My 9 favourite (sustainable) fashion books

Adding to the list as I keep working and buying in this industry

Jan 18, 2025

So far this January, dear TIDBTW, I’m feeling desperate: in need of some good energy, good news, good looks. Instead of buying random clothes (I will write about the rebound effect after one year of lesser-buying soon…), I would like to redirect this craving towards some intellectual input. One way to double-check your own beliefs about what you need is to learn more about the history of must-haves and buying. Which made me think about my favourite fashion books. Some are new, some are very old, a few have a very specific sustainable focus, all of them are stylish in their own way. I usually connect with the author, topic and layout first, aesthetics do play a big role when it comes to bringing mindful matters to the masses.

So, while I still wonder about how to shop this year, here are my dearest printed reads on fashion; some food for thought for you and I. Hope you enjoy!

Influence (2008) by Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen

I think I bought this pretty immediately after it was first published in 2008; I found it in a Berlin marketplace for copies that are somehow faulty. I’m still as much of a fan of everything Olsen as I was back then, and wherever my office is (will move soon!) is where this book belongs. Not all parts of it have aged super well – see friendship with photographer Terry Richardson or full fur bedding. But to read it today is to see the manifestation of so many collaborators and role models in fashion from almost 20 years ago – especially where discussing where The Row and its brand, its clothes and its designers. No matter where we stand on ‘quiet luxury’, Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen created a business that is one of the leading indictators of where fashion – at least in that sector – is heading.

This book is for you if: you follow @olsenanonymous. You own something from The Row or wish you would. At least the book can be found second-hand here.

PS - after visiting The Row for the first time in London two weeks ago, I almost wish the store was less reduced and instead embraced those moodboards circa 2008 (that blue sofa!).

Can also recommend listening to this:

Kate Moss Style (2008) by Angela Buttolph

This book used to be my bible, I remember hunting for anything resembling Moss’s style. Which is why I was over the moon when she announced her Topshop collaboration in 2007, it all suddenly seemed accessible. Those were my fast fashion days. I still love flipping through this book, her 90s aesthetic remains the best of so many of today’s trends. Her anecdotes about fun and lucky fleamarket finds, and how to combine high and low (prices) feel more relevant than ever.

This book is for you if: you love Kate Moss. Find this favorite secondhand here.

What Artists Wear (2021) by Charlie Porter

I ADORE THIS BOOK. It is made with so much love for every individual featured in it. I would read it in small doses, just because the content and the world it opens made me so happy. It’s a beautiful ode to all the creative souls out there, acknowledging how differently and expressively we can dress and work. It made me dream; of studios, gardens, dungarees, fried eggs on breasts. As much as I’m curious about what fashion people wear to work, Charlie Porter explores the spheres of art studios and their inhabitants in an equally satisfying way.

This book is for you if: you’re looking to open new perspectives. I promise this book will give you not only ideas on how to get crafty, but also whose work to follow. I became obsessed with Jean-Michel Basquiat (this tailoring!) and Sarah Lucas (“Why should legs spreading be masculine?”) and of course Louise Bourgeois all over again. Maybe it’s someone else for you. Find it secondhand here.

Reading *What Artists Wear* alongside artist boyfriend made so much sense! Photo by TIDBTW

Growing Independent Fashion Brands (2024) by Natalia Corre

Thanks to it pocket format, Growing Independent Fashion Brands went everywhere with me this summer. Long gone is the original soft sage paper cover, but the grubby pages tell of many good moments spent with this book. The carefully curated collection of interviews with contemporary designers is an obvious go-to for anyone interested in challenging the unhealthy habits of the fashion industry. But also for those too restless to sit with a book for hours: You’ll find a fun educational read in short personal chapters by inspiring voices. I especially admire the last question to everyone: “How would you define growth and success in the Anthropocene?” Well, how would you?

Adding to her narrative, author Natalia Corre was recently asked by British VOGUE to comment on what emerging designers are facing amid the worldwide wholesale collapse:

“What buyers are looking for from emerging brands is very different now. There is no room for risk-taking anymore. Buyers are looking for the complete package: brands that already have a solid following and strong direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales, a customer base that is really specific and doesn’t compete in that ‘beige’ or ‘vanilla’ space, and a strong social media presence.”

To me there is some hope in this; to discover more talents beyond the neutral (color) scheme.

