Truly unique, Closet offers a visual celebration as exceptional as its author. As Nataniel looks back on his 30-year career, he takes us into his closet, showing his first self-made costumes, introducing his three designers and sharing close-up details of the most astounding costumes from his shows. Also with photo shoots, magazine and CD covers, Closet is a visual feast, a collector's item and an ode to an exceptional South African artist.

Closet is ’n unieke, luukse visuele viering en versamelstuk. Nataniël kyk oor sy roemryke loopbaan van 30 jaar terug wanneer hy sy aanhangers ’n kykie in sy klerekas gee. Hy wys van sy eerste kostuums, stel sy drie kostuumontwerpers voor, en vertoon sy heel beste kostuums van naderby. Closet, wat ook fotosessies, CD-omslae en katalogusse insluit, is ’n fees vir die oog en ’n ode aan ’n besondere kunstenaar.

After the success of 'Dreaming of Dior', Charlotte Smith offers another irresistible glimpse inside the wardrobe every woman would love to own.

Founded as a luxury leather goods house in 1854, Louis Vuitton was for many decades one of the world's leading trunk and accessories makers. It was after launching its first fashion collections in 1998, however, that the house reached unprecedented global fame, and pioneered high-profile collaborations with artists such as Richard Prince, Takashi Murakami and Stephen Sprouse. This definitive publication opens with a concise history of the house, followed by brief biographical profiles of Marc Jacobs, the first creative director 1998-2014, and Nicolas Ghesquiere, who helms the brand today, before exploring the collections themselves, organized chronologically. Each collection is introduced by a short text unveiling its influences and highlights, and illustrated with carefully curated catwalk images. Showcasing hundreds of spectacular clothes, details, accessories, beauty looks and set designs - and, of course, the top fashion models who wore them on the runway, from Naomi Campbell and Gisele to Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne. A rich reference section, including an extensive index, concludes the book.

In 1946, Abram Games left the War Office armed with this testimonial: `His work had to be subtly persuasive, or directly "propagandist" - but it was always effective, compelling, and of outstanding quality.' During the Second World War, Captain Games, holder of the unique title of `Official War Poster Artist', designed a hundred posters for army use. The Ministry of Information adapted several designs for civilians. There is a tale to tell about many of these images, especially about his infamous but most successful ATS Blonde Bombshell recruiting poster. Being the son of a photographer, Games employed many ingenious photographic tricks to convey his message of `Maximum Meaning, Minimum Means' in his designs. Most books on Graphic Design have included images by Abram Games. This is the only book published that concentrates solely on Games's war work. The Estate of Abram Games holds his large archive, which includes a memo from Churchill, personal correspondence, press cuttings, sketches, paintings, and maps for the Army Bureau of Current Affairs, and photographs from Games's seven years in army service.

How some design appears to be something that it is not-by beautifying, amusing, substituting, or deceiving. Pretense design pretends to be something that it is not. Pretense design includes all kinds of designed objects: a pair of glasses that looks like a fashion accessory rather than a medical necessity, a hotel in Las Vegas that simulates a Venetian ambience complete with canals and gondolas, boiler plates that look like steel but are vinyl. In this book, Danish designer Per Mollerup defines and describes a ubiquitous design category that until now has not had a name: designed objects with an intentional discrepancy between surface and substance, between appearance and reality. Pretense design, he shows us, is a type of material rhetoric; it is a way for physical objects to speak persuasively, most often to benefit users but sometimes to deceive them. After explaining the means and the meanings of pretense design, Mollerup describes four pretense design applications, providing a range of examples for each: beautification, amusement, substitution, and deception. Beautification, he explains, includes sunless tanning, high heels, and even sporty accessories for a family car. Amusement includes forms of irrational otherness-columns that don't hold anything up, an old building's facade that hides a new building, a new Chinese town that mimics an old European town. Substitution pretends to be a natural thing: plastic laminate is a substitute for wood, Corian a substitute for marble, and prosthetics substitute for human organs. Deception doesn't just bend the truth; it suspends it. Soldiers wear camouflage to hide; hunters use decoys to attract their prey; malware hides in a harmless program only to wreak havoc on a user's computer. With Pretense Design, Per Mollerup adds a new concept to design thinking.

