Hamish Bowles at his storage facility in Brooklyn ©Stanislaw Boniecki
A dedicated advocate for sustainability in the fashion world, author Alexandra Carl has compiled a collection of the closets of archival obsessives around the globe to showcase how nostalgia and sentimentality play a key role in garment longevity. It includes the works of designers and houses such as Issey Miyake, Maison Martin Margiela, Thierry Mugler, John Galliano, and Alexander McQueen.
Readers will get a comprehensive insight into Zaha Hadid’s sculptural footwear collection, Michèle Lamy’s Comme des Garçon archive, Sarah Andelman’s vibrant sneaker and t-shirt range, and much more. With 300 pages and over 250 illustrations, each collection is accompanied with an essay written to provide commentary and context to its inclusion in the book.
Carl, an acclaimed fashion stylist and creative consultant based in London, had her interest in fashion begin at a young age. Her studies in media, film and feminist theory have enabled her to create compelling narratives in her works and creative projects. Her talent in manipulating and deconstructing clothes, along with her unique industry view, has called many brands to borrow her vision and talent, including Cartier, H&M, Self Portrait, Barneys, Louis Vuitton, La Bouche Rouge, and Adidas x Pharrel. Carl was also a recipient of the British Fashion Council's New Wave Creative Award in 2019.
In her interview posted to Instagram called "Behind the Book" she speaks about longevity of garments, and why she feels it's important to speak about fashion in the context of circularity. She says "Ultimately, everyone that I represent in the book collects something because of the way it makes them feel", about why someone would love a particular item in their wardrobe. With sustainability being a subject on everyone's mind, she says "my wish is that designers, in our industry, start realising that a designer needs that time to create those pieces that ends up in someones archive like 40, 50 years down the line."
Contributions to the book were made by Angelo Flaccavento, Italian fashion journalist, curator and writer. Along with Dr. Dimitrios Tsivrikos, a noted university professor and art advisor.
"Collecting Fashion: Nostalgia, Passion Obsession" releases on April 2nd 2024.
