Thames & Hudson has long been one of the best publishers for art and design books and now the company is expanding into the area of fashion across several categories.
In the company's World Of Art series, for example, the latest arrival is a very thorough Dictionary Of Fashion And Fashion Designers by Georgina O'Hara Callan; its 1,200plus entries cover an impressively broad spectrum taking in such diverse references as Madonna - "She popularised the wearing of lingerie (particularly bras) as outerwear" - and this country's own, recently-deceased Sybil Connolly. Hollywood and hairdressers, street style and accessories, together with fashion terms, technical details and fabrics are all covered.
If a criticism must be made, it is that the dictionary's earliest entry only dates from around 1840, so that the previous century, during which fashion and couture as we know them today, first started to emerge is ignored. But as an inexpensive and comprehensive reference work, the dictionary ought to be acquired by anyone interested in fashion. New this month from Thames & Hudson are the first volumes in a series called Cutting Edge which is devoted to the examination of design across a wide range of fields. Of the initial four books, two look at fashion designers Patrick Cox and Georgina von Etzdorf.
Canadian-born Cox is this decade's bestknown shoe designer, thanks to the enormous appeal of his Wannabe diffusion line; he has since diversified into clothing and even produced a limited-edition scooter. Von Etzdorf's textiles, especially her sumptuous silks, have been just as influential - and covetable - in the 1990s. Each book has more than 150 specially-commissioned colour illustrations with a text written in close collaboration with its subject. Volumes on Diesel and Red or Dead will be added to the series next autumn. Also from the same publisher are four further additions to the Fashion Memoir series launched two years ago: Commes des Garcons; Donna Karan; Fortuny; and Thierry Mugler. As with their predecessors, these provide concise examinations of the designer in question's work, a career chronology and judicious mix of colour and black and white photographs and illustrations. Elegantly designed, they each provide perfect precis of some of fashion's greatest names. More are scheduled to appear later this year.
The Thames & Hudson Dictionary Of Fashion And Fashion Designers is £8.95 in the UK. Patrick Cox and Georgina Von Etzdorf, in the Cutting Edge series, are £9.95 in the UK. Commes des Garcons, Donna Karan, Fortuny and Thierry, all additions to the Fashion Memoir series, are £12.95 each. All books are published by Thames & Hudson.