How to confront, embrace, and learn from the unavoidable failures of creative practice; with case studies that range from winemaking to animation. Failure is an inevitable part of any creative practice. As game designers, John Sharp and Colleen Macklin have grappled with crises of creativity, false starts, and bad outcomes. Their tool for coping with the many varieties of failure: iteration, the cyclical process of conceptualizing, prototyping, testing, and evaluating. Sharp and Macklin have found that failure-often hidden, covered up, a source of embarrassment-is the secret ingredient of iterative creative process. In Iterate, they explain how to fail better. After laying out the four components of creative practice-intention, outcome, process, and evaluation-Sharp and Macklin describe iterative methods from a wide variety of fields. They show, for example, how Radiolab cohosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich experiment with radio as a storytelling medium; how professional skateboarder Amelia Brodka develops skateboarding tricks through trial and error; and how artistic polymath Miranda July explores human frailty through a variety of media and techniques. Whimsical illustrations tell parallel stories of iteration, as hard-working cartoon figures bake cupcakes, experiment with levitating office chairs, and think outside the box in toothbrush design ("let's add propellers!"). All, in their various ways, use iteration to transform failure into creative outcomes. With Iterate, Sharp and Macklin offer useful lessons for anyone interested in the creative process. Case Studies: Allison Tauziet, winemaker; Matthew Maloney, animator; Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, Radiolab cohosts; Wylie Dufresne, chef; Nathalie Pozzi, architect, and Eric Zimmerman, game designer; Andy Milne, jazz musician; Amelia Brodka, skateboarder; Baratunde Thurston, comedian; Cas Holman, toy designer; Miranda July, writer and filmmaker

Pointed Leaf Press is proud to announce a monograph on English interior designer Sue Timney. To say that Timney's work is eclectic is as obvious as calling the sky blue: eclecticism is her signature. Perhaps it is her peripatetic childhood that has given her a global vision. Born in Libya, her father's military career took her to Germany and Newcastle, England and she cites influences and interests as diverse as the Japanese filmmaker Kurosawa, the beatniks, and African tribal art. In addition to 25 years worth of captivating photographs and some never before published drawings, textile designs, and personal artworks, 'Making Marks' is a journey through a fascinating life - from a career launched in Japan, to the opening of the first Timney Fowler shop in London's hip Portobello area, and her successful career as an interior designer. An exhibition at the Fashion & Textile Museum in London is planned for November 2010.

elBulli was undoubtedly the most controversial and experimental 3-star Michelin restaurant in the world and Ferran Adria - the chef who earned elBulli it's worldwide fame - has been acclaimed as the best chef in the world. Ferran and his team at elBulli were the first to employ an industrial designer as part of their creative team. Luki Huber was that industrial designer and he spent from 2002 until 2005 at elBulli working exclusively hand-in-hand with Ferran charged with inventing new `artifacts' used either to prepare, cook, serve or perform Adria's unique culinary techniques. Luki kept all his drawings, sketches and beautiful photographs from this collaboration and they are brought together for the first time in this amazing notebook, with all the explanations of the purpose and stories behind every object. The book has a Prologue and Introduction from Ferran Adria, and is a must for all devotees of this extraordinary chef and his restaurant. Swiss-born Huber was trained at the Lucerne School of Art and Design and at the Escola Massana in Barcelona. He has been living in Spain since 1994, and has collaborated on a regular basis with a range of innovative clients working from the product design studio he created in 1999. The results of his work with elBulli combining the rigors of gourmet cuisine and the innovations of industrial design have been exhibited in the Pompidou Centre in Paris, in the D.Day, le design d'aujourd'hui.

Justine Picardie spent years puzzling over the truth about Coco Chanel, peeling away the accretions of romance and lies. Since its publication in 2010, hers has become the definitive Chanel biography. With a new foreword and previously unseen images, this new edition delves even deeper into the life and legacy of this eternally alluring woman. Coco Chanel was an extraordinary inventor - she conjured up the little black dress, bobbed hair, trousers for women, contemporary chic, best-selling perfumes, and the most successful fashion brand of all time - but she also invented herself, fashioning the myth of her own life with the same dexterity as her couture. While Chanel was supreme innovator and vendor of all things elegant and beautiful, what lies beneath her own glossy myth is far darker. Throwing new light on her passionate and turbulent relationships, this beautifully constructed portrait gives a fresh and penetrating look at how Coco Chanel made herself into her own most powerful creation. Justine Picardie brings the mysterious Gabrielle Chanel out of hiding, to celebrate her great achievements. She examines Chanel's enduring afterlife, as well as her remarkable life, uncovering the consequences of what she covered up, unpicking the seams between truth and legend, yet keeping intact the real fabric of her past.

