Dean Merceron

Quite a bit more to it than pretty pictures, although there is a generous helping of those. I particularly liked how frequently they were able to show multiple versions of the same piece -- advertising sketches, b&w photos from when it was new, and full-color contemporary shots of the preserved item on a mannequin. I was disappointed to see the book skip completely from Lanvin's own designs to Elbaz's. There's an explanation that they prefer to forget about everything in between, but it show more would have still been interesting. Montana's collections, at the least. The first third or so had interesting descriptions of the general world, and rules, of the designers and their clients, as well as how certain trends took hold, but the rest was heavy on the technical details of certain kinds of embroidery, etc. show less