Coffee table books say a lot without saying much. They hint at where you’ve been, what you’re drawn to, and who you might be trying to impress. They sit quietly – on marble, on wood, on whatever surface feels curated enough to be called a vignette – but their presence is intentional. The right book can anchor a room or break the ice. It can also just look really good next to a candle.
This lineup isn’t just pretty. These are books with a point of view – on design, travel, architecture, even martinis. Each one earns its place, not just on the table, but in the rhythm of a space.
Franca: Chaos and Creation
Published by Assouline (2019), this book is an intimate portrait of the late Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani, known for her fearless editorials and intellectual take on fashion. The imagery spans the high-concept and the emotional, drawing from personal photographs, archival spreads, and reflections by collaborators like Valentino and Baz Luhrmann. Equal parts chaotic and composed, the book mirrors Sozzani’s own duality – visionary and grounded, glamorous and sharp. It doesn’t just honor her – it invites you into her headspace.
Issey Miyake
This Taschen monograph (2016) unpacks the radical elegance of Issey Miyake’s career, from the early silhouettes to his cult-favorite pleats. With extensive visuals and thoughtful design, it traces how the designer challenged the idea of fashion as static, showing garments that move, morph, and breathe. The photography – both runway and studio – speaks to a mind always looking ahead. In every way, the book feels like Miyake: quiet, brilliant, and impossibly original.
Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott
Few photographers have shaped the visual language of contemporary fashion like Mert and Marcus. This massive volume (published by Taschen in 2011) is a deep dive into their saturated, high-gloss world, filled with iconic portraits of Kate Moss, Madonna, and Rihanna. The book’s polished aesthetic is balanced by an occasional flash of grit, a reminder that under the slick surfaces is a provocative, unapologetic point of view. If you want a book that looks like fashion at full volume, this is it.
Inez van Lamsweerde/Vinoodh Matadin. Pretty Much Everything
A career-spanning look at the Dutch duo’s endlessly imaginative work, this two-volume Taschen set (2011) blends fantasy and restraint. Their signature aesthetic – surreal, slightly eerie, always chic—unfolds through 600+ images of models, actors, and muses. What sets it apart is the intimacy; even in high-fashion spreads, there’s a softness, a strangeness, a wink. At turns tender and theatrical, it’s a collection that demands to be revisited.
Linda Evangelista Photographed by Steven Meisel
Linda and Meisel—name a more iconic duo. This Phaidon release (2023) zeroes in on the model and photographer’s decades-long collaboration, a series of transformations that helped define fashion in the ’90s and beyond. From stark black-and-white portraits to elaborate editorials dripping in drama, the book charts Evangelista’s shapeshifting range and Meisel’s unparalleled ability to capture it. A must for those who worship at the altar of editorial fashion.
Carine Roitfeld: Irreverent
As raw as it is polished, this Rizzoli volume (2011) distills Roitfeld’s career into 368 pages of seductive chaos. Styled like a personal diary, it collages provocative shoots, scribbled notes, and behind-the-scenes moments from her Vogue Paris years. There’s a certain energy to it – unfiltered, magnetic, very Carine. It doesn’t read like a retrospective so much as a fever dream of fashion’s most rebellious years.
The Impossible Collection of Fashion
Assouline’s collector-worthy tome (2011) makes the impossible seem inevitable: 100 of the most iconic looks in fashion history, curated by Valerie Steele. With full-page photography and sharp commentary, it spans eras and aesthetics – from Poiret to Prada, from minimalism to maximalism. Bound in a clamshell case and printed on hand-tipped paper, it’s as much an art object as a reference. Total couture energy.
Architectural Digest: A Century of Style
AD’s centennial (2019) book is a visual timeline of how interiors reflect identity. Pulling from a century of archives, it features homes of the bold and beautifully designed – from Golden Age film stars to modern icons like Marc Jacobs. What ties it together is a reverence for how people live, not just how they decorate. The editorial polish is unmistakable, and it makes for a surprisingly intimate read.
Louis Vuitton: Virgil Abloh (Ultimate Edition)
Published posthumously by Assouline (2022), this volume cements Abloh’s legacy as a boundary-breaker. With essays, interviews, and runway shots, it covers his game-changing collections for Louis Vuitton Men’s and the cultural impact that rippled out from them. It’s not just about clothes – it’s about a vision that made fashion feel wide open. A poignant, powerful portrait of a designer who truly moved the needle.
Andy Warhol. Polaroids 1958-1987
This Taschen collection (2015) presents Warhol at his most instinctive. Shot with his ever-present Polaroid camera, these images feel spontaneous and personal – portraits of friends and stars, still lifes, even mundane moments. The imperfections make them magic. Whether you know Warhol for his soup cans or his studio parties, this book captures the quieter, more curious side of the artist who saw beauty in the everyday.
A good coffee table book doesn’t beg for attention – it earns it over time. These titles do just that. They live well, age well, and say something without saying too much. Whether stacked, opened, or left askew beside that candle, they’re the kind of books that become part of the room – and maybe part of you, too.
