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Ann Demeulemeester Hardcover – October 14, 2014

by Ann Demeulemeester (Author), Patti Smith (Introduction)

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The first and highly personal perspective into the work and processes of Ann Demeulemeester, one of the most influential and inspiring fashion designers of our time. Graduating from Antwerp’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1981, Ann Demeulemeester (and her contemporaries in the Antwerp Six) transformed global fashion with an aggressive restatement of traditional fashion design and a polemical approach to luxury trends. Influenced by punk, she founded her label in 1985 and imbues her designs with a strong narrative and rebellious spirit. For Demeulemeester, fashion is a form of communication. Her complex language of contrasts covers a whole gamut of emotions. The tension is highly poetic, and her clothes reveal many layers of soul. Known for her elegant tailoring and dark yet glamorous aesthetic, she created a serene and darkly romantic world with an intriguing mix of edgy rebellion and sophistication. This book is a tribute to Demeulemeester’s historical career, with over 1,000 photographs approximating some of the mystery and detailing associated with her brand.

Print length

2028 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Rizzoli
Publication date

October 14, 2014
Dimensions

6.77 x 3.09 x 9.86 inches
ISBN-10

0847843505
ISBN-13

978-0847843503
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“Even if you don’t have many of the designer’s pieces hanging in your closet, you can celebrate her work with a new permanent fixture on you coffee table.” –Fashionista.com

“The book is, natch, black, with a lot of white space on each page perfectly framing photographs that chronicle Ms. Demeulemeester’s 30 years in fashion. It has been her main project since she stepped down from her house…While it is quite thick, however, it is regular book length and width — it’s not one of those glossy megaliths that require their own coffee table — which makes it something of an elegant surprise. It’s pretty much her aesthetic in magnum opus form.” –The New York Times

“The music industry has the White Album. And now fashion has an iconic black book, thanks to a beautiful new volume from Rizzoli…The new tome tells her story and represents the perfect incarnation of her style. It looks and feels almost sacred, with pages so thin the images can be seen on both sides of each sheet; it's a truly delicate beauty. For this reason, every single page is printed only on one side, creating a uniquely singular reading experience. The size and weight of the book gently contrasts with the fragility and smoothness of the paper, while the almost total white of the inside is in opposition with the blackness of the sides and the linen cover.” –Cool Hunting

“Must-Read! Ann Demeulemeester’s New Self-Titled Tome. Ann Demeulemeester’s first book isn’t your average coffee table publication. It’s not the sort of bold-faced title that will gather dust and indented mug rings…. It’s more of an elegant keepsake, a rare treasure waiting to be explored by curious eyes and nimble fingers. Continue to thumb through the glossy pages and you’re presented with 1,000 carefully curated images spanning from 1982 to 2014 — all detailing a darkly romantic vision inspired by muses from Beat poet Allen Ginsberg to photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. With every page, it becomes clear this isn’t a gimmicky, Saran-wrapped present you gift to just anyone. It’s a beautifully crafted retrospective meant for a connoisseur’s private collection.” –The Fashion Spot

"Though the wave of sadness felt after Ann Demeulemeester's departure from her eponymous label endures, the fashion set should find some consolation come fall. Demeulemeester has announced that she's penned a hardcover tome from Rizzoli....which is due out in October. The book promised to be "the first and highly personal perspective into the work and processes of Ann Demeulemeester," will boast more than one thousand images. Though springs' only just arrived, well be counting down the days until autumn." -Style.com

"If anyone is still pained by Ann Demeulemeester's departure from her eponymous label last year, this epic career retrospective penned by the designer is the cure. The pages detail the Antwerp Six designer's career from her graduation show in 1981 to the dark, frequently subversive collections she became famous for in the 1990s. Although known for a signature edge to her aesthetic, the photographs shine a light on a highly poetic quality that exists in the designer's best work.” –San Francisco Chronicle

“The $100 tome will contain more than 1,000 photographs that offers an intimate look at the mysterious designer and her lauded career.” –Daily Front Row

"Ann Demeulemeester, who dispatched a hand-written letter last November to reveal her exit from fashion, is now working on a book. The hardcover Rizzoli tome, written by the Belgian designer and with an introduction by musician Patti Smith, is due out in mid-October, and billed by the publisher as “the first and highly personal perspective into the work and processes of Ann Demeulemeester, one of the most influential and inspiring fashion designers of our time." -WWD

"The book is already boasting buzz for its features. The project's introduction will reportedly be written by musician Patti Smith, who was a longtime muse and friend of the designer. For $100 price tag, you'll be able to feast your eyes on more than 1,000 photographs from the designer's long and eventful career in fashion." -FashionTimes.com

