Looking for inspiration for your holiday wish list or 2025 reading list? FashionUnited has put together a selection of books released in 2024 that we think would be perfect additions.
Total Ethics Fashion: people, animals and planet before profit
“Total Ethics Fashion: People, Our Fellow Animals and the Planet Before Profit” is a manifesto for an ethical fashion system. “This book is for those who work in fashion; those who love fashion, those who love the planet, or simply, those who dress every day,” the description reads. The book deals with the current system of the fashion industry, as well as its past and future.
Fila: Timelapse
The sportswear brand Fila looks back on over a hundred years of history. The brand describes itself as one of the first to make the leap from the sports field to the street. This history and its influence are explored in this non-chronological book.
Look Good, Feel Good, Play Good: Nike Apparel
Note: This book will be released on December 10, 2024.
Sportswear brand Nike has many stories to tell, but in this book it focuses on women’s sportswear. The book introduces various athletes and highlights their clothing, supplemented by quotes from the athletes themselves.
Simone Rocha
Irish designer Simone Rocha has become a fixture on the London fashion scene. She is a regular part of the city’s Fashion Week program and took on the role of guest designer for Jean Paul Gaultier. In their own book, publisher Rizzoli takes a first comprehensive look at Rocha’s work and combines catwalk images, editorials and backstage shots with contributions from industry colleagues such as Cindy Sherman, Peta Collins and Ed Templeton.
When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamor and power at the dawn of the American fashion industry
In When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamor and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion, author Julie Satow looks back and chronicles the rise of three American women who led the region’s retail industry: Dorothy Shaver, Hortense Odlum and Geraldine Stutz. The trio’s true life stories are brought to life to tell the story of growing consumerism, the rise of the department store and the industry from the perspective of female leaders.
Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the End of an American Icon
The polarizing nature of Victoria’s Secret is explored in the 320-page book “Selling Sexy: Victoria’s Secret and the Unravelling of an American Icon,” which begins with the lingerie giant’s origins in the late 1970s and its current status in dealing with interests of modern consumers. From near-bankruptcies to fluctuating cultural influence, all aspects of Victoria’s Secret are examined in a report contributed by sources and industry experts.
In American Fashion: Ruth Finley’s Fashion Calendar
“In American Fashion” is described by its publisher as the “first scholarly analysis of Fashion Calendar,” a trade publication covering the American fashion industry that was edited by Ruth Finley for nearly seven decades, until 2014. This calendar, presented in the book as a historical document, was relied upon by the U.S. fashion industry to create its annual plans, influence fashion culture, and encourage the development of a time system from which the region rarely deviated.
How to Build a Fashion Icon: Confidence Notes from an Image Architect
One of the most talked about books of the year was none other than “How to Build a Fashion Icon: Notes on Confidence from an Image Architect” by Law Roach. The acclaimed stylist made a name for himself by dressing fashion icons like Zendaya. In this self-help book, Roach takes readers behind the scenes of his process and shares tips and tricks that helped him achieve the status he is known for today.
Black in Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Influence and Culture
Black designers and creatives are the focus of “Black in Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Influence and Culture” and are examined through the lens of photographs and articles from the archives of industry publication WWD. From the Harlem Renaissance and the Civil Rights Movement to the fashion takeover of hip-hop in the ’90s, this book spans the realm of the black fashion community.
In German
Disastrous to pompous
Fashion designer Harald Glööckler published his biography “Disaströös bis Pompöös” and promised a “highly interesting book”. “My last biography was published in 2010 – high time to follow up. A lot has happened in the meantime,” says Glööcker, one of the most colorful personalities in the German fashion industry.
The Book of Birkenstock
On its 250th anniversary, the cult shoe brand Birkenstock looks back on the history of a small workshop that grew into an international company. The illustrated book entitled “The Book of Birkenstock” offers a visual look back at the company’s development over the last two and a half centuries. While the book focuses on the brand’s craftsmanship, it does not forget to place it in a more global context, associated with the cultural movements and subcultures of the time.
Honorable Mentions
Palace Costume: Inside Hollywood’s Best Kept Fashion Secret
“Palace Costume: Inside Hollywood’s Best Kept Fashion Secret” offers readers a behind-the-scenes look at LA’s famed Palace Costume & Prop Co., the treasure trove that has been the go-to source for costume designers and stylists since it opened in the 1970s: has become inside. The book contains interviews with hundreds of costume designers as well as photographs and film stills intended to provide a comprehensive look into the Palace Costume archives.
An Eye for Couture: A collector’s examination of 20th century fashion
The world of French haute couture is told from the perspective of a leading Asian art dealer, Francesca Galloway, in the book An Eye for Couture: A Collector’s Exploration of 20th Century Fashion. She built an archive of 20th century haute couture and fashion over a period of 35 years. Over 100 of these pieces are featured in the book, including garments from Gabrielle Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Christian Dior, which are displayed in a series of photographs to bring them to life.
Made Up: A Story of Identity and Gender through Makeup and Style
Note: This book will be released on December 17, 2024.
The history of self-expression, particularly in the context of gender, is addressed through the presence of makeup in Made Up: A History of Identity and Gender Expression Through Makeup and Style. Here, historical and modern uses of cosmetics undertake a “rapid journey through gender-specific adornment over time,” according to the blurb.
Ganni Playbook
Danish fashion brand Ganni released “The Ganni Playbook,” “a practical guide to running a decisive, direct and responsible brand in today’s fashion landscape.” The question arises as to what it means to force yourself to take a different entrepreneurial path.
Fashion Eye United Kingdom
Great Britain is the latest stop in the photo book series of the French luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton. The British documentary photographer Martin Parr shows an unfiltered view of the island nation’s land and people. Around 100 images from the four corners of Great Britain, taken between 1998 and today, show snapshots of the lives of the British people, nature and important but also everyday events. The indispensable umbrella and the national flag are typical protagonists throughout the illustrated book.
This article was created with contributions from Caitlyn Terra, Rachel Douglass and Simone Preuss.
This article previously appeared on FashionUnited.uk and was created using digital tools translated.
FashionUnited uses the AI-based language tool Gemini 1.5 to speed up the translation of articles and improve the end result. They help us to make FashionUnited’s international reporting quickly and comprehensively accessible to a German-speaking readership. Articles translated using AI-based tools are proofread and carefully edited by our editors before they are published.