The Great Fashion Designers: From Chanel to McQueen, the names that made fashion history: Brenda Polan: Bloomsbury Visual Arts

The Great Fashion Designers

From Chanel to McQueen, the names that made fashion history

The Great Fashion Designers

From Chanel to McQueen, the names that made fashion history

Description

Over the course of the last 180 years, designers have transformed fashion from an elite craft into a cornerstone of global popular culture.

This brilliantly written classic guide to the lives and collections of 59 iconic fashion designers was first published in 2009 and is now available in this fully revised and expanded third edition. It draws on the latest academic research and the best of fashion journalism, including the authors' own interviews with designers. Beginning with Charles Frederick Worth and concluding with the star names of the twenty-first century, the book details each designer's working methods and career highlights with engaging essays that capture the spirit of their times.

This new edition widens its remit to explore designers making waves beyond the Western world. It features six new designer profiles: Virgil Abloh, Iris van Herpen, Japan's Nigo, China's Uma Wang, India's Sabyasachi and Nigeria's Shade Thomas-Fahm. The text has also been updated throughout to reflect growing concern within the fashion world over sustainability issues, and to document a business in constant ferment, with designers swapping jobs and fashion houses at unprecedented speed. The Great Fashion Designers explores these designers' passion and flair, showcasing fashion at its most inspirational.

Acknowledgements
Preface
Introduction

Part One: Early Days
Introduction
1. Charles Frederick Worth
2. Callot Soeurs
3. Jeanne Paquin
4. Paul Poiret
5. Mariano Fortuny

Part Two: 1910s-1930s
Introduction
6. Jeanne Lanvin
7. Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel
8. Jean Patou
9. Madeleine Vionnet
10. Elsa Schiaparelli
11. Mainbocher
12. Adrian
13. Salvatore Ferragamo
14. Madame Alix Grès

Part Three: 1940s-1950s
Introduction
15. Cristóbal Balenciaga
16. Christian Dior
17. Charles James
18. Claire McCardell
19. Hubert de Givenchy
20. Norman Norell
21. Pierre Cardin
22. Mary Quant

Part Four: 1960s-1970s
Introduction
23. Yves Saint Laurent
24. André Courrèges
25. Valentino
26. Karl Lagerfeld
27. Halston
28. Kenzo
29. Shade Thomas-Fahm
30. Ralph Lauren
31. Issey Miyake
32. Calvin Klein
33. Giorgio Armani

Part Five: 1980s
Introduction
34. Rei Kawakubo
35. Yohji Yamamoto
36. Vivienne Westwood
37. Paul Smith
38. Azzedine Alaïa
39. Gianni Versace
40. Jean Paul Gaultier
41. Dolce & Gabbana
42. John Galliano
43. Donna Karan

Part Six: 1990s
Introduction
44. Miuccia Prada
45. Martin Margiela
46. Marc Jacobs
47. Tom Ford
48. Alexander McQueen
49. Nigo
50. Nicolas Ghesquière
51. Raf Simons
52. Hedi Slimane

Part Seven: 2000s-2020s
Introduction
53. Phoebe Philo
54. Sabyasachi
55. Uma Wang
56. Iris van Herpen
57. Demna
58. Virgil Abloh
59. Alessandro Michele

Bibliography

Product details

Published	11 Dec 2025
Format	Ebook (PDF)
Edition	3rd
Extent	424
ISBN	9781350504356
Imprint	Bloomsbury Visual Arts
Illustrations	200 colour illus
Publisher	Bloomsbury Publishing

[Praise for the first edition]
This is a comprehensive introduction into the world of fashion and the designers you need to know about who inhabit it ...If it's not already, put it on your Christmas list now!

Vogue online
With over 30 years in the industry, Polan and Tredre give fashion history a personal spin.

That's Not My Age
An interesting and indispensable tome.

Glass Magazine
A succinct round-up!

WGSN
This book is a great introduction to some of the most important fashion designers from the 1840s to today. The essays on each designer are short and accessible, providing an excellent summary of their life and work, and serving as a source of inspiration for further research in fashion studies.

The Journal of Dress History
The first edition of The Great Fashion Designers published in 2009 soon became the 'must consult' for fashion professionals, aficionados and students alike, so it is good news that it has been revised by the authors, Roger Tredre and Brenda Polan and written with the same high standard of research and critical assessment as the original.

I am sure I will not be alone in hailing this new editorial; the work of two scholars who write in a way that shares their passion for the subject and their far–reaching knowledge, whilst never for a moment faltering in fact or judgement. This book is indispensable.

Colin McDowell, MBE, Fashion Writer, Journalist and Academic