If I was tasked with simmering down what makes the confines of your four walls your distinct abode that not only looks but feels like it captures your DNA, visually appealing coffee table books would rank high as sources to spark inspiration.
Obviously not limited to specific locations, books can add an idiosyncratic and subtle facet to interior design, change the mood of a room and be a borderline ideal conversation starter in case you are inclined to entertain.
All the better if the coffee table books of choice are not merely comprised of a collection of photos but have substance beyond iconographic appeal, which is where Thames & Hudson’s collection of 'Catwalk' books comes in.
Showcasing thousands of spectacular outfits, accessories, beauty looks and set designs, each instalment zeroes in on either fashion house or a specific designer.
Favourites of the Catwalk series include e.g. Vivienne Westwood’s Complete Collections, which captures the inimitable creations imagined by the lady that effectively brought punk and new wave fashions to infiltrate into mainstream culture.
From shedding light on her first runway show in 1981 to her evolution on international terrain, the tome also captures the creations designed by her husband and long-time artistic partner in crime, Andreas Kronthaler.
Catwalk’s ode to Louis Vuitton eases the reader into proceedings with an introductory chapter on the history of the French luxury fashion house to then move on to profiling its first creative director Marc Jacobs and Nicolas Ghesquière, who is at the helm of LV today, before canvassing the extraordinary collections en detail.
Another favourite series in the realm of Thames & Hudson’s coffee table books are the never not inspiring are the emissions from Monocle magazine.
Ever since Monocle was launched in 2007 with what has become its trademark unique, refreshing and overly well curated content, it has become an integral briefing on global affairs, business, culture, design and everything in between aimed at a globally minded readership.
On the publishing side, Monocle has established a book series available via Thames & Hudson, each release of which does not merely lend itself exceptionally well as a coffee table book, but is full of inspiring content, be it with The Monocle Book of Entrepreneurs’ stimulating elaborations and ideas, resulting in a handbook centred around making your vocation your job or vice versa.
As far as coffee table books and interior design is concerned, it does hardly get more to the point than The Monocle Book of Homes, with its telling name it is essentially a guide to exceptional residences framed by a tour of delving into community-driven twenty inspiring properties from a converted cottage on an Australian island to a contemporary boltholes.
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T • October 3, 2022