The Best Coffee-Table Books to Gift This Season

Four hundred-some pages of high-octane imagery, behind-the-scenes moments, and eye-catching, can’t-look-away photography from the legendary designer and filmmaker, Tom Ford 002 is a follow-up to Mr. Ford’s first release (possibly the most worthy coffee-table book ever). It picks up where the creative left off, documenting Ford’s deep influence in the 15 years after he left the Gucci Group through the launch of his own brand and entree into cinema to today. Full of celebrity moments and gorgeous looks, with an intimate interview between Ford and journalist Bridget Foley, it is the ultimate holiday gift for anyone with a serious interest in fashion and visual imagery.

A celebration and vision of Black utopia by the young and talented photographer Tyler Mitchell, I Can Make You Feel Good is an intimate and beautiful artistic endeavor. In it, he combines documentary reportage with carefully staged and imagined fashion, cinematic, and art photography—all tied together by “a public display of affirmation in Blackness and a unifying visual text of hope,” the artist wrote. It’s a vibrant, joyous collection of works, full of sensitivity, Mitchell’s signature candy-colored tones, and hopeful, radiant energy.

Part creative nonfiction, part cookbook, part horror retrospective, film studio A24’s latest book is a food fantasy and horror lover’s dream. The title features devilish recipes inspired by slasher classics, cult icons, and the studio’s own impressive oeuvre. A fish stew called Wicked Comforts draws from Anya Taylor-Joy’s breakthrough role in The Witch; Snap Pea Gelatine Labyrinth comes straight from The Shining. The book is an almost abrasively clever (and frankly visually stunning) exploration of the imaginative possibilities within the dark, ax-wielding cineverse. Essays by Carmen Maria Machado (read In the Dream House if you haven’t already), Yasmina Price, and others complicate and contemplate our relationship with the genre.

Many may not know that Miss Dior, the iconic Dior fragrance first introduced in 1947, was named for Christian Dior’s younger sister and muse. A deeply private woman, Catherine Dior’s story is largely unknown. Former Harper’s BAZAAR UK editor-in-chief Justine Picardie’s new book sets out to change this. In this tome, Picardie traces Miss Dior’s years fighting with the French resistance, surviving the Holocaust, and her relationship to her brother and influence on the House of Dior. The book is a stunning exploration of the central creative years and inner life of the Dior family, and a must-have for any fan of the designer and brand.

During Stalin’s time in power in the Soviet Union, as he banned non-figurative art and many culturally specific items, an avant-garde art movement was underway. Despite threats of torture, murder, and years in gulags, artists including Alexander Volkov, Oganes Tatevosyan, and Victor Ufimtsev were quietly, secretly producing innovative prohibited work. This new Assouline book tells the remarkable story of one collector who, under all these risks, sought out avant-garde pieces produced in Central Asia and amassed what is now the second-largest collection of avant-garde Russian and Central Asian art in the world. Avant-Garde Orientalists introduces the world to the art made by the artists in this collection coming from and producing work in Central Asia, particularly in Uzbekistan, plus the remarkable story of the art’s survival.

Known as a key collaborator of Le Corbusier, architect and industrial designer Charlotte Perriand was so much more. She was a radical voice in modernism and interiors, an anti-fascist, and an outspoken intellectual on the social possibilities of good design. This monograph dives into Perriand’s designs, interiors, and architectural projects—including her never-before-seen sketchbooks. An ideal gift for the design obsessive in your life.  

BlackStar Projects, the producers of the acclaimed BlackStar Film Festival (originally seen as the Black Sundance, and now a project representing many BIPOC voices of the Global South), has just released the third issue of their journal Seen. If you haven’t heard of it before, Seen is a must-read for anyone with a serious film interest. The offering is an exploration and celebration of Black, Brown, and Indigenous film and visual culture, with profiles and interviews with photographer Texas Isaiah, experimental documentary filmmaker Sophia Nahli Allison (Oscar nominated for her short A Love Song for Latasha), and explorations of Caribbean cinema, decolonization in the work of Moroccan filmmaker Ahmed Bouanani, and more. It’s a beautiful present for film and art lovers alike.

The first survey of the Mexican painter’s entire works, this one is an absolutely gorgeous glimpse into her world and moving, inspiring life, with images of each of her 152 paintings, accompanied by diary entries, rarely seen photographs, letters, and an illustrated bibliography. Some have never been written about before and have been seen only by private collectors or exhibited over a half century ago.

Long before Bill Cunningham and Scott Schuman, there was Joel Meyerowitz. The street photographer made his name with his large-format images of Cape Cod happenings, dripping in wry humor and subtle, always human detailing. His most entrancing work may be Wild Flowers, originally published in 1983 and showcasing everyday scenes from New Yorkers in their Sunday best in 1964 to a man on a unicycle in San Juan carefully balancing a towering bouquet—all drawn together by a single, unexpectedly nuanced theme: the flower. This new version, published earlier this year, is a larger format than ever before and stocked with new images.

For the person on your list with a green thumb, this monograph looks at the garden as a metaphor for society, exploring everything from queer ecology to guerrilla gardening and the Zen garden. It’s a look at our relationship with nature in the age of the climate crisis, with beautiful imagery and contributions from poets, artists, and thinkers over the ages.