My Favourite Art and Design Books

I love reading art and design books, and recently I was craving some new design reading material so I purchased a few new ones. I have around 20 books on my wish list and over the next few months I hope to buy them all to add to my bookshelf. I thought I would show you some of my favourites.

Matthew Williamson is my favourite fashion designer - I love every single garment/print he has ever created, so of course I had to buy his coffee table book when it was released a couple of years ago.
'50 Contemporary Fashion Designers You Should Know' was only published at the end of 2012 and cost less than £10. As you can see from the image below, each designer has been profiled with images of their collections added alongside. The book includes new labels such as The Row and Victoria Beckham.

1950's and 1960's Fashion Print Sourcebook by Marnie Fogg. I love archive and vintage prints from these two decades. My dissertation was a study of 50's textiles and I have also written assignments about 60's fashion, so when I saw these books I knew I had to buy them. The books are split into sections, each about a different style of print in each decade. The images are also superb.

Etcetera and Nomad by Sibella Court. Sibella Court is an interior stylist and Creative Director from Australia. I love interior design, and originally I wanted to be an interior designer (perhaps something to do with my slight obsession with the 90's TV show 'Changing Rooms'?), before realising that interior design/styling homes is more of a personal project for me. These books are simply gorgeous. Even the way in which the pages have been styled matches the creativity of Sibella's own interior styling. The books look at the concept of sourcing items for your home from a variety of different places and collecting when on your travels around the world.

The Stylist Guide To NYC by Sibella Court and London Style Guide by Saska Graville. As I just mention, I love Sibella Court, so when I knew I would be living in New York for 3 months I bought her NYC style guide. It lists pretty much every antique/vintage shop in Manhattan, as well as high street retailers, flea markets, haberdasheries, and she even recommends the best places to eat. Very detailed maps are included. When I lived in New York last year, I visited lots of the places she suggested. The London Style Guide is the same format but has been written by the deputy editor of Red magazine.

William Morris: Designs and Writings. As one of the most influential English textile designers of all time, how could I not own this book?

Here is a snap shot of some of the other books I own including: 'By Invitation Only: How We Built Gilt and Changed the Way Millions Shop' by Alexis Maybank and Alexandra Wilkis. I bought this whilst in New York. It is the true story of the 2 entrepreneurs from Harvard Business School and how they founded the billion dollar 'Gilt Groupe' and subsequently launched the fashion website Gilt.com. A good read for anyone wanting to start their own successful fashion business. I also have the Lonely Planet Guide to California. I have always wanted to do a coast to coast road trip of America, so I have begun to buy the Lonely Planet books (which are the best guide books I have found). Hopefully, sometime in the not too distant future I will be able to live this dream.

The next books I would like to buy from my wish list are: Alexander McQueen: Genius of A Generation, Zandra Rhodes: A Lifelong Love Affair with Textiles, Yinka Shonibare MBE (one of my favourite artists), Botanica by Howard Schatz (stunning floral photographs), any of the books by the incredible photographer David LaChapelle, Couture Interiors: Living with Fashion by Marnie Fogg and the coffee table book by my favourite artist Anthony Micallef. I also hope to buy more books about art history: Pop Art, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, etc.

*If anyone knows where I can buy Pucci: A Renaissance in Fashion by Shirley Kennedy for less than £100 then please let me know. Its so expensive online.

Phillippa x