Narrative Thread
Conversations on Fashion Collections
Published on 19. October 2023
Book
Hardback
306 pages
978-1-350-28767-9 (ISBN)
Description
"I adored this book and can't recommend it highly enough" - CATHY HORYN
"Beautifully executed" - NORMA KAMALI
"A visual feast" - GILES DEACON
"Entertaining, thought-provoking, and serious. Read it and learn." - COLIN MCDOWELL
"Clothes from our past shape who we are, and who we will be. Why do we hold on to certain garments and what do they tell us and others about our lives?"
Mark C. O'Flaherty asks 14 individuals who work with or use clothes in a unique way: how has fashion created something significant in your life? Through fascinating conversations, and photoshoots of their private collections, in New York, London and Milan, he constructs a portrait of each person through their intimate relationships with fashion, featuring The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas, Charlie Casely-Hayford, John Matheson (McQueen Vault), Sandy Powell, Stephen Jones, Carla Sozzani, Winn Austin, Carmen Haid, Susanne Bartsch, Karlo Steel, Karim Rashid, Steven Philip, and Desmond is Amazing.
How have these people used fashion as a vessel for memory or identity to develop their own narratives, and what does our relationship with clothing say about its changing nature as a commodity? With a foreword by influential fashion tastemaker Amanda Harlech, and opening conversations with three of fashion's most respected scholars, Valerie Steele, Andre Walker and Claire Wilcox, Narrative Thread is an eye-opening resource for our understanding of fashion's past and present - and its continuing importance in our lives.
"Beautifully executed" - NORMA KAMALI
"A visual feast" - GILES DEACON
"Entertaining, thought-provoking, and serious. Read it and learn." - COLIN MCDOWELL
"Clothes from our past shape who we are, and who we will be. Why do we hold on to certain garments and what do they tell us and others about our lives?"
Mark C. O'Flaherty asks 14 individuals who work with or use clothes in a unique way: how has fashion created something significant in your life? Through fascinating conversations, and photoshoots of their private collections, in New York, London and Milan, he constructs a portrait of each person through their intimate relationships with fashion, featuring The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas, Charlie Casely-Hayford, John Matheson (McQueen Vault), Sandy Powell, Stephen Jones, Carla Sozzani, Winn Austin, Carmen Haid, Susanne Bartsch, Karlo Steel, Karim Rashid, Steven Philip, and Desmond is Amazing.
How have these people used fashion as a vessel for memory or identity to develop their own narratives, and what does our relationship with clothing say about its changing nature as a commodity? With a foreword by influential fashion tastemaker Amanda Harlech, and opening conversations with three of fashion's most respected scholars, Valerie Steele, Andre Walker and Claire Wilcox, Narrative Thread is an eye-opening resource for our understanding of fashion's past and present - and its continuing importance in our lives.
Reviews / Votes
A beautifully executed book. Rarely does such a high level of talent for photography and writing exist in one person. It exists in Mark C. O'Flaherty. * Norma Kamali * A wondrous insight into some of the most important and singular collections in the world. A visual feast, packed with insightful psychological interpretations. The developing plot of each chapter, studying the relationship between the subject, their chosen pieces, and the human condition is truly fascinating. * Giles Deacon * This isn't simply a book about fashion collectors, though it is. This is a book about the daring creators of fashion during a magical period in the history of dress. O'Flaherty deftly weaves together the various narratives for an original account. I adored this book and can't recommend it highly enough. * Cathy Horyn, 'The Cut', New York Magazine, USA * This is a very important book for anyone who cares about the strength and creativity of fashion. The "conversations" featured are entertaining, thought-provoking... And serious. Read it and learn. * Colin McDowell * A remarkable and heart-warming book: Mark C. O'Flaherty's intimate portraits of diverse fashion collectors explores the relationship we have with fashion, expression, memory, and identity. The compendium surfaces big ideas about the cult of the brand, self-creation, and the psychology of collecting. * Harriet Quick * Mark C. O'Flaherty's book weaves us, in a tender way, through the emotional reasoning for holding on to garments from our past as we head into the future. * Suzy Menkes, podcaster and leading fashion authority * Narrative Thread provides unparalleled access to some of the world's most extraordinary privately-owned collections, revealing the untold stories and hidden meanings behind fashion's most significant garments. Alongside beautiful imagery, insightful conversations with the collectors offer thought-provoking perspectives on the significance of fashion and its impact on all our lives. * Andrew Groves, Westminster Menswear Archive, UK * Astounding. Reading this inspired me to rethink the story my clothes tell. * Amanda Harlech, from the Foreword *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
With dust jacket
Illustrations
178 colour illus
Dimensions
Height: 246 mm
Width: 189 mm
Thickness: 25 mm
Weight
454 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-350-28767-9 (9781350287679)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Mark C. O'Flaherty has been a design journalist and photographer based between London and New York for over 20 years. Before that he was a DJ, music photographer, visual installation artist in nightclubs and show producer at London Fashion Week. He is a regular contributor to the Financial Times, HTSI, New York Times and Sunday Times, and has shot for Issey Miyake, Hermes, Knoll, Nobu and numerous international editions of AD and Elle Decor, and World of Interiors.
Content
Foreword - Amanda Harlech
What Do Our Clothes Really Mean?
Conversations
Valerie Steele (Director and Chief Curator of The Museum at FIT, USA) - on fashion as product
Andre Walker (Black and queer New York designer) - on fashion and identity
Claire Wilcox (Senior Curator, V&A, UK) - on fashion and memory
1. The Idiosyncratic Fashionistas (Valerie and Jean, NYC models and bloggers and champions of 'Senior Style')
2. Charlie Casely-Hayford (son and protege of the late Joe Casely-Hayford)
3. John Matheson (McQueen Vault)
4. Sandy Powell (Oscar-winning costume designer)
5. Stephen Jones (milliner)
6. Carla Sozzani (of Alaïa and 10 Corso Como, Milan, Italy)
7. Winn Austin (Black gender queer model, performer and choreographer, London, UK)
8. Carmen Haid (London-based fashion entrepreneur, former communications director for Yves Saint Laurent, Tommy Hilfiger and Celine)
9. Susanne Bartsch (entrepreneur, artist and performer, NY, USA)
10. Karlo Steel (Black founder of influential NY store, Atelier)
11. Karim Rashid (Cairo-born Canadian NY-based designer)
12. Steven Philip (fashion archivist and consultant)
13. Desmond is Amazing (radical drag queen and LGBTQ+ advocate)
Index
Acknowledgments