360 DEGREES Weblog

Prada, the book, is a well edited collection of images that documents 30 years of the respected Italian fashion house. From stills taken from short films showcasing the craftsmanship of the factory, collages of the brand’s most iconic and influential accessories, to runway photos, images - unfortunately thumbnails - of over 3,000 looks, store designs and a photo essay by renowned photographer Brigitte Lacombe - this book is complete eye candy for any fashion enthusiast.

$80 Amazon

Condé Nast Traveler’s popular “Room With a View” column has been compiled into a beautiful new book from Assouline. Culled from the highlights of the column’s 20 years chronicling the world’s most fabulous hotel rooms, the Room With a View book features the very best “frame-worthy vistas” to be found anywhere on Earth. 160 breathtaking sights from beaches in Bali to Asia’s bustling metropolises to African savannahs “teeming with wildlife rather than nightlife” are lavishly portrayed within. Standouts include the bathtub vista from the Royal Park’s Urban Spa room in Japan’s 971 foot-high Yokohama Landmark Tower, and Room 609 at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel, the perfect box seat for the Cartier Snow Polo World Cup played on the frozen Lake of St. Moritz below.

What might be the feeling, when someone gets $1 million for what was originally bought for 10 cents? Well, we’ll never come to know about that, but ComicConnect must be having hard time convincing the person that his junk from the basement has fetched a fortune. Marking the most important event in comic book history ever, the world’s most coveted and an extremely rare Action Comics” #1, a 1938 comic book that featured the first appearance of Superman is sold for record $1million. The figure is more than three times higher than the prior record-holder, also set by ComicConnect.com. This particular issue was rated at 8.0 out of 10 according to the CGC grading company and had been held in a private collection for the last 15 years. For those who would like to have a glimpse of the rare comic book should get down to ComicConnect’s New York City showroom where it will be on a brief display.

Not content to let traditional books have all the digital distribution fun, Panelfly (Free; App Store Link) lets you purchase, download, and read digital comics right from your iPhone or iPod touch. With hundreds of titles available from some of the biggest names in comics — including Marvel — Panelfly’s slick, well-designed interface makes reading each issue as easy as possible, and in case you’re thinking the iPhone/iPod touch screen is too small, have patience — Panelfly for the iPad will launch alongside the device in March.

Last week, high-end event planner Preston Bailey gathered hundreds in the sprawling 69th Regiment Armory in Manhattan to celebrate the launch of his fourth book, “Preston Bailey Celebrations.” The gorgeous book is filled with images of the lavish events he’s designed the world over (with rates starting at $250,000), from a stunning Tiffany-glass inspired wedding in New York to a reception with giant floral animals in Bali. So you can expect his own party would be a stunner - not to mention celebrity-tinged.

Bailey created a magical environment with no shortage of glitz (above). Two giant disco balls dramatically projected light throughout the room and dreamlike trees glowed at the entrance. A giant runway ran down the middle of the room, which was projected with a rotating image of pages from his book, giving it the illusion of a printing press. The runway served as a stage for performers such as Martha “Everybody Dance Now” Wash and Gloria Gaynor, then later was filled with attendees dancing. Bailey was true to his theory that a diverse crowd makes for the best parties. He was feted by quite a diverse crowd.

Buy his book here

“Porsche means looking at the world from a different angle. The fact that, unlike other cars, the ignition switch is located to the left of the steering wheel is just one indication that this company, these sports cars and this family are different from other automobile dynasties.” Thus begins Generation Porsche, a brilliant new volume published by teNeues in the wake of the opening of the new Porsche Museum at Zuffenhausen’s Porscheplatz in Stuttgart. The most comprehensive and best-designed pictorial history of the marque we’ve seen to date, it contains a brilliantly curated collection of artfully layered images, taking full advantage of the museum’s archives and displays showing how three generations of the Porsche family have defined automobile history, and in particular the saga of the sports car. Until you can actually get over to Germany, this book is the next best thing.

The famed marque officially celebrated its 60th anniversary last year, but its history in fact goes back 110 years to 1900 and 24-year-old Ferdinand Porsche’s visionary Lohner electric car concept, debuted at that year’s World’s Fair in Paris; that’s where Generation Porsche kicks off. In merging the highest standards of design with advanced technology, Porsche has since become a byword for four-wheeled works of art, ranking among the most coveted cars in the world. As avid Porsche collector Jerry Seinfeld puts it, “Driving a Porsche always gives you a futuristic feeling.” The high-tech museum certainly conveys that. Construction began on the building, designed to be an architectural emblem of the Porsche brand, in October 2005, making history as the most spectacular building project ever undertaken by the company. In addition to 80 ever-changing exhibits, the museum also features workshops, a Porsche boutique, the Porsche archive, a restaurant, a café and event space.

$45 at teNeues

Available stateside this month, Less and More: The Design Ethos of Dieter Rams covers the breadth of the influential German designer’s career—notably his projects for furniture company Vitsœ and the forty-plus year’s worth of work for consumer electronics manufacturer Braun. Published by Gestalten, the title comes from Rams’ own prescription for creative work: “Weniger, aber besser,” roughly translating to “Less, but better.”

The 800-page book features beautiful visuals of Rams’ elegantly simple, seemingly effortless designs, overwhelmingly the result of meticulous testing and experimentation with new materials. It also includes accessible texts by design experts that explain each works’ creation and place it in current context. From Braun lighters, calculators and electric shavers to stereo amplifiers and 35 mm film slide projectors, or his timeless 606 Universal Shelving System for Vitsœ, Less and More demonstrates how the legendary designer’s work changed expectations of what design could and should be. As Rams himself once said, “Question everything generally thought to be obvious.

We’ve covered complete periodical collections before, but never one that arrives on its own dedicated hard drive. The Complete National Geographic ($200) includes digital reproductions of every Nat Geo issue from 1888 - 2008, including all the classic maps, photographs, and articles, all searchable from within an advanced custom interface. All the content arrives on a 160GB USB hard drive, with plenty of room left over for updates, and 100GB allotted for personal use.

$199

Scottish photographer Rankin has released a new volume of edgy erotica appropriately titled Rankin’s Cheeky.

The book features a foreword by Playboy founder Hugh Hefner and an introduction by Heidi Klum, who has shed her clothes for the photographer’s skillful erotic studies on a number of occasions. “I’m never shy with Rankin,” Klum says.

Kate Moss has also been snapped by the master in her birthday suit many times; some of the images are featured in the book. “Any time Rankin takes a picture he knows what he wants, and there is really no chance of being anyone but who you are, even if you try,” she notes. “You can trust him. I trust him.”

From Amazon

Renowned photographer Roxanne Lowit has been chronicling the fashion scene for the past 30 years; early on she staked out the backstage areas at fashion shows, where the really interesting action takes place, as her prime hunting ground for capturing the most beautiful people in their natural habitat. Now Lowit, whose work has been exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Whitney Museum and others, has an incredible new book just published by teNeues, focusing on brilliant, flamboyant Dior deigner John Galliano’s couture concoctions which she chronicled for over a decade. Backstage Dior, with a foreword by Galliano, mixes black-and-white and color images, candids and close-ups, delving into the fascinating details behind the scenes. The book is a must for any devotée of fashion, spectacle, photography, or all three.