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No home is complete without the finishing touch of one of the best coffee table books — especially for luxury fashion and design lovers. These glossy, aesthetically-pleasing, hardbound treasure tomes provide a signature stamp of style to even the most minimalist living spaces. It’s not about the quantity of luxury coffee table books you have stacked in your home; it’s about exactly which of these books you intentionally selected to make space for in your home, whether it’s to reflect your interests, taste, or compliment the home décor style of your personal space.
When hosting a friend over for a casual catch up or a select group of friend for a dinner party, guests will naturally gravitate to these beautiful coffee table books that can serve as a great conversion starter or become a source for a common interest between two newly introduced visitors, much like a striking art piece on display. Luxury coffee table books aren’t just a reflection of its owner, but also a catalyst for how others engage in their place of solitude. Do you want an extra large designer coffee table full of rare imagery that conveys a certain mood or do you seek a thought-provoking design book with historically gems and informative text? Would you prefer a book for your coffee table or shelves that’s easy and enjoyable to skim without distraction or a coffee table book that draws you in to read every interesting tidbit of text? Either way, there’s no wrong answer — and thankfully, there are plenty of great options released each year for you to build up a collection of these printed treasures.
What’s more, a hard-backed fashion or design coffee table book will make an incredibly thoughtful gift for a loved one that will far outlive hand-delivered flowers or luxury candles.
“I actually gift coffee table books to my partner for every single birthday or Christmas. I also tend to gift luxury coffee table books really anytime I can,” says noted residential interiors and architecture design expert Tara Dennis of Archie Bolden. “The reason I love them is that there are so many out there, so many different kinds, that you can find something that’s very unique to a person and speaks to who they are. It shows a lot of thought and consideration.” Dennis recommends writing a little note on the inside cover as a thoughtful reminder of when and why the book was gifted to them.
As beautiful on the outside as the photographs and words on the inside, the best designer coffee table books are ones that you’ll keep for years to come to make any place feel like home, which makes it a quality purchase worth investing in. “There is no diminishing the appeal of a book as an object in its own right,” says Tilly Macalister-Smith, contributing editor at Wallpaper. “Many of mine have been shipped back and forth across the Atlantic at some point due to various house moves, but having your books around you feels very comforting.”
Below, you’ll find our favorite luxury fashion and design coffee table books that WWD editors own and cherish.
Top Coffee Table Books of 2024
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Best Luxury Coffee Table Book for Fashion Lovers & Students
WWD Black in Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Influence & Culture by Tonya Blazio-Licorish & Tara Donaldson
Chronicling the beginning of Women’s Wear, which became Women’s Wear Daily by the 1930s, “Black in Fashion: 100 Years of Style, Influence & Culture” features historic headlines, interviews, reporting, and imagery to highlight WWD’s inclusive perspective for over 100 years. It aims to “reconnect and restore Black creatives’ contributions to the fashion canon and celebrate the voices seen and unseen,” from the profound impact of Josephine Baker to the importance of Ann Lowe and her creations, including the wedding dress she designed for Jackie Kennedy.
The 293-page fashion coffee table book is jam-packed with insightful information about Black designers, models, and muses, as well as timelines and context around key cultural moments such as the “Black is Beautiful” movement and the “Battle of Versailles,” covered in the “Eye,” “They Are Wearing,” and “Amusements” sections of the industry trade journal that became known as “the bible of fashion.” It’s much more than shelf decor; it’s a remarkable tome of fashion history that only WWD could deliver.
Price upon publish date of this article: $47.99
Best New Coffee Table Book of 2024
Diane Keaton: Fashion First
Always marching to the style beat of her own drum, Diane Keaton’s unique sartorial choices have been an inspiration for both fashion designers and film fanatics since the 1960s. Released this September, this highly-anticipated coffee table book from Rizzoli covers Keaton’s fashions over the years with the iconic actress’ unfiltered, entertaining commentary, along with quotes from some of Hollywood’s best dressed stars, including Blake Lively and Sarah Jessica Parker. Fashion lovers are in for a real treat with beautiful imagery from photographers like Annie Leibovitz and Ruben Afanador.