Part of an exciting series of sturdy, square-box 1000-piece jigsaw puzzles from Flame Tree, featuring powerful and popular works of art. This new jigsaw will satisfy your need for a challenge, with a beautiful illustration by Lesley Anne Ivory, Blossom. This 1000 piece jigsaw is intended for adults and children over 13 years. Not suitable for children under 3 years due to small parts.

Now available in paperback, Pamela Todd's book celebrates William Morris's genius, presenting a thorough overview of his life and career, while setting out his guiding principles so that a modern audience can recreate the Arts and Crafts style in their own homes. A series of `Case Studies' explores six contemporary houses - from a modern London townhouse to a traditional Arts and Crafts home in Massachusetts - that have followed and adapted Morris's dicta, brilliantly demonstrating how the style can be applied to our environment today. The book concludes with a comprehensive style-sourcing section, as well as a gazetteer of places to visit for inspiration. `An excellent book' - The Times `The definitive source book for anyone interested in the Arts & Crafts style ... stunning' - Period Living and Traditional Homes `Gorgeous ... packed with intelligently researched information and more than 200 exquisite illustrations ... Get this if you're tempted to introduce the true spirit of Morris to your home' - Grand Designs

In 1947 Christian Dior rocked the fashion world with his New Look, which firmly secured the name of his house in the minds of the public and at the forefront of the industry. He drew on historical models of femininity and the unique skills of Parisian haute couture-as well as a myriad of suppliers-to produce stunning designs that caught the mood of optimism after the Second World War. Newly expanded and updated to accompany the V&A exhibition, 'Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams', this absorbing and beautiful book examines the seminal years of Christian Dior, 1947-57, from a truly international perspective.

This agenda is embossed with an all-over Paseo design on beautiful faux leather. Includes a striped elastic closure and ribbon marker with a lay-flat construction for ease of use.

A retrospective of McQueen's groundbreaking designs and a salute to his artistry, the book showcases his work from his graduate collection at Central Saint Martins to his latest designs created just days before his untimely death. Celebrating his work and vision, Alexander McQueen: The Life and the Legacy traces the designer's ascent to becoming one of the world's most respected couturiers - a story marked by celebrity friendships, unrestrained creativity, theatrical fashion shows and, ultimately, tragedy. The chronological organization allows the reader to understand McQueen's most seminal collections and the progression and underlying themes of his ideas. This book is dedicated to McQueen's work and talent, and exhibits not simply visually electrifying fashion images, but also reveals the deep reservoir of the designer's imagination.

Czech-born Jacqueline Groag (1903-1985) was an incredibly adept textile designer who trained at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna during the 1920s under Franz Cisek and Josef Hoffmann. She produced textile designs for the Wiener Werkstatte and some of the Parisian fashion houses while she lived in Vienna. She married the architect and interior designer Jacques Groag - they made a successful team. However, in 1939 they were compelled to emigrate to the UK. Jacqueline Groag continued to produce textile design work for the British market, and after the war her designs could be seen at numerous outlets such as David Whitehead, Grafton, John Lewis and Liberty. For more than 20 years she worked as a freelance designer, supplying designs for carpets, greetings cards, laminates, plastics, textiles, wallpapers and wrapping papers to many firms including Bond-Worth Carpets, British European Airways, the British Overseas Airways Corporation, Dunlop, ICI and London Transport. In 1984 she became a Fellow of the Faculty of Royal Designers for Industry. She was a prodigious and successful designer to the end of her life. Along with Lucienne Day and Marian Mahler she is seen as central to a new and exciting development in textile design in the 1950s. Together their work is featured in a major exhibition 'Designing Women' which begins in Colorado Springs in September 2008. This is a ground breaking publication on the work of this highly important and influential designer.

