Decorative Arts

Amidst the waking nightmares of today, the solace of goth looms from behind the shadows to soothe our morbid anxieties. Permeating pop culture at every level - fashion, music, film, beauty - what was once the preserve of the hooded misfit, has now seeped into the mainstream. Which can only mean one thing: must be the season of the witch. To further inspire and illuminate the darkness, interspersed throughout we hear from notable goths and goth coded people like Anjelica Huston, Aryuna Tardis, Christina Ricci, Michèle Lamy, and Simone Rocha on what this eldritch culture means to them.

From the distant past to the present, with fingers and felt-tipped pens, metallic powders and gel pots, humans have been drawn to lining their eyes. The aesthetic trademark of figures ranging from Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse, eyeliner is one of our most enduring cosmetic tools; ancient royals and Gen Z beauty influencers alike would attest to its uniquely transformative power. It is undeniably fun—yet it is also far from frivolous.

McQueen had risen from humble beginnings as the youngest child of an East London taxi driver to scale the heights of fame, fortune and glamour. He designed clothes for the world's most beautiful women, including Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. In business he created a multimillion-pound luxury brand that became a favourite with both celebrities and royalty, most famously the Duchess of Cambridge, who wore a McQueen dress on her wedding day. But behind the confident facade and bad-boy image lay a sensitive soul who struggled to survive in the ruthless world of fashion.

Sports journalist and veteran shoe tester Brian Metzler takes runners and kicksologists deep inside the $10 billion running shoe industry with a behind-the-curtain look at what makes iconic running shoe brands tick. Kicksology follows a shoe from inspiration to store shelf to show how innovative ideas evolve into industry-wide trends and fads. Metzler tours shoe labs where scientists advance our understanding of shoes and running mechanics as well as the domestic and overseas shoe factories where the world's favorite kicks are assembled.

Helping graphic designers find professional and spiritual support in the ever-demanding struggle to stay creative and profitable, this book reveals how some of today's most successful and intriguing designers keep growing as artists and as people with the power to affect public attitudes. Topics addressed include how to keep track of one's vision, the meaning of success, what sustains designers spiritually, and how to embrace change and stay fluid.

Instructive as it is innovative, Unlabel will empower you to channel your creativity, find the courage to defy convention, and summon the confidence to act and compete in any environment. This blueprint will teach you how to grow both creatively and commercially by testing your personal brand against the principles of the Authenticity Formula. Marc Eckō shares the bruising mistakes and remarkable triumphs that reveal the truth behind his success, growing from a misfit kid airbrushing T-shirts in his parents' garage to the bold creator of two hugely successful branded platforms.

Carrie Bradshaw’s pairing of a tutu with a tank top is one of the most iconic outfits ever seen on television—and a look that turned avant-garde New York designer and stylist Patricia Field into a household name. But before she was crowned the fairy godmother of haute couture, Field was the owner of the longtime East Village emporium Pat Field, a haven for drag queens, club kids, starving artists, NYU freshmen, and creative visionaries alike.

In this utterly charming volume, Stephen Fry excavates his epic collection of neckties and shares the stories behind them. From the traditional "egg and bacon" colors of the Marylebone Cricket Club to the exuberant Dalmatian pattern of a 1980s Nicole Miller design, each tie tells a story.

When the Hart-Celler Act passed in 1965, opening up US immigration to non-Europeans, it ushered in a whole new era. But even to the first generation of Asian Americans born in the US after that milestone, it would have been impossible to imagine that sushi and boba would one day be beloved by all, that a Korean boy band named BTS would be the biggest musical act in the world, that one of the most acclaimed and popular movies of 2018 would be Crazy Rich Asians, or that we would have an Asian American Vice President.

