As the century draws to its close, the leaders of American fashion are now more often acclaimed for their marketing than design skills. That such was not always the case is demonstrated by a recently-published book, Tiffany's 20th Century: A Portrait Of American Style. Author John Loring - design director at Tiffany & Co - takes advantage in this biography of the New York luxury goods store to examine the development of taste in his country over the past 100 years.
As befits a successful retail operation, Tiffanys has always provided a precise barometer of changes in fashion. Loring's opening chapters show a world in which overt opulence and heavy decoration was favoured; one of the most striking characteristics of this century has been the steady move away from lavish ornament in favour of simplicity and clean lines. This is seen in the three different buildings occupied by the company in Manhattan since 1900; first a cast-iron property, then a marble Venetian-inspired palazzo and, finally, the streamlined modernist monolith built in 1940.
The two decades following this last move in many ways represent the apotheosis of Tiffany style, thanks in part to the work of jewellery designer Jean Schlumberger and his happy coexistence with a generation of women distinguished for their remarkable taste - Babe Paley, Millicent Rogers and Mona Williams. Pictures of them all wearing Tiffany jewellery appear in this book, alongside photographs of other style arbiters from the period such as Diana Vreeland, Daisy Fellowes and Elsie de Wolfe.
More recently, the company has worked closely with Elsa Peretti - her "Bone" silver cuff bracelet is one of the century's most famous pieces of jewellery - and Paloma Picasso. The late Sybil Connolly also produced a range of tableware and crystal designs for Tiffany & Co. Over successive decades, images of the company's work have been captured by the very finest photographers including Hoyningen-Huene, Man Ray, Horst and Avedon. They are all well represented in Tiffany's 20th Century, which captures the energy and enthusiasm of American design, as well as the country's remarkable flair for self-promotion. Unfortunately, the book is not published on this side of the Atlantic, so visitors to the US over the coming months should be encouraged to buy a copy before returning home.
Tiffany's 20th Century: A Portrait Of American Style by John Loring is published by Abrams, price $60.