Access Denied
IMPORTANT! If you’re a store owner, please make sure you have Customer accounts enabled in your Store Admin, as you have customer based locks set up with EasyLockdown app. Enable Customer Accounts
The Colour of Clothes
Fashion and Dress in Autochromes 1907-1930
- Regular price
- $150.00
- Sale price
- $150.00
- Regular price
-
- Unit price
- / per
The story of photography's first practicable colour process is also the story of fashion as it evolved from the Edwardian era to the newfound fluidity and freedom of the 1920s
The story of photography's first practicable colour process is also the story of fashion as it evolved from the Edwardian era to the newfound fluidity and freedom of the 1920s.
'Soon the world will be color-mad and Lumière will be responsible' Alfred Stieglitz, 1907
These words announced the arrival of the autochrome, the colour process invented by the Lumière brothers that not only transformed photography, but also recorded the transition of fashion from Edwardian elegance towards a liberating modernity.
The Colour of Clothes celebrates the unique beauty of the autochrome in around 370 images that reflect the broad sweep of its usage. Couturiers embraced the way the process showcased their exquisite designs to luminous perfection - among them Fortuny, Poiret, Doucet, Vionnet, Lucile, Chanel and Lanvin. Beyond the sphere of fashion, there are also examples from the Salon du Goût Français, France's virtual autochrome exhibition of luxury items, and Albert Kahn's Archives de la Planète, a bold attempt to record the world's cultures in autochromes.
Some of the photographers involved may be famous in their field - Lartigue, Stieglitz, Steichen - though very often they are lesser known, and many are women who took to the process with panache. Whoever they were, they helped to immortalize one of photography's historic moments, when the camera first revealed the world of fashion as it was - in colour.
'Soon the world will be color-mad and Lumière will be responsible' Alfred Stieglitz, 1907
These words announced the arrival of the autochrome, the colour process invented by the Lumière brothers that not only transformed photography, but also recorded the transition of fashion from Edwardian elegance towards a liberating modernity.
The Colour of Clothes celebrates the unique beauty of the autochrome in around 370 images that reflect the broad sweep of its usage. Couturiers embraced the way the process showcased their exquisite designs to luminous perfection - among them Fortuny, Poiret, Doucet, Vionnet, Lucile, Chanel and Lanvin. Beyond the sphere of fashion, there are also examples from the Salon du Goût Français, France's virtual autochrome exhibition of luxury items, and Albert Kahn's Archives de la Planète, a bold attempt to record the world's cultures in autochromes.
Some of the photographers involved may be famous in their field - Lartigue, Stieglitz, Steichen - though very often they are lesser known, and many are women who took to the process with panache. Whoever they were, they helped to immortalize one of photography's historic moments, when the camera first revealed the world of fashion as it was - in colour.
Extent: 336 pp
Format: Hardback
Illustrations: Illustrated in colour
Publication date: 2025-03-27
Size: 31.8 x 3.5 cm
ISBN: 9780500025482
Praise for The Colour of Clothes
A handsome book, full of beautifully printed full colour reproductions. It really imparts the range of fashion-related autochrome material and makes a significant contribution to reshaping accepted accounts of the history of fashion photography
Alistair O’Neill
A beautiful time capsule reliving the moment the world saw fashion how it truly was - in colour
SHOWStudio
About the Author
Cally Blackman is a fashion historian, lecturer and author. Her research into autochromes is both original and extensive, and this book benefits especially from the large number of images she has sourced, never or very rarely published since they were taken more than 100 years ago.
You May Also Like
View more
This product currently has no recommended items.
Sign up to our Newsletter
Our weekly newsletter is a curated collection of interviews, articles, stunning images and books we think you’ll love. Sign up to get 20% off.
In accordance with our privacy policy, you may unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid password
Enter
- Choosing a selection results in a full page refresh.