* An essential reference for students, curators and scholars of fashion, cultural studies, and the expanding range of disciplines that see fashion as imbued with meaning far beyond the material. * Over 300 in-depth entries covering designers, articles of clothing, key concepts and styles. * Edited and introduced by Valerie Steele, a scholar who has revolutionized the study of fashion, and who has been described by The Washington Post as one of "fashion's brainiest women." Derided by some as frivolous, even dangerous, and celebrated by others as art, fashion is anything but a neutral topic. Behind the hype and the glamour is an industry that affects all cultures of the world. A potent force in the global economy, fashion is also highly influential in everyday lives, even amongst those who may feel impervious. This handy volume is a one-stop reference for anyone interested in fashion - its meaning, history and theory. From Avedon to Codpiece, Dandyism to the G-String, Japanese Fashion to Subcultures, Trickle down to Zoot Suit, The Berg Companion to Fashion provides a comprehensive overview of this most fascinating of topics and will serve as the benchmark guide to the subject for many years to come.

One of the few surveys of Black style and fashion ever published, How to Slay offers a lavishly illustrated overview of African American style through the twentieth century, focusing on the last thirty-five years. Through striking images of some of the most celebrated icons of Black style and taste, from Josephine Baker, Michelle Obama, Maya Angelou, and Miles Davis to Rihanna, Naomi Campbell, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams, this book explores the cultural underpinnings of Black trends that have become so influential in mainstream popular culture and a bedrock of fashion vernacular today. A preponderance of Black musicians, who for decades have inspired trends and transformed global fashion, are featured and discussed, while a diverse array of topics are touched upon and examined hats, hair, divas, the importance of attitude, the use of colour, 60s style, the influence of Africa and the Caribbean, and the beauty of black skin.

The more than eighty collaborators featured in this book comprise an A to Z of Vuitton s creative collaborations, especially from the last decade, with significant chapters devoted to the work of Nicolas Ghesquiere, Marc Jacobs, Takashi Murakami and other key collaborators. Never forgetting the long tradition of the house, the period covered by the book from the late 1990s through the present day will describe the role that Louis Vuitton is playing in a crucial moment in global fashion. Now with 536 pages, this edition features more than 130 pages of stunning new imagery that showcases the increasingly symbiotic relationship between fashion, art, and design.

Corsets. High heels. Thigh-high leather boots. Tattoos and body piercing. What do they mean?

Historically grounded and abundantly illustrated, Fetish: Fashion, Sex, and Power charts the boundaries of the normal and `perverse', showing how even the most unusual clothing fetishes enable their wearers (male and female, gay and straight) to use clothing to express their social and sexual identities.

Paris, Capital of Fashion accompanies a major exhibition at The Museum at FIT, New York's only museum dedicated solely to the art of fashion. This lavishly-illustrated book is edited by MFIT's director and chief curator, Valerie Steele, also the author of the acclaimed Paris Fashion: A Cultural History. This new book opens with an important essay on how and why Paris became famous as the international "capital of fashion." Steele traces how the mythic "aura" of Paris fashion was constructed over generations, as the splendour of the court at Versailles came to be echoed by the spectacle of the haute couture. Yet Paris has faced repeated challenges from other fashion capitals, especially London, Milan, and New York. Essays by Christopher Breward, David Gilbert, Grazia d'Annunzio, and Antonia Finnane place Paris within a broader global narrative, while Sophie Kurkdjian investigates the cultural value of the Parisian couture, and Agnes Rocomora explores the online imagery of the chic Parisienne. As The New Yorker recently put it, Paris is "the most glamorous and competitive of the world's fashion capitals." No other city has been branded "Fashion" as Paris has. By opening the study of Paris fashion to new approaches, this book explains why Paris still retains its position as the world's undisputed fashion capital.

From Azzedine Alaia, Cristobal Balenciaga, and Coco Chanel to Alexander McQueen, Yves Saint Laurent, and Vivienne Westwood, more than a century's worth of fashion greats from the permanent collection of The Museum at FIT in New York City are celebrated in this fresh edition of Fashion Designers A-Z. 15 new names join the ranks of the industry's most admired-Phoebe Philo, Patrick Kelly, and Sonia Rykiel, to name a few-in this updated and expanded release showcasing some 500 garments in the Museum's permanent collection. From an exquisitely embroidered velvet evening gown to Mondrian-influenced minimalist chic, each piece has been selected and photographed not only for its beauty, but for its representative value, distilling the unique philosophy and aesthetics of each of the featured designers. In her introductory essay, the Museum's director and chief curator Valerie Steele writes about the rise of the fashion museum, and the emergence of the fashion exhibition as a popular and controversial phenomenon. International style authority Suzy Menkes contributes a foreword, texts by the museum's curators shine historical light on each label and garment pictured, and 125 drawn portraits by artist Robert Nippoldt pay homage to the creators behind them.

