Books by Amy de la Haye

Handbags: The Making of a Museum

by Adam Phillips, Claire Wilcox, Judith Clark, Caroline Evans, Amy de la Haye

An exploration of the role of the handbag in the history of culture, fashion, and material production

The history of the handbag—its design, how it has been made, used, and worn—reveals something essential about women's lives over the past 500 years. Perhaps the most universal item of fashionable adornment, it can also be elusive, an object of desire, secrecy, and even fear. Handbags explores these rich histories and multiple meanings.
This book features specially commissioned photographs of an extraordinary, newly formed collection of fashionable handbags that date from the 16th century to the present day. It has been acquired for exhibition in the first museum devoted to the handbag, in Seoul, South Korea. The project is a commission undertaken by experimental exhibition-maker Judith Clark, whose innovative practices are revealed in Handbags.
Essays by leading fashion historians and an acclaimed psychoanalyst investigate the history of gesture, the psychoanalysis of bags, and the museum's state-of-the-art mannequins and archive cabinets. In order to preserve the words that describe the unique qualities of each bag, a terminology of handbags has been compiled.

Published in association with the Simone Handbag Museum, Seoul

Fashion Since 1900 (World of Art)

by Amy de la Haye, Valerie Mendes

“Excellent . . . makes many revealing connections between fashion and modern painting styles, theatricalism, ethnographic design, and sports clothing.”―Bloomsbury Review From the turn-of-the-century S-bend silhouette to the “green fashion” and celebrity couture of the new millennium, this comprehensive survey explores all the significant developments in fashion in a period that has seen a growing preoccupation with personal appearance and clothes. It focuses on key movements and innovations in style for both men and women, and explores these through the work of the most original and influential designers. Chapters are organized around crucial shifts in style and major world events, and exciting advances in fashion are placed within their socioeconomic, political, and cultural contexts.

International in scope, this new edition includes updates on the most important new designers and the reinvention of brands. The reference section includes an extensive bibliography. 78 color, 222 b&w illustrations

Chanel: The Couturiere at Work

by Amy de la Haye, Tobin Shelley

In the years around World War I, Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel challenged the world of fashion head on. Jersey knit fabrics, easy-to-wear garments based on men's sportswear, showy costume jewelry, and "the little black dress" are just a few of her innovations that have become fashion staples. In this lavishly illustrated book, for the first time the focus is on Chanel the couturière and her immense influence on the way women choose to look in the modern world.

Under the design stewardship of Karl Lagerfeld, the House of Chanel is today more relevant than ever, and in January 2010 Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky will be released nation-wide. As exciting as a front row seat at a couture show, Chanel: The Couturiere at Work is a compelling look at the fashion empire of one of the indisputable geniuses of twentieth century fashion.

A to Z of Style

by Amy de la Haye

A to Z of Style brings together the secrets of style from the world’s greatest fashion designers, their famous clients, and others from the world of fashion in this delightful illustrated dictionary. This gifty guide preserves the wisdom of fashion’s big names, from Chanel on perfume, to Dior on elegance, to Schiaparelli on hats. This charming compendium is illustrated with newly commissioned line drawings by Emma Farrarons of accessories and clothing from the V&A’s celebrated fashion collection. With timeless advice for women and men alike, this handy guide is essential reading for anyone with a love of fashion and style.

Coco Chanel: Roaring Twenties

by Amy de la Haye, Célia Bernasconi, Bronwyn Cosgrave, Waleria Dorogova

Tracing the origins and influences of the iconic French fashion house in the 1920s, from the Riviera to Paris

The beginnings of Chanel's fashion brand lie in the French seaside resorts. In 1913, Coco--then still Gabrielle--Chanel opened her first boutique in Deauville, an upscale seaside resort just a few hours west of Paris. Soon after, she opened shops in Biarritz, Monte Carlo and Cannes. It was in these ritzy beach destinations that her simple, sporty designs first flourished. Here they were met with a cosmopolitan clientele who carried her fashion back to the capital city of Paris. In the 1920s, the Chanel brand thus experienced its first heyday, driven by the artistic and social upheaval of those years, now known as the Roaring Twenties.
This lavishly illustrated catalog chronicles this early era of the iconic French fashion house, documenting in drawings and photographs the extraordinary productivity of the designer herself, who maintained friendships with artists such as Jean Cocteau, Pablo Picasso and others. It also traces Chanel's early influences such as Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, who were performing on the Riviera in the 1920s just as Chanel began to gain a foothold in the region. The book reveals the Slavic influence on Chanel's creations, highlighting a network of correspondences with female artists close to Diaghilev's--including a chapter on the chromatic textile collaborations between Chanel and Russia-born French artist Sonia Delaunay. Finally, it also features images of La Pausa, Gabrielle Chanel's dream villa built near Monaco in 1929.

The Rose Book

by Amy de la Haye, Phaidon Editors, Victoria Gaiger, Kristine Paulus

As featured in Wall Street Journal, Country Life, Gardens Illustrated, and Rain Magazine

'This book is perfect for anybody who wants a deeper understanding of the rose's place in our humankind. The carefully curated images and texts offer a wide range of subjects for all to enjoy.' - David J C Austin

'A visual treat... The importance and power of the rose in culture and symbolism jumps off the pages in this glorious book.' - RHS The Garden magazine

A gorgeous visual survey of the rose, exploring our enduring connection to one of nature's most universally beloved flowers

From a couture Dior gown and a rose-adorned Barbie to ancient mosaics and Victorian Valentine's cards, this curated collection of more than 200 stunning images celebrates the world's most iconic flower. Discover the extraordinary ways the universally beloved bloom has been depicted through time and across cultures, both within and beyond the garden.

Featuring 220 exquisite images, The Rose Book reveals depictions as diverse as the plant's own endless varieties - from wild ramblers to cultivated Hybrid Teas, botanical illustrations to fashion design, fragrance to film, fine art to photography. Works by figures such as Pierre-Joseph Redouté, Christian Dior, Georgia O'Keeffe, Irving Penn, Tiffany & Co., Alexander McQueen, Vincent van Gogh, and more are artfully paired to reveal intriguing juxtapositions.

Captivating essays explore the horticultural history of the rose, the flower's abundant presence in fashion, and the storied use of its scent in fragrance and perfume. The book also includes a rose glossary by Michael Marriott, and an epilogue by Shane Connolly.

Whether as a symbol of beauty and love, a political and religious icon, or a beloved ornamental plant with countless cultivars, the rose has been an undeniable force in popular culture for millennia, from Ancient Greece to today.