The New Look: Design in the Fifties Book

Christian Dior's Spring collection of February 1947 startled the world. But the New Look, with its sculptural exaggeration of the female figure, soon became the symbol for a much wider range of developments in which a whole generation of outstandingly talented designers revitalized the basic forms of home and workplace. The shapes were new (soft and organic); the patterns were new (Formica and synthetic fibers, for example); the images were new (drawing on science and everyday life). From the Italy of Gio Ponti to the America of Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, radical, rapid, and irreversible changes created a New Look for the applied arts. The visual strengths of these innovative designs are reflected in their renewed popularity today.

One of the most important works of postwar design history to be published in recent years, the book includes a fully illustrated international directory of 1950s design, giving details of prominent designers, important companies, and significant works.