Corsets, cruel shoes and boots, thigh-high black stockings, leather catsuits, and second-skin rubber...Today "everything from a fetishist's dream" appears on the fashion runways. Kinky clothes formerly seen only within sexual subcultures are now worn by club kids and socialites alike. Hitherto secret sexual practices (sexual fetishism, sadomasochism, and transvestism) have become increasingly visible throughout popular culture. In Fetish: Fashion, Sex & Power, noted fashion historian Dr. Valerie Steele explains why fetish fashion has gone mainstream.

"Steele is to fetish dressing what Anne Rice is to vampires," writes Christa Worthington of The Independent. Tracing the historic connections between fashion and fetishism, Steele explains why items like corsets, high-heeled shoes, silk underpants, and leather jackets have appealed to so many men and women. She provides provocative answers to such questions as: Is fetishizing the norm for males? Why do so many women love shoes? When the straps and stilettos of the dominatrix are featured in mainstream fashion magazines, what does it say about our society? She analyzes, for example, the "bondage" collection presented by the Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace, which stirred much controversy, provoking The New York Times to ask whether it was "Chic or Cruel?" Steele marshals a dazzling array of evidence from pornography, psychology, and history to illuminate the complex relationship between fetishism and fashion, noting that, precisely because it seems so bizarre--why would someone be sexually excited by shoes?--fetishism shows how human sexuality is never just a matter of doing what comes naturally, it is always a psychological construction in which fantasy plays an important role.

Historically grounded and abundantly illustrated, Fetish: Fashion, Sex & Power charts the boundaries of the normal and the "perverse," brilliantly showing how even the most unusual clothing fetishes form part of a continuum of behavior that enables everyone (male and female, gay and straight) to use clothing to express their social and sexual identities.

An astute exploration of the most outrageous shoe designs of the 21st century This fabulously illustrated book explores western culture's fascination with extravagant and fashionable shoes. Over the past decade, shoe design has become increasingly central to fashion, with fashion companies paying ever more attention to shoes and other accessories. High-heeled shoes, in particular, have become the fashion accessory of the 21st century. Co-written by one of the world's leading historians of fashion and an authority on fashion accessories, the book features approximately 150 pairs of the most extreme and ultra-fashionable styles of the past 12 years, including work by such prominent designers as Manolo Blahnik, Pierre Hardy, Christian Louboutin and Bruno Frisoni for Roger Vivier, as well as shoes by influential design houses such as Azzedine Alaia, Balenciaga, Alexander McQueen, and Prada. Avant-garde styles by up-and-coming designers such as Japan's Kei Kagami and Noritaka Tatehana are also highlighted. Shoe Obsession examines recent extreme and fantastical shoe styles in relation to the history of high heels, the role of shoes as a reflection of their wearers' personality traits, and the importance of shoes in art and exhibitions. The book is lavishly illustrated with full-color photographs of spectacular contemporary shoe designs. Published in association with The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York Exhibition Schedule: The Fashion Institute of Technology, New York (02/07/13-04/13/13)

Since the nineties, Walter Van Beirendonck has been fascinated with masks. They change your identity, invoke a certain atmosphere and have an instant impact. Many artists, among whom are Andre Breton, Pablo Picasso and even Brueghel, have been influenced by them. Power Mask - The Power of Masks elaborates on the many different aspects of masks: the link between Western art and African masks, the supernatural aspect, rituals about masks, masks in fashion or as a fetish...Walter Van Beirendonck is "a truly engaged visionary and a passionate designer, artist and teacher." - Jurgi Persoons, fashion designer. "Walter Van Beirendonck succeeded where I have failed; he turned me into a muscle-man instantly. He is a true artist and there's not many of them around." - Bono, lead singer of U2. "Come along and take a ride into the crazy helter-skelter, inside-out, upside-down world of Walter Van Beirendonck. Colours and shapes reach psychedelic dimensions to charm and astound you." - Stephen Jones, milliner. This book accompanies an expo in the Wereldmuseum (World Museum) Rotterdam, from 1 September 2017 until 7 January 2018.