This book is a wonderful pick for any fashion student because it fully details how designers/brands succeeded (or failed) in the past and brings you along to see how they adapted to new industry trends and are now thriving. 

The next books I’m going to list are about amazing designers who have singlehandedly changed fashion and built couture fashion houses from the ground up. 

3. Elsa Schiaparelli: A Biography

Product: Elsa Schiaparelli: A Biography

Elsa Schiaparelli was a couture goddess in the 1920s and ’30s. After being born in Rome and living in Paris most of her life, Schiaparelli relocated to New York with her husband and began the clothing line that would change her career forever. This book details her fashion journey. 

Her legacy can be summed up in her iconic lobster dress that changed the industry forever. She drew this inspiration from the surrealist movement and collaborated with Salvador Dali for this famed gown. She was also the first designer to consider a built in bra for swimsuits! 

There are many other outstanding accomplishments on Schiaparelli’s rap sheet and her work can still be seen in fashion items today. This book gives you a wonderful overview of her life and legacy.

4. Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

Product: Coco Chanel: The Legend and the Life

Coco Chanel. The epitome of fashion and a name that almost everyone knows, whether they study fashion or not. This book looks into what made Coco Chanel the woman, and brand, that we all know and study today. After learning to sew in the orphanage she was sent to, Chanel’s life was forever changed.

Some of her first collections were ensembles that were sporty and could work as leisure wear — pretty unheard of at the time. One might argue that Chanel was the catalyst for the prominent athlesiure movement that is massively popular today.