SHOWstudio's 2025 Reading List
A new year means new books so our editors have curated the upcoming releases on their literary wish list across fashion and music.
A new year means new books so our editors have curated the upcoming releases on their literary wish list across fashion and music.
In a year already poised to be tumultuous at best, we couldn’t think of a better time to get lost in a good book. From behind-the-scenes glimpses of legendary ateliers to intimate portraits of trailblazing artists, these upcoming releases are bound to ignite imaginations and a hunger for knowledge. Whether you’re drawn to the grandeur of couture or the avant-garde pulse of modern art, this collection of titles ensures there’s something for every aesthete’s bookshelf.
What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory
Musing on the meaning and purpose of art isn't something for the faint-hearted. Nor should it be. No doubt, a question this existential cannot (and should not) be answered in a few sentences. A few chapters? Maybe. Alas, that's exactly what legendary musician Brian Eno and visual artist Bette Adriaanse have set out to do in their new book What Art Does: An Unfinished Theory which examines the function of fictional worlds including pop songs, detective novels, soap operas, shoe tassels and even the hidden language of haircuts (this is Eno after all, we all know his iconic Roxy Music cut).
Karl Lagerfeld: A Fashion History
Gone but never forgotten, 2025 is already proving the timeless appeal of the late Karl Lagerfeld. An upcoming auction of Lagerfeld’s estate by Sotheby’s Paris is sparking renewed interest and curiosity about the inner world of the legendary designer—such as the playlists that filled his countless iPods—leaving us insatiable for tidbits about his life. Enter Marie Ottavi, our inquisitive saviour, with her upcoming biography of Lagerfeld, published by Rizzoli. Through a series of intimate (and honest) interviews conducted with Lagerfeld during the last two years of his life, Karl Lagerfeld: A Fashion History promises to paint a vivid portrait of the Kaiser’s life and legacy, in his own words.
Cinema Her Way: Visionary Female Directors in Their Own Words
I don’t need to bore your ears off by saying cinema is a ‘man’s world’, you know it is, which makes Rizzoli’s upcoming release Cinema Her Way: Visionary Female Directors in Their Own Words so refreshing. Brushing the male gaze aside, the book dives deep into the film world by championing the women voices who have helped shape it. From feminist pioneers to maverick independents, if you’re looking for illuminating discussion on cinema led by the very women who started the conversation, look no further as directors like Jane Campion, Susan Seidelman, and Mira Nair offer contributions that take readers on a deep exploration into their filmmaking processes and themes.
The Colour of Clothes: Fashion and Dress in Autochromes 1907-1930
As fashion evolved from the Edwardian era into its free-flowing 1920s form (thanks monsieur Poiret), the camera was there to photograph it all. Suddenly, the world was seen in colour like never before as the arrival of the autochrome (a colour process invented by the Lumière brothers) illuminated fashions by Lucile, Poiret, Doucet, Vionnet, seen through the lens of the equally talented Stieglitz and Steichen. Celebrating each photograph’s unique beauty, Cally Blackman’s The Colour of Clothes is a beautiful time capsule reliving the moment the world saw fashion how it truly was - in colour.
Paolo Roversi
How does one summarise the visually arresting work of Paolo Roversi? Poetic, ethereal, yet enigmatic, the Italian image-maker has been bringing fashion to life through his masterful use of light and shadow since 1977. Crafting otherworldly visual narratives that defy convention—and continuing to inspire everyone from image-makers to designers today—Roversi’s renowned career is being traced in Thames & Hudson’s monograph Paolo Roversi. Created in collaboration with author Sylvie Lécallier and Roversi himself, the book traces the evolution of his artistry, offering an intimate look at his creative process, inspirations, and iconic editorials with Rei Kawakubo, Yohji Yamamoto, and more.
Valentino. A Grand Italian Epic
With Alessandro Michele ushering in a new era at Valentino, there’s never been a better time to get acquainted with the man who started it all, Valentino Garavani. Tracing the legacy of the master couturier, Valentino: A Grand Italian Epic gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at Garavani’s illustrious career through rare archival photos, sketches, magazine covers, and intimate portraits (including a few of his six jet-setting pugs). A key figure in Italian fashion’s era of excess, this impressive tome chronicles the origins of Valentino and how he went from studying at the prestigious École des Beaux-Arts in Paris to establishing his own Roman empire.
Kembra Pfahler
New York performance artist Kembra Pfahler may be a muse to Rick Owens and Casey Cadwallader of Mugler but most importantly, she’s a muse to herself. Mixing elements of Kabuki theatre with rock and horror, Pfahler was never a player in someone else’s game thanks to her outlandish style setting her apart from the get-go in 80s New York. When it came to the 1990s, the whackier, the better as she launched The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black, a rock band associated with Kiss, Alice Cooper, and White Zombie that saw Pfahler sport blackened teeth and a bouffant hairstyle, all the while in the nude and covered in paint. Slowly but surely, her reputation for wild performance reached far beyond the Lower East Side, yet despite her success she never wavered from eccentricity. Now, 40 years after she first appeared on the avant-garde theatre circuit, Rick Owens, John Waters and Hans Ulrich Obrist have pulled together four decades of ephemera, performance documentation, road pictures, and more to declare Pfahler as a ‘counter-cultural star’ in a new publication.
Fendi 100th Anniversary
A centenary is nothing to scoff at, especially in the fast-paced world of fashion where, as Heidi Klum explains, ‘One day you’re in; the next day you’re out’. This year Fendi is celebrating exactly 36525 days (that’s 100 years for not numerically inclined) as one of the fashion industry’s biggest brands. To celebrate this milestone Rizzoli has tasked the likes of journalists Alexander Fury, Angelo Flaccavento, Susannah Frankel and more to chart the history of the house of Fendi from humble fur workshop to becoming a heritage house for the ages.