Edition : First / Paris / Purple Institute / 1996-1998 / Softcover. / VG+ 8vo, unpaginated (ca 250pp). Numerous Colour and Black & White plates. Text in English and French.
Early Purple is where the anti fashion aesthetic of the late nineties germinated. Vanessa Beecroft, Takashi Homma, Marina Faust, Inez and Vinoodh, Wolfgang Tillmans, Mark Borthwick, Margiela, Bernadette Corp, Susan Cianciolo – all work that is now very defined, revered and of an era, all in the same place. It’s a careful and very selective choice of material, one that can only really be driven by personal taste or preference. The next phase of purple was larger format, more commercial (the first 4 issues have almost no advertising, and scant designer credits) and different in both content and spirit. Almost everybody involved moved onto other things as fashion became more professionalised and less DIY, and many of the designers presented here assimilated into the commercial system.
