Pantone on Fashion - A Century of Color in Design

Last year I was approached by Chronical Books Art & Photography Editor, Julien Tomasello, about using some of my photographs of a Miriam Haskell necklace in an upcoming book. Of course, I agreed. He described the book this way:

From the color experts at Pantone comes this definitive guide to color in fashion. The book will map the appearance of particular shades, charting both colors that have trended at a single moment in time, and tracing those hues that pop up again and again in the course of modern fashion history. Illustrated with runway photos and other fashion images throughout, this will be the ultimate guide to both the flashpoint color trends of the past decade, and the timeless favorite shades the fashion world loves to love.

I sent him the photographs along with my description of the necklace and a short bio of Miriam Haskell:

This is a fantastic Vintage Miriam Haskell Necklace from the 1950s. It has periwinkle beads of varying sizes, clear beads that have been scored with a spiral design, tiny pearls, crystal rhinestones in both clear and irridescent blue, along with the signature Miriam Haskell gilt findings. The clasp is marked Miriam Haskell.

Miriam Haskell (1899 - 1981) was an American designer of costume jewelry. In a fashion world dominated by men, Haskell, like her distaff contemporaries Coco Chanel and Hattie Carnegie, founded her own company to pursue her ambitions. The company persists today making high-end costume jewelry, much of it in the same design genre as the designs of the forties and fifties. With her creative partner Frank Hess, she invented affordable pieces of stunning originality from 1920 through the 1960s. Vintage examples of Miriam Haskell designs are truly collectible, held in both private collections and museums internationally, and are equally wearable, as the quality and designs are long lived.

The authors of the book described Haskell:

For Miriam Haskell, “high quality fake” does not refer to anything nefarious or black market. Her meticulously hand-assembled costume jewelry is collected with fervor, even relished by fashion cognoscenti. Established in 1926, Haskell’s New York boutique, Le Bijou de l'Heure, was brought to glory by its head of design, Frank Hess, who previously dressed windows for Macy's. Inspired by nature’s lavish color schemes like wild blooms of periwinkle, Haskell’s pieces were snapped up by Hollywood stars, including Lucille Ball.

The book was published in September 2014 by Chronicle Books: Pantone on Fashion - A Century of Color in Design by Leatrice Eiseman and Elizabeth Cutler.

The Haskell necklace photo is upper left on the above page.

The press copy for the book:

Follow global color authority Pantone on this vivid journey through the rich history of color in fashion. Favorite hues and their appearances across the decades are profiled in informative text and copiously illustrated by runway photos and archival images. Track Bright Marigold from its heyday in the 1940s as Hermès' identifying hue to its show-stopping appearance in Carolina Herrera's Spring/Summer 2013 collection, and trace Cyber Yellow from 1960s mod style to Anna Sui's 1990s punk-inspired looks. Complete with a survey of the industry-defining Pantone Color of the Year, Pantone on Fashion is the ultimate guide to the timeless shades the fashion world loves to love. 

Great book for anyone interested in color, fashion or design. It has lots of tidbits about color history and more ... and sorry, but we do not sell books ... and the Haskel necklace was sold some time ago.