Book Description

While current fashion is fusing diverse cultural styles, National Geographic author Cathy Newman provides a fascinating global perspective on the historical and cultural significance of clothing and adornment. This timely—and timeless—subject is explored in evocative essays and lavish illustrations that offer a fresh perspective for today’s style-obsessed culture.

Featuring lively, anecdotal interviews from contemporary designers, fashion editors, historians, and cultural anthropologists, Fashion offers a dynamic approach to this sumptuous topic from industry insiders. Newman, focusing on the body adorned, infuses her narrative with a sense of appreciation for the decadence and innovation that surrounds the notion of style. Intelligent, tantalizing, and extravagant, Fashion is a unique compilation of spectacular images, clothes, designs, and writing.

Praise for Fashion:

“Lavish.” —The Los Angeles Times

“A stunning array of international images of beauty that tell stories of ancient and contemporary times....It’s about more than haute couture runway fashions.” —St. Louis Dispatch

“A picture book of the most glamorous images.” —The Times (London)

FROM OUR EDITORS

As Anatole France observed, "Show me the clothes of a country and I can write its history." In National Geographic's magnificent collection of photographs and essays, the history of people from all over the world is plainly written in their clothing. Fashion documents apparel in all its diverse forms, from the exclusive designs of the modern runway to elaborate native costumes from around the globe. Archival photographs from the turn of the century appear next to vibrantly colored images from contemporary photographers, highlighting the similarities in the art of adornment that span the ages. Thoughts and reminiscences from icons of modern fashion, such as Vivienne Westwood and Yves Saint Laurent, are interspersed throughout the stunning photographs, along with the fashion-oriented musings of anthropologists and authors.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

While current fashion is fusing diverse cultural styles, National Geographic author Cathy Newman provides a fascinating global perspective on the historical and cultural significance of clothing and adornment. This timely—and timeless—subject is explored in evocative essays and lavish illustrations that offer a fresh perspective for today’s style-obsessed culture.