le bouquin de la mode

The great couturier was born. It all started in the 19th century with Worth, the first couturier, followed by Ducet, Poiret, Madame Grès, Chanel, Saint Laurent, Rykiel, Lacroix, Gaultier… but behind their glamour and celebrity lies the secret world of fashion houses, a structural and complex system based on hierarchy and expertise. Over the decades, following the vagaries of history and technological innovations, the metamorphoses of fashion unravel, one after another. The shapes continue to change (before coming back again), much like the woman’s silhouette, whose beauty is tirelessly celebrated. It is this frivolous and demanding universe that the book "Le Bouquin de la Mode" illustrates.

Conceived by Olivier Saillard and a team of specialists, this volume includes an anthology of texts, the oldest dating from the 14th century up to the most audacious styles of the 21st century. Writers have always expressed the fashions of their time; some have tried to ‘systemize’ it, while others have mocked or celebrated it. Fashion is everywhere, oftentimes hidden in the small details of an accessory, a sac resting under a woman’s arm, a piece of jewelry, a perfume or makeup. Sometimes, fashion speaks in dialogue with ideals of Virtue, or with Death. Fashion rules the modern world, driving the passions of those who create, and those who follow.

This work is a Robert Laffont edition, published in the Bouquin Collection.

The cover illustration, created by Christian Lacroix, presents one of Azzedine Alaïa’s emblematic dresses.