The Supermodern Wardrobe

The Supermodern Wardrobe is an excellent and unique fashion survey book that is a very interesting read. I am an avid collector of fashion history books and The Supermodern Wardrobe is unique in that it gives just some of the directions fashion is headed. According to the book Supermodern clothing "is defined by the contemporary urban metropolis," and therefore most of the clothes featured in the book are both adaptable and functional and made for navigating the urban jungle. Many of the clothes featured in the book look more suited for a dystopic future than today's world, however many of the fashions featured in the book would be useful today (like the jacket that inflates to chair, pretty cool). The book also outlines some earlier examples of supermodern design like the 1960's space age designs of Cardin and Courreges and even highlights some of the influences of supermodern design (high performance sportswear, military uniforms, and survival gear provide inspiration to many supermodern designs). Here are the chapters of the Supermodern Wardrobe: Chapter 1 - Functionality - Features fashions that are functional in the urban landscape, like the jacket that transforms into a hammock. Chapter 2 - Modular Systems - Features versatile designs that can be worn and arranged any way. Chapter 3 - Mobility - Features designs made for travel. Some of my favorites are the parka that has an enclosed ultra-light scooter and a jacket that contains a neck pillow (very useful!) Chapter 4 - Shelter - Features designs that turn into tents or provide protection from the elements (like the jacket that contains a smog mask) Chapter 5 - Protection - Features clothes that protect both the physical safety of the wearer (many of the designs feature ballistics nylon!) as well as the psychological safety (many of the designs feature hoods and masks designed to protect the identity of the wearer from the eyes of passerbys) Chapter 6 - Urban Camouflage - Features designs inspired by army camouflage that are designed to blend in with the urban landscape. Chapter 7 - Supermodern Couture - Features couture designs that are both functional and adaptable and influenced by both the cityscape and aviation (and some designs look suited to characters in Star Wars) Chapter 8 - Supermodernity in Detail - Features some of the details of supermodern designs like large pockets, zippers, etc. All in all I highly recommend the Supermodern Wardrobe, whether you just want some inspiration about both fashion and our future or are just interested in the designs, its a very enlightening read.

This book is DEFINETLY worth the purchase. As an avid collector of fashion as well as other books, I see this book more on the inspiring side. It is around 140 pages of all color and all mostly pictures. The photography on the clothing is almost always dead on. It lets you explore the garment from the proper angle and lets you really get a feel for what it is about. It goes through catagories explaining garments that deal mostly with FUNCTIONALITY, (ie- a hooded cloak that turns into a kite, or a jacket that has a cell phone charger built into it,) MODULAR SYSTEMS, (ie- skirts that can be lengthened or shortened or a long raincoat that can turn into a biker jacket), MOILITY, (ie- Samsonite jacket with a reading light put in) SHELTER, (ie- a raincoat that turns into a tent to sleep in.) PROTECTION, (ie- Solar protection coats), URBAN CAMOUFLAGE (ie- lots of camo print detailed textures) SUPERMODERN COUTURE (ie- couture runway and supermodern desiginers) and SUPERMODERN IN DETAIL (which goes into detail including lots of detailed pictures of everything). It explains this all with great pictures so you know exactly what they are talking about. They use high fashion designers such as Alexander McQueen, but then they will show someone completely different such as a jacket designed by Samsonite. Its not all these very famous designers either. Other designers include, Vexed Generation, Phillips-Levi, C.P. Company, Issey Miyake, Simon Thorogood, Hussein Chalayan, etc.