Price upon publish date of this article: $43.49
Best luxury Coffee table Book for Architecture and Home Decor
Architectural Digest at 100: A Century of Style Book
Commemorating a century of style upon its publish date in 1990, this luxury coffee table book by Architectural Digest features archive photographs and material selected by the magazine’s discerning editors. Images shot by famous photographers such as Bill Cunningham and Horst P. also allow you to take a glimpse into the private spaces of celebrities such as David Bowie, Diana Vreeland, and the Obamas. Browse its pages whenever you’re in need of interior design inspiration.
Price upon publish date of this article: $82.90
Best Small Designer coffee table Book
The Little Book of Hermès by Karen Homer
Who knew a small designer coffee table book could pack so much insightful knowledge and so many historic milestones of the storied French fashion house? Beyond the Birkins, this fun-sized fashion book includes the history of the brand’s first bag — the Haut à Courroies bag meant to carry saddles and riding boots — to notes of innovations and signatures of the brand, such as the Hermès fastener and saddle stitching. By the time you learn about how Hermès’ signature orange box became a classic, there’s little chance this informative fashion book will be left to rest on the coffee table.
Price upon publish date of this article: $11.86
beST eXTRA LARGE designer COFFEE TABLE FASHION BOOK
Tom Ford
The Tom Ford coffee table book documents the Texas-born designer’s helm at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, from his successes to the drama behind the scenes, along with the overtly sexy advertisement campaigns (some so scandalous you’ll have a hard time finding them today) in collaboration with stylist Carine Roitfield and photographer Mario Testino.
From behind-the-scenes images with him team (including Stefano Pilati who would later become head designer of Saint Laurent) to iconic photographs of the supermodels and style icons who donned Ford’s creations, the designer coffee table book captures the essence of Tom Ford and his vision of modern dressing that changed the fashion industry in the ’90s to 2004.
Price upon publish date of this article: $77.99
Most Fashionable Luxury Coffee table Book
Tom Ford 002
Tom Ford 002 picks up where the last coffee table book left off in 2005. In the same style of bold pull quotes and stunning imagery, the book follows Ford’s foray into the movie business with his films “A Single Man” and “Nocturnal Animals”, as well as the beginnings of his namesake menswear label and return to womenswear design. Plus, the designer coffee table book includes those sexually-charged advertisement campaigns for Tom Ford beauty, photographed by Terry Richardson. For the Tom ford enthusiast, or just any person fascinated with the suave American designer, who also served as the Chairman of the CFDA, it’s an essential purchase that perfectly compliments the first book with pages full of Ford’s world of style and glamour.
Price upon publish date of this article: $74.99
Best Designer Coffee Table Book for guys
Ralph Lauren: In His Own Fashion by Alan Flusser
In the plaid-printed designer coffee table book “Ralph Lauren: In His Own Words,” the reader gets to dive head first into the Americana lifestyle and history of the iconic brand, including historic articles in WWD from the 1980s and Lauren’s January 1969 cover of Men’s Wear, a Fairchild publication that first highlighted the 28-year old fashion disruptor’s wide neckties sold at Bloomingdale’s.
The coffee table book also features Lauren’s extensive, enviable sportswear collection and private residences filled with products from his aspirational home line. Much like everything Ralph Lauren offers, this book is a timeless treasure to covet.
Price upon publish date of this article: $32.20
Best Sneaker Coffee Table Book
Sneaker Freaker: The Ultimate Sneaker Book
Sneakerheads can immerse themselves in this incredibly knowledgable tome that features everything from how-to guides to stories of shoe collectors featured in Sneaker Freaker magazine over the years. Archival imagery of icons, such as Air Jordans from 1989 and Adidas Sambas from 1965, compliments the tales and texts in this sneaker bible with a high-shine cover that stands out with style on any table. Buyer beware: you will want to ramp up your sneaker collection after skimming this coffee table book.