This book is for you if: you run an independent fashion brand, think about starting one, or want to discover more of them. Don’t miss the second printing of her book, follow Advance Copy on instagram, and read the whole VOGUE article, here.

Hitmakers: How brands influence culture (2024) by
Ana Andjelic

I’m still terribly bad at paying for substacks which also applies to Ana Andjelic’s

The Sociology of Business

– but then I did buy her book! It just came out in December and I’m curious to see how it adds to my experience of working in this environment. I’m still only on page 70, but what resonated with me immediately can be found in the introduction: even when we operate device-free, we basically can not not be influenced. Your co-workers, your commute, the street you live in, everything will have an affect to you. All can be culture. I often ask myself how much fashion backbone I originally have, basically how much of me wearing certain clothes is nature and what’s nurtured. Maybe I’ll know more after finishing this book.

This book is for you if: you work in fashion. Or you want to learn more about branding and how it influences YOU or uncover learned assumptions about culture. I’ve been missing some context for some of the creatives mentioned in this book but then again, I only just started to read it. It’s not available secondhand yet, but through the author’s bio.

Fashionopolis (2019) by
Dana Thomas

This book kept flying around my house for about 1,5 years, its red envelope screaming to be picked up. I guess I already anticipated and was dreading a challenging read about the true cost of our fast consumption. However, one summer day in 2022 I finally opened the book and I couldn’t put it down. Thomas’ report made me wonder, made me cry, made me research and got me going. This fashion book will not bring you closer to your style in terms of aesthetics, but morals. It tightened my belief about the urgency of circularity in fashion and I encourage everyone to read it.

This book is for you if: you live on this planet and wear clothes. Find it secondhand via ebay here

Glossy (2023) by Marisa Meltzer

And then there are fashionable books, dealing with stylish people, their lives, ideas and effects on us. This one treats the Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier. Reading it I couldn’t shake the feeling that women in business are being treated differently than men – and that women maybe question each other even harder. So while the tone of this book at times is a bit rough to me, I did enjoy the throwback to the beginnings of Into The Gloss and early Glossier and especially the style anecdotes of Emily Weiss in her early editor era. I gave this book to an entrepreneur friend because it tells a unique story in recent beauty brand history and gives an example of how women act and are seen in the startup industry. Which if anything can be a learning.

This book is for you if: you own a brow boy. You are thinking about starting a business, want to explore the beauty industry or simply catch up on Emily Weiss’ whereabouts (in the meantime Glossier has had a bit of a hyped “comeback”). Get the book secondhand here.

Grace, A Memoir (2012) by Grace Coddington

I have to admit that I never finished this book. I got it ages ago, mostly because I loved the idea of owning it and then the wonderful bright orange cover. So much that I placed it right next to my kitchen window, where the sun left a hefty mark. Compiling this list got me thinking of Grace and I remember reading her unfiltered and unpretentious memories of starting to work in fashion and the detailed encounters with all the names we find aspirational (or controversial) from her generation. Will get into it again and read till the end this time!

This book is for you if: you dream about working at VOGUE (or any other big fashion magazine), are a hopeless romantic about the media industry or keen to know more about Grace Coddington in particular. Find it here secondhand (a steal)

On Women (2023) by Susan Sontag

Without any irony, I can recommend getting into this book in a nail salon: three out of seven of the essays in this collection treat the topic of beauty. And while fashion is not necessarily explicit, it is always immanent. Fashion trends and pressures don’t exist without stereotypical ideas of beauty and vice versa. There is a lot to unpack here. It’s shocking that these texts were written as long ago as in the 1970s and could very well be from a femme-led debate at any table tonight. Sontag’s thoughts are boldly honest and fearless, at times hard to digest but so worth it.

This book is for you if: you’re looking for a chic accessory that bites. Speaking of culture and cultural impact earlier, this book helps to sharpen the senses around society’s bullshit towards women and female identifying individuals. A very important skill, as this brilliant article on the farcical and dangerous behaviour of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk by Rebecca Shaw for the Guardian once again demonstrates. (Seen via

Valerie Präkelt

, thank you for sharing!) Find On Women here secondhand.

These are my favourite fashion and fashionable books as of today, but I’m keen to add more. Read read read. And learn! Which ones should I have in my library? I would love to hear about your best books and also study in a more diverse way. I found some inspiration here