Presents botanical studies by sixty gold medal winning artists, from the Lindley Collections at the Royal Horticultural Society, the country's leading gardening charity. A historical essay explores the long-standing relationship between artists and the RHS. Introduces each medallist with a short biography and discussion of their winning composition. Features a diverse range of artists from across the globe. Botanical Illustration: a genre of art that endeavours faithfully to depict and represent the form, colour and detail of a plant. Abiding by this definition, the RHS Lindley Library has secured approximately 30,000 splendid illustrations of buds, fruit, flowers and leaves since they first started commissioning artists in 1806. RHS Botanical Illustration - Gold Medal Winners represents a cross-section of recent gold medallists from around the world. The RHS only award their gold medal to the most outstanding exhibitions, encouraging the international artistic community to perform to the highest standard. This gold medal is a highly-coveted testament to an artist's abilities, and the illustrations gathered in these pages demonstrate great attention to detail, masterful colour work and outstanding technical skill. Insightful commentary on the artists' creative process accompanies each picture. The perfect book for the lover of horticulture, as well as an excellent reference both for botanists and aspiring artists, this collection also includes an introductory essay that delves into the history of the RHS.

Covering the studio's complete output over twenty years - some 170 projects - Thomas Heatherwick: Making answers what many have asked: `How did he do that?'. Heatherwick Studio has continued to expand since the original edition was published in 2012. This new edition includes more large-scale international work, which will place Heatherwick's reputation alongside the most influential architects and designers of a generation. Heatherwick was personally involved in the book's every detail, ensuring that the most fascinating - and sometimes personal - facets of each projects are revealed, most for the first time.

Contains an essay discussing the life and work of the subject, followed by an illustrated appreciation of their work.

In 1970, the young Japanese designer Kenzo Takada opened his first boutique, Jungle Jap, in Paris and revolutionised the fashion world. His colourful, ethnic, and nomadic- influenced collections, made with luxurious and vibrantly patterned textiles, tweaked the conventions of haute couture while maintaining the quality of traditional European clothing houses. He was influenced by Parisian fashion and Japanese kimonos, boldly mixing colours and prints, cuts and materials. His vibrant palette and pattern combinations were joyful and whimsical, and very different from the subtle tailoring of the traditional Paris couturier. In his inspired blend of the opulent and the exotic, he developed a signature style and found early success. With stunning photography, and over 300 sketches from Kenzo's private collection, this book traces more than forty years of his creative output. It includes photographs from his high-energy runway shows, in addition to personal photographs, and a behind-the-scene look at the creation of a spectacular wedding dress, opening a window on the creative process and capturing Kenzo's energy, vision, and presence. Superbly illustrated throughout with pencilled and hand coloured sketches, swatched drawings, and previously unpublished archival photographs, the authors explore Kenzo's career, tracing the evolution of his cult label in a look-book of visual exuberance.

London based design consultancy Browns are five years old. In that time they have achieved an award-winning global reputation based on their ability to bridge the gap between the cultural and corporate arenas, manifesting itself as a successful design business. This is the fourth in the 'GCE Directions Series' that takes a look at famous design groups around the globe. In an amazingly short space of time and on top of their expanding brand/identity work, Browns have designed and published some thirteen award-winning books. The books have not only been influential from a design point of view but have also forced the design world to re-think how the barriers separating publishing and design can be broken down. From a New York Sex Club to a frozen Scottish Loch, the book takes a look at how six of these books came to be. In a visual scrap book format, the book tells the story of the personalities, adventures, travels and process surrounding each book, visually all laid bare on the printed page. It gives an insight into the level of commitment, drive and passion required for designers to successfully enter the publishing arena.

In Gods and Kings Dana Thomas, author of Deluxe, tells the story of how John Galliano and Alexander McQueen changed the face of fashion In the first decade of the 21st century the fashion world was dominated by two different but equally successful and turbulent figures. Within twelve months, Alexander McQueen had committed suicide, and John Galliano had professionally imploded. Who was to blame? And how was fashion changed by their rise and fall? Spanning the 80s, 90s and noughties, Gods and Kings tells the story of these two charismatic figures and times of great change in the world of fashion, from London's raucous art and club scene to the old-world glamour of Parisian couture, and reveals the machinations of this notoriously secretive industry.

Few, nowadays, could name either the artists or the copywriters behind the many iconic advertising campaigns in Britain in the inter-war years. Even fewer could name the entrepreneurs who made such achievements possible. William 'Bill' Crawford was one such, who through his energy, imagination, financial acumen and sheer chutzpah, built up one of the leading agencies of the time. He was one of the first to establish overseas offices, commissioned one of the earliest 'modernist' buildings in London, championed the key role of women in his industry, and was one of the most progressive when it came to art and design. He not only ran a successful company but was a major contributor to raising the professional status of his industry. Working alongside legendary art director Ashley Havinden, Crawford and his agency exerted enormous influence on British advertising during the first half of the twentieth century.