From Adidas to Zoram, Versace, and Edith Head, this volume chronicles the achievements of 164 renowned international designers and retailers who have most influenced American dress and culture from the late 19th century to the present. Written by Kellogg (Career Education Corp.), Amy T. Peterson (American Intercontinental Univ.), and Stefani Bay (Illinois Inst. of Art), the alphabetically arranged entries include biographical data, education, influences, awards, additional references, and the contribution the subject made to fashion. An appendix, a glossary, and cross references are included, and illustrations are placed throughout the text. The text closely examines the relationship between cultural development and style, showing, for instance, that the passage of the 19th Amendment (which gave women the right to vote) saw the rise of the brazen flapper. Those researching marketing, costume design, or social history will find this work both easy to use and full of interesting bits of trivia that make for excellent reading...
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Entrants in this book were chosen not for their artistic merit alone but because their influence on fashion is reflective of societal, political, or economic change. The focus is primarily on the U.S. Examples range from Coco Chanel, Calvin Klein, and Vera Wang to FUBU, the Gap, and Nike. Each entry contains basic biographical information about the designer or founding information about the company, describes signature styles, and outlines the career or company history. When appropriate, the entry summarizes licensing agreements and influential marketing innovations and defines the entrants' significance within fashion. Each entry is from one to two pages long and is completed by a short list of readings. Where available, Web site addresses are also included. The black-and-white illustrations were created specifically for this book.
The glossary following the entries is only slightly more than one page and could have been expanded. Appendixes include a chart of designers listed alphabetically showing the time periods in which they were active, a list of designers and retailers broken down by country and by specialty, a list of colleges with fashion design programs, and a list of museums with costume collections. This is followed by a short list of professional organizations and a selective bibliography of less than three pages.
This book offers good general coverage of the topic and is recommended for high-school, public, and academic libraries. Some recent comparable volumes with more complete coverage are Con temporary Fashion (St. James, 1995), which contains hundreds of black-and-white photos plus much more complete bibliographies; The Fashion Book (Phaidon, 1998), which includes excellent color photos with brief biographies; and Fashion: The Century of the Designer, 1900-1999 (Konemann, 2000), which includes exquisite color photos and an extensive glossary of terminology. Any of these titles should make the current book supplementary. RBB
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