Style from the Nile

- Blurb -

In November 1922, the combined efforts of Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon revealed to the world the ' wonderful things' buried in Tutankhamen' s tomb, Egypt had already been a source for new trends in fashion for quite some time: in the early 19th century, for example, Napoleon' s Egyptian campaign contributed to the popularisation of Kashmir shawls, while the inauguration of the Suez Canal in 1869 stimulated ' Egyptianising' trends in gowns, jewellery and textiles. Post-1922, a veritable Egyptomania craze invested all artistic fields, quickly becoming a dominant Art Deco motif: "flapper-style" dresses were elaborately embroidered with beaded "Egyptian" patterns, evening bags were decorated with hieroglyphics, brooches nonchalantly sported ancient scarabs, and the sleek black bobs favored by the admired icons of the time, Louise Brooks and Clara Bow, looked up to the fabled Egyptian beauty of Nefertiti and Cleopatra. Egyptomania often resurfaces in 21st-century fashion as well: the awe-inspiring John Galliano' s designs for Dior Spring-Summer 2004 brought back pharaonic crowns in lieu of headdresses in a triumph of gold-encrusted creations, the ancient practice of mummification was referenced by Iris van Herpen' s Fall 2009 collection and Egyptian vibes resonated in Chanel' s Metiers d' Art 2018/2019 collection. Through the combination of rigorous fashion history research, intriguing images and well-informed, but approachable, writing, Style from the Nile offers a comprehensive overview of a fascinating phenomenon that, to this day, continues to have a mesmerising appeal. AUTHOR: Isabella Campagnol is a scholar who specializes in the history of dress, textiles and decorative arts. From 2006 to 2014 she was the curator of a private textile collection in Venice. In 2015 she joined Istituto Marangoni, Milan, where she currently teaches History of Fashion. Beside many articles and essays, she co-edited Rubelli: A Story of Silk in Venice (Marsilio, 2011) and is the author of Forbidden Fashions: Invisible Luxuries in Early Venetian Convents (Texas Tech University Press, 2014). Isabella lives in Venice.