This is an article that has been close to my heart for a long time!
I'm someone who loves to learn, I love getting my knowledge from the internet, but books are still the best.
If you think that all knowledge is on the Internet, know that it is a (big) illusion.
If I had to give a (very) rough estimate, I would say that by sanding forums and blogs you can get to 40-50% knowledge, and the rest will be in books.
In short, if you are passionate, I very, very, highly recommend that you look into these readings. It's much more complete than anything you can find on the networks.
It's a really subjective selection, these are the books in our office library, there are probably a bunch of others missing, and I hope to add them little by little.
These are books that can be found on Amazon, or can be ordered very easily from your local bookseller, except for certain very rare works.
(pro tip: if you want to be a leader on all the men's fashion forums, read these books and in less than three months, everyone will worship you for your divine expertise)
Important note: once again, this is an article that I really want to keep alive over time, and we will not fail to notify you of its updates.
Indigo, Egyptian mummies to blue jeans - Jenny Balfour-Paul - in English
This is THE ultimate reference book on indigo and its absolutely fascinating history.
From the Egyptians who already knew this blue dye to Japanese jeans, a fresco spanning several millennia will play out before your eyes.
What is very strong is that Jenny Balfour-Paul interweaves history, chemistry, commerce with virtuosity and explains very well what constitutes the very particular aura of indigo.
And unlike other books, it is a richly illustrated work, in color.
Truly incredible work that is acclaimed and highly respected.
Indigo, the blue journey of a textile designer - Catherine Legrand - in French
Catherine Legrand is a textile designer and a very particular writer, since she travels the world to understand how we dress according to cultures.
Here, she takes a world tour around indigo. Many peoples have mastered its dye for centuries, and it provides a magnificent panorama of its uses: from Central Europe to Africa, from Japan to the United States, everything is covered.
It's very, very, very interesting (and written in French too), and it's nice to see such love for indigo.
There are many color photos, and she pushes the exploration very far. For example, she goes so far as to give the calendar of Japanese dyers: in March we sow the indigo grains, to harvest it in July and finish working on it in February of the following year.
I was impressed by his work on indigo in Africa, I didn't know there was such richness about it.
And each time, everything is immortalized in photos, I can't imagine the workload behind such a book.
Textiles of Japan - - in English
It's one of my favorite books. Its objective is very simple: to introduce a large number of traditional Japanese textiles. Everything goes: kasuri, sakiori, sashiko, Ainu fabrics, boro, etc., they're all there!
Each fabric comes with just the right amount of explanation, and you'll have your Japanese textile culture taken to another level in just a few pages.
The photos are magnificent and to tell you very frankly, this book inspires me a lot.
Ametora, how Japan saved American style - W. David Marx - in English
One of my favorite books as it is a declaration of love for men's fashion through the determination of the Japanese to (re?) meticulously create the Ivy style.
It is a very ambitious book since it aims to summarize half a century of clothing in Japan: why the Ivy style, how the first selvedge was born (and why), where the cult that the Japanese have to outdoor brands, what was the role of the Japanese men's press, etc.
Simply fascinating, a great holiday read.
Read this book, and you will know more than 90% of stores that claim to be "specialized".
Note: Parisian Gentleman wrote a great article about this book .
Take Ivy – – in English
The story of this book is crazy (and it's well told in Ametora): Japanese people organize a trip to American universities to photograph preppy style, everything doesn't go as planned (suspense...) and somehow , they bring back a very interesting series of photos.
It is also amusing to note to what extent this style is, more than ever, at the forefront in certain places in Paris.
It all started with this book.
Blue Blooded, Denim Hunters and Jeans Culture - - in English
If there were only one book about denim, this would be it.
A beautiful work in color which is very complete on the subject: from the manufacture of yarn, its weaving, its finishing, selvedge, non-selvedge, the "Osaka Five" and their impact, up to new approaches to denim, such as high-end tailoring in China.
It's a book that also paints a portrait of enthusiasts: François Girbaud, Renzo Rosso, Masayoshi Kobayashi (The Flat Head), or even Andrew Chen (3Sixteen), and a ton of others.
In short, a solid book to provide you with complete knowledge about jeans.
Vintage Showroom - Douglas Gunn - in English
Ah, the book that initiates exchange discreetly.
Indeed, many designers are inspired by the vintage pieces exhibited and explained in this book.
There is military clothing, work clothing, sports clothing, and each piece is explained in detail. From a reliable source, I know that many designers draw inspiration from it for details like collar shapes, pocket sizes, etc.
A beautiful book if you like vintage.
Ideas from Massimo Osti -
Do you like techwear? It’s required reading!
It is a book which retraces the work of Massimo Osti, "the best known of the unknown creators" as they say.
He is a bit like the inventor of techwear through Stone Island and CP Company, with an immense amount of experimental work on dyes and clothing functionalities.
Unsurprisingly, it was Errolson Hugh, the founder of Acronym , who wrote the preface.
A real, real, beautiful book to give as a gift.