Price upon publish date of this article: $37.99
Best luxury Fashion Photography coffee table Book
Peter Lindbergh: On Fashion Photography
View the world of fashion through 300-plus Peter Lindbergh black and white images that feature designs by Yves Saint Laurent, Rei Kawakubo, Karl Lagerfeld, and more. Some of our favorite images from the legendary German fashion photographer? Amber Valetta with angel wings for Harper’s Bazaar in 1993 and his memorable biker-chic shoot with top supermodels in 1991 for Vogue.
Price upon publish date of this article: $19.99
What to Look for In the Best Designer Coffee Table Books
- Size and type of book: Coffee table books come in small, medium, and large sizes, so you can find one, or a stack, to fit perfectly into your home. You can also mix and match with books you already have by pulling your favorites from shelves and displaying them together. “I don’t think coffee table books need to be restricted to giant hardback photographic-led tomes,” says Macalister-Smith. “Often, if you buy a good novel or poetry or non-fiction read in hardback and remove the paper sleeve, they will have a beautiful fabric cover underneath. Exhibition catalogs also can make great additions. For me, coffee table books are books I’m actually enjoying that end up on the coffee table — not a consciously curated thing.”
- Price: There are designer coffee table books to suit all kinds of budgets — from large luxury editions that cost over $1,000 to smaller hard-backed books that cost $100 or less. As Macalister-Smith suggests, you can also buy second-hand books and remove the covers, and mix in exhibition catalogs for a touch of interest. Not only will they look beautiful, but they’ll also remind you of a happy memory.
How to Style Your Coffee Table Books
“I tend to group all of my coffee table books according to size, and I like to do them in stacks of two or three and then put some kind of object on the top,” explains Dennis. “I also like to just stack a heap of them all around each other and basically make a little mini city of book stacks. I think that’s a really fun one; it looks great. This styling technique adds some really good mass, but they all look quite unique, so there’s a little bit of color involved as well.”
How We Selected the Best Designer Coffee Table Books
To select the best designer and fashion coffee table books, we took a deep dive into the market while drawing on our personal favorites and wishlist books. Here, we sought out the most coveted and beautiful — not to mention inspiring — books that are as enjoyable to read as they are to look at. We also considered the hundreds of online reviews of our final shortlist, employed research across the designer coffee table book market, and asked our experts, Tilly Macalister-Smith and Tara Dennis, to share their favorites.
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Meet the Experts
Tilly Macalister-Smith is a British writer and editor who has worked with some of the most revered luxury brands and publications in the world. She is also a contributing editor to Wallpaper magazine. In her move from London to New York, she has also been closely followed by her own personal collection of treasured books.
Tara Dennis is a noted residential interior and architecture design expert. She helps to create beautiful spaces for an A-list clientele in addition to noted restaurants, cafes, and other commercial projects in Atlanta, Chicago, LA, New York, Boston, Miami, and across Australia.
Meet the Authors
Cat Hufton-Schiorlin is a London-based fashion and beauty journalist who has written for some of the world’s best luxury e-commerce companies and publications, including InStyle, Harper’s Bazaar, Byrdie, and Cosmopolitan Magazine. She is an avid online shopper and a keen bookworm – her favorite coffee table books are Soho House’s Eat, Drink, Nap and anything from Assouline’s colorful destination series. Hufton-Schiorlin wrote the original version of this article on the best luxury coffee table books.
Adam Mansuroglu is the Director of Commerce for Footwear News and WWD, overseeing strategy for shopping content on both brands, along with writing and editing shopping guides, product reviews, and shopping trend stories across fashion, beauty, home and lifestyle product categories for men and women. Prior to his current role, Mansuroglu was a fashion editor and stylist at Cosmopolitan Magazine, Style Editor at BestProducts.com, and Senior Style and Gear Editor at Men’s Health Magazine. Mansuroglu has been tapped as a shopping expert for editorial websites such as Wirecutter, and his writing has also appeared in Out Magazine, Esquire and other publications. Mansuroglu, who owns all of the books on this list, contributed to the September 2024 update of this article on top designer and fashion coffee table books.
Source: Shop – wwd.com
