"There isn't a title 'style designer'," the Emanuels say in the introduction to this book:
"but there might well be, for style is not just different from fashion—it is almost its opposite. We are far more interested in developing individual style in people than in making them follow the dictates of group fashion. Almost by definition fashion does not last, but style does and it is consistent."
Nonetheless, at a remove of nearly 40 years the styles photographed for Styles for All Seasons seem so firmly of their era that they could easily have the dates they were made embroidered on their bodices.
The Emanuels met and married in art school, and started their own business upon graduating 1977. In 1979 they decided to dedicate their business entirely to the production of couture, thus beginning their career of dressing the rich and the famous. The times were with them as their romantic, feminine styles were just right for the zeitgeist of the late seventies and early eighties.
Their most famous design was for Princess Diana's wedding dress in 1981.
Described as a "fairy tale wedding" in most of the media and in this book, it's not surprising that the Emanuels would create a fairy princess-style dress for the bride—complete with puffed sleeves and a 25 foot train. Less romantically, the Emanuels describe the security precautions they had to take in order to prevent the press getting a look at the dress before The Day, including locking the actual dress into a safe, and planting decoy scraps of material in their own rubbish bins to mislead investigators.
However, there was much more to this pair of designers than one wedding dress. Style for All Seasons is basically an album showcasing the Emanuels' designs up to 1983, and while it doesn't go into any depth analysing them it does make it clear what influenced them. At that stage in their careers the Emanuels obviously had a great love for the Renaissance, 1930s film design, and rococo fashions. As a result, nearly all the clothes in this book were designed for special occasions—though there are a couple of pages of vibrantly coloured swimwear tucked between the covers!
Did I mention that this book is full of lots of pretty pictures?
The authors of Style for All Seasons were both under 30 when it was published, so the book is very much a time capsule focused on the beginning of their careers. Spoiler alert: they broke up in 1990, and have pursued separate careers since then. Both the Emanuels are still in design, however, and have branched out from fashion design to designing for the stage as well. Given their theatrical flair I can only say, "How fitting!"
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