Electric Fashion

Electric Fashion stands alone in the genre of fashion monographs as this is a book that can be appraised and applauded on multiple levels. Suppes and Aranda describe this project as a journey, but this is an unbelievably intimate demonstration of one woman’s adoration of fashion with her “partner in crime.” Together, they have created one of the great fashion books to have come along in this millennium to date.

With all this praise, it is necessary to explain why this is being assessed in such a laudatory manner. Christine Suppes is a consumer turned fashionphile, turned collector, and finally turned visual diarist when partnered with the more than capable Frederic Aranda. Together they catalogued and recorded a museum-worthy wardrobe all shown off on Suppes and photographed around the world. Please take note that this was a not a project of a dilettante as Suppes is a pioneer of Internet fashion as well.

This is not some all-inclusive assortment of every designer and their offerings that was purchased strictly for display or for the sake of consumerism. The clothes are in fact part of this amazing woman’s wardrobe. The breadth of the assortment is mind boggling and surely would induce fashion envy among those who are smart enough to see what she has amassed. There are large amounts of Chanel, Vivienne Westwood, On Aura Tout, YSL (when it was YSL), Beene, and Lacroix, and also includes Comme Des Garçons, Balenciaga, Walid, Galanos, and many many more. The shoe wardrobe would make the most devoted and avid shoe hoarder swoon and feel faint. Her collection of fashion jewelry/accessories is also out of this world.

What makes the overall reading experience so memorable is that Suppes clearly possesses a collection with looks that span from the most demure of little black dresses to the all-out glamour and confections by Christian Lacroix to the extreme and outrageous creations of Comme Des Garçons. The clothes are not only shown on Suppes or on dress forms, but they are also photographed in detail to show off the incredible workmanship, and then photographed in a context of location with text to match. The text is to the point, informative, and totally unobtrusive.

Electric Fashion is a labor of love for both authors and demonstrates the amazing result that comes from an incomparable pairing of minds and compatible aesthetics. The book is a snapshot of only part of a life belonging to one of fashion’s most enlightened and vibrant patrons. Christine Suppes is to be saluted for her love of the art of fashion, and her creative partner Frederic Aranda commended as well for partnering with Suppes and chronicling this amazing five-year journey.

Run, do not walk, to go and get this book and add it to your fashion library.