Versace. The very name conjures up images of outrageous glamour and bold sexuality, opulence and daring. All of course true, but only half the story. Versace is also the legacy of a great creative genius from a poor, backward part of southern Italy who transformed the fashion world through his intuitive understanding of both women and how a changing culture influenced the way they wanted to dress. House of Versace shows how Gianni Versace, with his flamboyant sister Donatella at his side, combined his virtuosic talent and extraordinary ambition to help create celebrity culture.

Joséphine Bonaparte, future Empress of France; Térézia Tallien, the most beautiful woman in Europe; and Juliette Récamier, muse of intellectuals, had nothing left to lose. After surviving incarceration and forced incestuous marriage during the worst violence of the French Revolution of 1789, they dared sartorial revolt.

Why does fashion hold so much power over us? Most of us care about how we dress and how we present ourselves. Style offers clues about everything from class to which in-group we belong to. Bad Feminist for fashion, Dress Code takes aim at the institutions within the fashion industry while reminding us of the importance of dress and what it means for self-presentation. Everything—from societal changes to the progress (or lack thereof) of women’s rights to the hidden motivations behind what we choose to wear to align ourselves with a particular social group—can be tracked through clothing.

Stitched Up delves into the alluring world of fashion to reveal what is behind the clothes we wear. Moving between Karl Lagerfeld and Karl Marx, the book explores consumerism, class, and advertising to reveal the interests which benefit from exploitation. Tansy E. Hoskins dissects fashion’s vampiric relationship with the planet and with our bodies to uncover what makes it so damaging.

A book unlike any other, Women in Clothes is essentially a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities - famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old - on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives. It began with a survey. The editors composed a list of more than 50 questions designed to prompt women to think more deeply about their personal style.

Part memoir, part manifesto, NFTs Are a Scam is the story of Bobby Hundreds’s journey into NFTs, Web3, and the Metaverse from 2020 to 2022. Hundreds’s first memoir, This is Not a T-Shirt, told his streetwear brand’s story of community, commerce, and style. Now, he wants to tell the story of when a community itself builds the brand. In NFTs Are a Scam, Hundreds’s shares his thoughts and philosophy around a decentralized digital revolution. Are NFTs a cult or a religion? And who do their followers pray to?

In Clothes...And Other Things that Matter, Alexandra Shulman delves into her own life to look at the emotions, ambitions, expectations and meanings behind the way we dress. From the bra to the bikini, the trench coat to trainers, the slip dress to the suit, she explores their meaning in women's lives and how our wardrobes intersect with the larger world - the career ladder, motherhood, romance, sexual identity, ambition, failure, body image and celebrity.

Feeling uninspired? If you’re a creative professional - or just someone who’d like to be more creative in your work and daily life - look no further than Designers Don’t Have Influences. Creative director, writer, advocate, and design cheerleader Austin Howe’s elegant, incisive, and amusing essays are sure to appeal to a wide spectrum of readers. Howe chronicles the lives, philosophies, and work processes of leaders in disparate fields from art to spirituality and even ice hockey, many of whom have never before been profiled in print.

Visual Impact is the ultimate crash course for marketers, small business owners, and content creators who want to create high-performing visuals—without being a designer. Forget complex design theory or expensive tools. This practical, beginner-friendly guide walks you through everything you need to know to craft attention-grabbing, scroll-stopping, and conversion-driving visuals for social media, ads, websites, and beyond.

In this easy-to-follow, action-packed guide, you’ll uncover how to make sustainable fashion choices without breaking the bank. Whether you're new to the world of eco-friendly fashion or looking for ways to refine your style while staying on budget, this book offers practical, realistic tips for creating a wardrobe that reflects your values—without compromising on quality or style.

Brimming with rich, electrifying tales of the precious dye and its ancient heritage, Indigo is also the story of a personal quest: Catherine McKinley is the descendant of a clan of Scots who wore indigo tartan; Jewish "rag traders"; a Massachusetts textile factory owner; and African slaves - her ancestors were traded along the same Saharan routes as indigo, where a length of blue cotton could purchase human life.