Fashion Designers A-Z - 40

From Azzedine Alaïa, Cristóbal 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 the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) in New York City are celebrated in this fresh edition of Fashion Designers A–Z.

This accessibly priced and updated collection features photographs of hundreds of garments selected from the Museum’s permanent collection. From an exquisitely embroidered velvet evening gown to Mondrian-style minimalist chic, each chosen piece is selected 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 drawn portraits by artist Robert Nippoldt pay homage to the creators behind them.