Bound and flogged hard: the most important fashion, photo and art hardcovers of the month
FUCT
American counterculture touchstone FUCT was behind the subversive tees of the 1990s made famous by graffiti artist Erik Brunetti. Credited as the founder of streetwear, Brunetti's reappropriation of pop cultural branding and themes got him bitch slapped with a lawsuit or two. FUCT's Ford logo tees sent the kids in a tizzy and was (apparently) once worn by Keanu Reeves to the MTV Movie Awards. This year, the brand celebrates its 20th anniversary.
Available September from Rizzoli
Rock the Shack: The Architecture of Cabins, Cocoons and Hide-outs
Getting away seems to be at the top of many to-do lists, but this 240-pager celebrates our longing for lounging in nature. Rock the Shack is a survey of contemporary refuges from around the world. Cottages, tree houses, shelters and cocoons – this will give you a comfort that turning off your iPhone won't just won't provide.
Available now from Gestalten
Miles Aldridge: I Only Want You to Love Me
With a looming exhibition at Somerset house and Brancolini Grimaldi opening this week, Miles Aldridge's stellar snaps are on display in a kaleidoscopic body of work. Coming out with a pop, his images are in a league of their own and will liven up even the most Stepford of living spaces. Aldridge's work has the Pleasantville effect – it throws any surroundings into a state of black and white. With a foreword by Glenn O'Brien, this one packs a punch.
Available now from Rizzoli
Things Come Apart: A Teardown Manual for Modern Living
The title is self-explanatory: this book explores the miniature and many-pieced inner workings of some of the world's most iconic products. It's an Arthur Weasley dream, and photographer Todd McLellan makes this junk drawer of mechanics a visual splendour.
Available now from Thames & Hudson
Pretty Ugly: Visual Rebellion in Design
As the name suggests, this tome documents the deviants who think the current trends of conservative minimalism deserve a good wringing of the neck. The 90s rise of grunge and complete disabandonment of any priggish Swiss structure led by David Carson and Raygun magazine shaped that decade. Now, graphic designers like Côme de Bouchony, Bureau Mirko Borsche, and artists like Nacho Carbonell are giving us a new reason to look.
Available now from Gestalten
Raf Simons
The youth-culture inspired, elegant tailoring of Raf Simons has been sandwiched into the supersize pages of this Taschen table-topper. And about time – interviews over his marathon career paint a picture too pretty to pass up.
Available now from Taschen
Collecting Art for Love, Money and More
The best way to dip your toe into the canvas-coloured world of art collecting is with this page-turner penned by collecting couple Ethan Wagner and Thea Westreich Wagner. Some of the subjects it covers are the storage of art (a brobdingnagian amount is kept under wraps as most collectors don't have a wall to spare) and going incognito to biennials to place a reserve on headturning pieces. This book is complete with plenty of schmoozy stories of courting artists, but doesn't come with a Picasso pricetag.
Available now from Phaidon
The Complete Zaha Hadid
The seminal work of architect Zaha Hadid, winner of a laundry list of awards, is finally available in print. Nothing says you've got a nice home like a book about other nice homes, so it's a natural fit. Hadid's work put the maj in imagination and has been referenced by designers and architects from around the world.
Available 15 July from Thames & Hudson, introduction by Aaron Betsky
Shiro Kuramata
The furniture pioneer Shiro Kuramata is the thrilling subject of his first ever monographon, dedicated to his influential work in the areas of furnishing. Most of the hundreds of interiors he designed no longer exist, but live on in the pages of this beautifully designed, two-part tabletop collection.
Available now from Phaidon
Pharrell: Places and Spaces I've Been
So you've heard his voice a thousand times on Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" track and that "Blurred Lines" song, but do you know where Pharrell has been? The list of contributors is enough to get a bookworm squirming: Jay-Z, Kanye, Anna Wintour… The polymath/trailblazer documents all creative pursuits – clothing lines, jewelry, and accessories designs for Louis Vuitton, limited-edition toys, collaborations with Moncler, Marc Jacobs, the artist KAWS – in a mish mash of visuals with accompanying interviews.
Available now from Rizzoli