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Review ------ 'Vogue On Designers - a new, compact series of books, small enough to carry in your handbag but still hardbacked - is destined to take pride of place in many a carefully edited library. The series stands out for the unique access all the writers have had to the magazine's archive of photography and illustrations. The Condé Nast library has offered up an unprecedented quantity and quality of images, by everyone from Cecil Beaton to Mario Testino and Tim Walker. Thanks to Vogue having first charted the careers of these designers, their lives and works within its pages, there was a vast a of original material for the writers to draw on, making this a dream project. Each of the four designers' stories comes back to life - the images of their collections acting as prompts, reminding us just how dramatic their impact has been on the way we dress. From detailing how hard the designers worked to how they lived with their visionary brilliance, the books made a captivating assessment of their power and their legacy today. These aren't vast coffee-table books to gather dust, but new fashion friends to be read, perused and revisited for inspiration.' --VOGUE, October 2012 'Four fabulous little books on four era-defining designers of the 20th century.' --The Mail on Sunday, 16th September 2012 'Oh, we do love an affordable snippet of style and the new Vogue On series offers just that.' --Image Magazine, September 2012 'Like the girls modelling the exquisite clothes, the books are slim, enchanting and beautifully proportioned. The text is brief but informative, and laced with delicious quotes such as this from Chanel: 'Dress shabbily and they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.' --Mail on Sunday, 7th October 2012 From the Inside Flap -------------------- Hailed as 'the most influential female designer of the twentieth century', Coco Chanel pioneered classic easy-to-wear fashion for the modern woman. She arrived on the fashion scene when feathers, lace and ostentatious beads were favourites, and proceeded to re-invent couture using new materials, like jersey, for outfits that were suitable for everyday wear yet still elegant. With original illustrations and images from celebrated photographers, such as Cecil Beaton, Bronwyn Cosgrave traces the story of Coco Chanel's iconic designs and glamorous, racy life. In 1921 Coco opened her Chanel boutique in Paris - still a destination store today - and launched her first perfume, Chanel No.5. Perhaps her most important contribution to the fashion world was the simple, much-imitated 'little black dress' which made its debut in 1926. Other landmark creations include the Chanel suit and the quilted handbag. A testament to her lasting influence, these legendary designs remain as popular today as when they first appeared. Vogue, the international fashion bible, has charted the careers of designers through the decades. Its unique archive of photographs, taken by the leading photographers of the day from Cecil Beaton to Mario Testino, and original illustrations, together with its stable of highly respected fashion writers, make Vogue the most authoritative and prestigious source of reference on fashion. With a circulation of over 160,000 and a readership of over 1,400,000, no brand is better positioned to present a library on the great fashion designers of the modern age.