Recommended Reads
Welcome to the spring edition of Recommended Reads – our curated list of essential reading. Our obsession with print publications takes over the list this month, with coffee-table tomes and independent publishers proving that print really isn’t dead. Online, we’ve pored over industry disruptors shaking things up in the world of high fashion and jewellery, along with a thought-provoking piece on the demise of European languages – quelle horreur!
‘Buy yourself a damn diamond.’ The jewellery disruptors speak Jessica Beresford, HTSI
Shaking up a long-standing industry is always going to cause a little controversy. Jessica Beresford explores the rise of lab-grown diamonds (LVMH and De Beers are currently investing in the tech), how jewellery brands have cultivated a more luxurious piercing experience – one involving travertine countertops, private piercing rooms and precious stones – and the impact of ‘self-purchase’ marketing that encourages women to buy fine jewellery for themselves.
English is Taking Over Europe's Languages Elena Clavarino, Air Mail
The phenomenon of Anglicisation is hardly new, yet in Europe it suddenly feels more inescapable than ever. In France, a hair blowout is now called a brushing, and in Italy, you might park your car in a box, Italish for ‘garage’. In Germany, people are increasingly snubbing the longer words the language is known for, such as Emp?rungswelle (a wave of anger), in favour of shorter-form English alternatives, like ein shitstorm. Is this the beginning of the end of European languages?
Can AI Carry On a Designer’s Legacy? Marc Bain, Business of Fashion
AI offers a new, if unconventional, element in succession planning as companies think about how to maintain continuity after a designer's departure. But can an AI system trained on a designer's archive help lead a brand into the future? And are there qualities a founder brings to a company, like its culture, that AI can't replicate??
领英推荐
An Opinionated Guide to Women Painters Hoxton Mini Press
Founded at a time many declared ‘Print is dead’, the independent publisher Hoxton Mini Press continues to inspire with collectible photography, food and art books, with limited editions presented in handmade, clothbound boxes along with signed, numbered prints. ‘An Opinionated Guide to Women Painters’, featuring artists from Georgia O'Keefe to Amy Sherald to Eva Frankfurther, explores the way women painters have changed the way we see the world, even though throughout history many remained unseen.
The Travel Almanac
A ‘post-tourism publication’ reflecting how movement and location are central to contemporary culture, regardless of the ability to physically travel or not, in their own words, 'Since its inception, The Travel Almanac has been influential in re-defining the genre of pop-culture publications by showcasing the creative world’s opinions on travel and its accoutrement.' Their latest edition, themed 'Origins', features Linda Evangelista on two special-edition covers, along with Kai Isaiah Jamal, Chlo? Sevigny and Beverly Glenn-Copeland, with the usual inspiring journeys and conversations inside.
The Gourmand’s Lemon: A Collection of Stories and Recipes Taschen
Citrus fruits have forever captivated artists of all kinds, from 17th century Dutch painters to Michelin-starred chefs. Independent food magazine The Gourmand (founded by former Constructor Marina Tweed !) has taken the obsession one step further, collaborated with Taschen on a coffee-table tome dedicated to lemons – an in-depth exploration of the literary, linguistic, historic and gastronomic legacy, where the line between food and art is happily blurred.