“A long-awaited and very weighty monograph on Ann Demeulemeester…The cloth-bound book is, obviously, black and comes in a matching slipcase…It’s not a regular, large-format coffee table affair, but its thickness is a physical reminder of how rich Demeulemeester’s career in fashion has been. As a matter of fact, if not for the thin paper stock, the 2000-page tome might prove unwieldy. The first part is a treasure trove of early photography, virtually impossible to come by in the pre-Internet era. From these you can glean how early some signature elements of Demeulemeester’s aesthetic appeared…There are no breaks of any kind to separate one collection from the next— a reminder that Demeulemeester sees her work as one continuous, undivided series of chapters.” –Hint Magazine

“The book is an exclamation point in the last sentence of Demeulemeester’s career, which is a long novel in itself…Demeulemeester spoke of it as if it was the perfect closure to her body of work in fashion. The book was a family affair. It’s not a regular, large-format coffee table affair, but its thickness is the physical reminder of how rich Demeulemeester’s career in fashion had been.” –StyleZeitgeist

About the Author

Ann Demeulemeester was born in Waregem, Belgium, in 1959 and graduated from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. She and her husband Patrick Robyn established her label in 1985. Patti Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet, and visual artist.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Rizzoli; BOX edition (October 14, 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 2028 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0847843505
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0847843503
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 6.56 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.77 x 3.09 x 9.86 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,750,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #743 in Fashion Photography (Books)
- #1,276 in Fashion History
- #3,760 in Fashion Design

Customer Reviews:
39 ratings

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5 star		71%
4 star		7%
3 star		6%
2 star		7%
1 star		9%

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B.Stasi

Mixed Emotions...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 24, 2014

Verified Purchase

It’s difficult to express how I feel about this book: on one hand it is a beautiful object, on the other hand it could have been so much more.

As an object: It is literally an Ann Demeulemeester Bible with its black linen covering, its black edging to each (almost bible weight) vellum-like page, its looooong black lace woven throughout to act as a bookmark, and of course the black linen covered box that acts to protect it all… It’s beautiful. What’s disappointing is that, excluding the beautiful forward by Patti Smith and the brief final paragraph by Ann, the rest of the book offers no insight or commentary into the world of Ann or what happens behind the scenes. The book’s contents simply serve as a record of her runway shows, presented chronologically and without separation or commentary, and a few very early lookbook style photographs that are hard to find elsewhere. Each photo is roughly 3.5”x 5” with a substantial white border and a blank page opposite. It can be emotive to look through each page one by one, but upon a quick glance as a whole; it’s a little underwhelming (esp. when it’s the only book about her and that you can easily find much larger/clearer photos of the more recent collections online...) If you Love Ann you’ll want this object on your bookshelf and this record of her work for your memories, but if you don’t already know her/the brand, the contents of this book will not likely convert you in the same way that many of the other fashion books out there might.

14 people found this helpful

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Lee

One Of The Most Beautiful Book!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

This book is very special! The printings, the papers etc. Simply beautiful!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 18, 2016

Verified Purchase

Only a book of photosand not very good ones..Explanations are missing. A pity for such an expensive book.

One person found this helpful

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Mindy Heddens

ann is in a league all her own with the ...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 2, 2015

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ann is in a league all her own with the most unique wearable clothing....the style is above the rest of her peers

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nicolas rivero

the book is nice at first sight

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 27, 2014

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the book is nice at first sight, but as soon as I open it from the hard case the cover rip apart from the body of the book, a little disappointing coming from Rizzoli.

9 people found this helpful

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Anna Baca

IT DIDNT HAVE THE PICTURED SLEEVE

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on May 13, 2020

Verified Purchase

I received this book with NO sleeve ???? It’s literally just a plain black book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

If you love Anne Demuelemeester you have to own this beautiful book !

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 24, 2014

Verified Purchase

Beautiful book, front to back. Simplicity at it's finest.

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Mrs. Deborah O'Hara

a poor quality and overpriced representation of ann demeulemeester's work - ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on February 8, 2018

Verified Purchase

this expensive book arrived separated from it's spine by dint of it's size and weight far exceeding the quality of the binding used. the images are plenty but printed only to the size of that shown on the frontispiece - possibly even smaller - and the print quality is disappointing. a poor quality and overpriced representation of ann demeulemeester's work - returned for refund.

Marcin

... book presents so small pictures but it is still amazing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 20, 2014

Verified Purchase

Shame that book presents so small pictures but it is still amazing

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Three Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on October 23, 2015

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just run way photos, nothing else

ricco see kien cheng

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 24, 2015

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Beautiful

Ivo

Un nome di nicchia ma importante

Reviewed in Italy 🇮🇹 on August 22, 2019

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Forse un nome non così commerciale, ma sicuramente rilevante nel panorama della moda mondiale. Un volume interessante da sfogliare per ammirare la creatività della Signora Ann

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Ann Demeulemeester Hardcover – October 14, 2014

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