The Parisian Gentleman, praise of French elegance -Hugo Jacomet - in French
Impossible to start a book list without addressing the two imposing books by our colleague Hugo, from Parisian Gentleman.
It is a monumental work on the great French and Italian houses of sartorial art.
As a reminder, regarding The Parisian Gentleman, here is what I wrote about this book during Hugo's interview :
No need to prolong the suspense, it's a magnificent book, with splendid iconography and very well written. Barely released, it is already destined to become cult.
If you like Hugo Jacomet's unique tone in each of his articles, you will be in heaven for several hours. Imagine, it’s as if we were offering you 250 pages (!!!) of unpublished articles written by Hugo, in one go 🙂
Page after page, the reader penetrates, intimidated, into the heart of what France knows how to do best in men's luxury: Cifonelli , John Lobb , Courtot or Moynat , there are around twenty French Houses which are generously deciphered. You may be surprised by the history of certain brands, which we believed to be 100% Italian-Italian...
In general, you will learn:
- How Smalto revolutionized costume,
- The great war which pitted the French House of Weston against its cross-Channel rival Church's,
- What is the relationship between Aubercy shoes and the Bagatelle gymnasium,
- Cifonelli's four principles for having fitted suits, allowing great freedom of movement,
- What is the Parisian style of Camps de Luca?
- The untold and complete story of the creation of Parisian Gentleman,
- And many more...
For your information, his second book on the great Italian houses should be translated shortly. I also wrote an article where Hugo tells a ton of anecdotes and... a chapter translated into French.
The Fashion business manual, an illustrated guide to building a fashion brand - in English
Fashionary is a publishing house specializing in books to help young brand designers. Here, this book offers nothing less than instructions for creating your clothing brand.
The format, very richly illustrated, is surprisingly digestible, even for a complete novice.
There are a ton of infographics, and it's a book for anyone who's curious about the behind-the-scenes… or therefore wants to get started on the thrill of creating a clothing brand.
Don't hesitate to take a look at the other books from this publisher, there are some gems.
Fashions and men, two centuries of masculine elegance - Farid Chenoune - in French
Be careful, we enter the category of legendary books. Extremely rare to find, it is a work sold between €200 and €600.
You have to monitor Amazon regularly, because I was lucky enough to get it for €80 by miracle, thanks to a library in the Paris region which was selling it.
Why does he have such an aura? Quite simply because Farid Chenoune, its author, draws up a dizzying history of men's style from the 18th century to the mid-90s (the book ends with a photo of a Comme Des Garçons fashion show in 1993).
History, sociology, politics, everything intertwines and is explained logically (you should read the story of the emergence of sportswear by King Edward VII).
We are still talking about a book which explains the use of the frock coat and which ends with the appearance of the sports jacket, all on 300 pages in color.
A unique work, on a scale rarely seen elsewhere.
Jean-Gilles' recommendations
For those who have followed us for a while, Jean-Gilles (under his nickname Milone) is a veteran of streetwear and has written some technical articles for us, such as his series of articles on indigo or his guide to techwear .
He is also passionate about very beautiful books, and I would like to leave our pen with him to talk about the works that have left their mark on him, with his own style:
DPM Disruptive Pattern Material, an Encyclopaedia Of Camoflage: Nature, Military, Culture - Hardy Blechman - in English
I'll start with Hardy Blechman's DPM Book.
Perhaps as some people know, this book published in 2004 was written by the creator of Maharishi.
It's a huge block weighing around ten kilos made up of two books.
The biggest one is on the history of camouflage. It starts from nature, fashion, wars, art...
The second is an encyclopedia of military camouflage by country.
It is an ULTRA complete work and is still a reference on the subject.
It was featured on the Maharishi site for a long time (around 3/4 years) because it had a bit of difficulty selling given the price (£150 retail price).
But the day it went out of stock, the prices skyrocketed (I saw one sold new in a blister pack a few years ago for 6,000 euros on Ebay).
Even if you're not a camo fanatic, this book is essential for me. It's one of the most beautiful books I have in my library (one of the most imposing too...), with a very beautiful layout, real creative thinking in the artistic direction and content... Mind-blowing.
I don't know how long it took Blechman to write it and compile the photos (if only for all the streetwear photos given how many camo patterns there were on saps in the early 2000s.. .). He accomplished a titanic job.
I recommend this book more than VERY highly, because each time you open it you discover new things.
It's one of my favorite books.
Note from Benoit: I confirm, it is an almost mystical book impossible to find without spending a fortune. I talked about it in my long file on Maharishi .
The Tokyo Hundreds - Osamu Nagahama - in English
The Tokyo Hundreds is a book that few people know.
It was released in 2014, for the 20th anniversary of the Neighborhood brand.
The concept is very simple: the 100 names that made Harajuku, this legendary district of Tokyo.
There is a double page per person, the left page which explains in Japanese and English who the man is, the right page a photo taken by Osamu Nagahama, legendary Japanese photographer, close to Shinsuke Takizawa (the boss of Neighborhood).
We don't only find Japanese people there but also Westerners, Chinese...
