Fashion & Surrealism

The intersection of surrealism and fashion dates back to Max Ernst's mechanistic fantasies of mannequins and Rene Magritte's delving into the eroticism of clothes. Fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli, in collaboration with Salvador Dali, made surrealistic dresses that shocked her clients. Illustrators A. M. Cassandre and Marcel Vertes borrowed surrealist imagery, while fashion trend-setters Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld got into the act. Photographers Cecil Beaton, Horst P. Horst and Andre Kertesz experimented with surrealist techniques, and today, of course, surrealism is everywherein print and television ads, window displays, rock singer David Byrne's latest costumes. The book is broader in scope than its title suggests. Martin, editor of Arts magazine, brings a heavy-handed, academic approach to what should have been fun, but the study is an eye-opener nonetheless. (December 28)