

 

1. Hussein Chalayan (Violette, ed., Rizzoli International Publications, New York 2001)

Hussein Chalayan is known for his avant-garde fashion shows that take advantage of technology integrated into the clothes to create movement, light and texture. Thorough his work he has been exploring social transformation and immigration. Playing with visual illusions, Chalayan illustrates how fashion can question the way we see and how we perceive our environment. The book also reveals the complex design and research process that is carried out before the release of each collection. When in doubt, re-reading this book always helps me to push the boundaries. This is a must read for those inspired by illusions, e-textiles and transformations.

 

2. Not a toy – Fashioning Radical Characters (ATOPOS  cvc, Zidianakis, ed., Pictoplasma Publishing, Berlin 2011)

Character design is definitely something that everyone who is interested in fashion should get involved with! Not a toy shows how character design influences fashion design. It features playful images with in-depth essays about fashion as a form of art and performance.

Pssst... If the aesthetics and humour of Not a toy is your piece of a cake, check the Pictoplasma tarot cards!

3. Schönheit wagen – Tanzkleider von Marion Cito (Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch GmbH, Wuppertal 2014)

I found this documentary book after visiting the 2017 Pina Bausch exhibition in Berlin. It beautifully covers the work by costume designer Marion Cito with stage photos of the designs. Cito is the devoted costume designer for almost all Pina Bausch choreographs which have very specified and strong aesthetics and rhythm. What I like about the designs is how they complement the movement of the dancers. With the movement Cito opens up yet another way to think about fashion and couture.  If you like the visuality of Pina Bausch, this is something to track down.

Interested? Come and browse through the books at TAUKO flagship store.

Text by Mila Moisio, photos by Till Bovermann.



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