September is the month of new beginnings. The return to routine brings with it the desire to nourish the mind and eye with inspiring works. This year, the fashion editorial calendar offers two exceptional volumes that take the reader on a journey through haute couture, memory, and imagination: CHANEL Haute Couture by Sofia Coppola and Dior by Yuriko Takagi. Two very different books, yet united by their ability to narrate fashion as a universal language of beauty and creativity.
Sofia Coppola and the Emotional Archive of CHANEL
With CHANEL Haute Couture (Éditions 7L and Important Flowers/MACK), Sofia Coppola creates a volume that is both an archive and a visual narrative. In over 450 pages, the director traces the history of the Maison from its origins with Gabrielle Chanel to the contemporary creations of Virginie Viard. Iconic photographs, unpublished sketches, runway images, and archival materials intertwine in a choral narrative that brings to light the most intimate soul of couture.
Coppola, who at just fifteen years old had a formative experience in CHANEL’s creative studio, creates a book that reflects her style of collage and assemblage: a cinematic composition that conveys the timeless elegance of the House and the profound connection between fashion, art, and personal memory.
Yuriko Takagi and the Visual Poetry of Dior
In Dior by Yuriko Takagi (Rizzoli), the protagonist is the visionary eye of the great Japanese photographer. Her images transform Dior haute couture into apparitions suspended between dream and reality. Takagi does more than simply document the dresses: she transfigures them into visual poetry, capturing that “movement of life” that Christian Dior spoke of.
Particular attention is paid to toiles, the canvas prototypes that underpin the collections, here interpreted as “ghosts and pioneers” of new ideas. The volume unfolds like a dialogue between memory and creation, between the Maison’s tradition and the artist’s personal gaze, which, through a vibrant and never-static light, makes the silhouettes dance like protagonists in a surreal ballet.
Two visions, a single invitation to read
While Coppola explores the historical and emotional memory of CHANEL, creating an intimate and collective portrait, Takagi offers a dreamlike and philosophical reading of Dior, in which couture becomes an aesthetic and spiritual experience. Both volumes, available from September 2025, invite the reader to slow down and immerse themselves in a universe where fashion, art, and imagination collide.
