Pierre Balmain

Gerard-Julien Salvy. Photography by Pierre Balmain.

Editions du Regard. Paris. 1996. English language edition. First published in French in 1995. Hardback; black cloth-bound boards, dust jacket. 288 pages. With approx. 300 illustrations in colour and b&w. English. 330 x 250mm. 2.5kg. 2841050270. Near fine, in near fine dust jacket; sligth shelf wear, slight knock to front lower forecorner.

Scarce, especially in English, this book remains the key monograph on the French fashion designer, Pierre Balmain (1914-1982). Having worked for Edward Molyneux and Lucien Lelong, Balmain founded his own eponymous fashion house in 1945. He was a contemporary of Dior and contributed to the popularity of the New Look. The book is rich in both text and images. It follows Balmain's life and career, looking at his clothes, the founding of the Balmain fashion house, his perfumes and his costume work. The illustrations include fashion drawings, photographs of the clothes, close-ups of details and archival photos.