Here are some names: Hiroshi Fujiwara, Poggy, Shawn Stussy, Kaws, Jun Takahashi, Kazuki Kuraishi, Edison Chen, Nigo, John Mayer, Tommy Guerrero, Paul Mittleman, SK8thing, Goro Takahashi...
Even if Harajuku today is no longer the same as it was 15 years ago, this book is a short summary of the history of Tokyo street.
And above all it helps to put faces to names, because some have always refused to be photographed.
But Shinsuke Takizawa, who was one of the pioneers of Harajuku, succeeded in this feat because this small community has always been quite close-knit and considered mutual aid (just look at the number of collaborations they have have all done among themselves) rather than competition.
Personal effects - Hiroshi Fujiwara - in English
No need to introduce the gentleman, he's the pope of Harajuku and good taste.
This little book is a top 100 of his personal effects.
The left page presents the object, sometimes with a little history or an anecdote (in English and Japanese) as well as one or two small photos presenting details.
The right page a full page photo.
The book is well done and Fujiwara's choices are super eclectic (we even have a Dyson vacuum cleaner...).
But the most interesting thing is precisely this eclecticism. You can have super rare pieces, sometimes overpriced (like vintage Rolex or Patek Philippe watches, Hermes bags, etc.) than more ordinary products (Nike or Converse sneakers, LaCie USB keys or Pilot ballpoint pens). ...).
We see that the gentleman is not as elitist as one might think. Just that he likes things well done, well thought out.
XLarge: True OG streetwear - Rin Tanaka - in English
There are quite a few books dedicated solely to a particular brand (from Rizzoli: Bape, Supreme, Fuct....) which are all generally very good.
But I'm going to tell you about a book from a little-known brand that is really important to me for you to discover: XLarge.
Let's start by talking about the book.
It was released in 2016 for the brand's 25th anniversary. It was written by Rin Tanaka, a well-known Japanese journalist and photographer in the vintage motorcycle world.
The book presents the brand and its history chronologically, with many unpublished photos, pages from catalogs and many emblematic pieces of the brand. In itself the book is quite classic and well made.
Now let’s talk about the brand…
It is one of the pioneering brands in the streetwear universe and which has had a huge influence.
It started in 1991, well before most of the “big” brands like Fubu, Karl Kani, Enyce, Ecko… (which have mostly disappeared).
Concretely, as a pure streetwear brand, we only found Stüssy, a few skatewear brands (Vision...), Cross Colors, Fresh Jive and Fuct which was just starting out.
Xlarge had a rather resounding start for two reasons: one of the creators is none other than Mike D from the Beastie Boys and for the quality of their graphics. A quick tip for those who don't know the graphics of this era:
- Neon, neon and more neon (remember series like Punky Bruster, Saved by the Bell, André Agassi...)
- Afro Centrism (The Fresh Prince, Jordan, Cross Colors...)
- Smileys and the whole techno/acid house scene
- Manga and manga girls in all flavors
And there they arrive with innovative, modern, funky stuff, with multiple influences (hip hop, funk/jazz, graffiti, skateboarding, sneakers... all the culture dear to the Beastie boys)
With a logo (a gorilla head) inspired by the Ben Davis logo (brand that they sold in their first store next to Carhartt, untraceable Adidas or Puma deadstock sneakers...).
They were among the first to do collabs (like with the Beastie Boys' Ill Communication Album or the XFuct line with Fuct...), to work with artists for tees and/or collections... To the point of 'have quite incredible hype (Spike Jonze, the Coppola family, Kim Gordon, ...)
They were the pioneers of international mail order sales with their catalogs and then with one of the first online sales sites.
The rest I won't tell you.
Just an anecdote, the beginnings of Bape are "strangely similar": a multi-brand shop (Nowhere) with Stüssy, deadstock from Adidas and Puma... A relatively similar logo, a music label, a magazine, a gallery 'art... Very very close... And Bape started two years after XLarge.
In short, I invite you to look into the history of this brand which has really changed (or rather created) the history of streetwear in an intelligent way and without seeking profit at all costs as the brands which have done them have done. follow up.
My Rugged 211, unfashionable fashion - Minoru Onozato - in English
Published in 2010, signed by the editor-in-chief of the late Free&Easy magazine and the Rugged Museum shop, it is a typically Japanese book. Indeed, there are quite a few on the top 100 from so-and-so. This one is one of the most interesting because there are ultra rare products (many vintage) and especially because of the number of products (211, hence the name...) There we find sape, glasses, boots, accessories...
The book is quite fragile (square binding glued with recycled paper sheets), with an ultra pronounced and assumed vintage appearance. Like many books in this universe it is in Japanese and English.
Readers of Free&Easy, 2nd Magazine, lightning, Clutch, Men's Files... will not be disoriented. We are in Rican workwear, with a Japanese touch. There we find real old school vintage (50's, 60's, 70's, even 30's), "recent" workwear (RRL, Nigel Cabourn, RM...), very large, well-worn sap, good. .. Rugged.
That’s it for this first selection! If you think that certain books have their place in this article, tell us in the comments, we will be happy to update the article.
