About
About the Fair
Designers & Books Fair 2015™ will be presented on the first weekend of October — the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th — in New York City at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT).
This continues to be the only book fair in the world focused on design at its broadest — architecture, experience design, fashion, graphic design, interior design, landscape architecture, product and industrial design, and urban design.
The presentation of the Fair this year is collaboration between Designers & Books and FIT. We are happy that a portion of the proceeds from the Fair will benefit the Gladys Marcus Library, which serves not only the immediate FIT community but also the larger design community in the New York City area and beyond.
This year’s Fair will include more than 70 U.S. and European design book publishers and booksellers displaying and selling the newest titles for the fall and upcoming holiday season, as well as important backlist titles. There will also be notable rare and out-of-print book dealers and established and indie magazines.
Saturday and Sunday in the auditorium adjacent to exhibition hall there will be programs all day featuring esteemed members of the design community. Topics will range from reflections on the careers of master designers to discussions of favorite books in personal libraries, to new design trends in the world of indie magazines to the increasing importance of Kickstarter as a way to launch design books.
A new feature of this year’s Fair is “Experiences with Authors™” — a creative, alternative approach to book signings. A group of renowned authors has agreed that purchasers of their books at the Fair will be entered into drawings. The winners will have the opportunity to meet the authors for special experiences designed by the authors themselves. Studio and atelier visits, curator-led exhibition tours, VIP tickets to select industry events, behind-the-scenes explorations of archives collections, lunches with celebrities, research trips — all this and more will be among the unique experiences offered with authors.
No matter what the nature of your interest in design — whether you are a design professional, attending design school, or someone who appreciates design and its many aspects— Designers & Books Fair 2015 promises to be an entertaining and enlightening weekend. We hope to see you there.
About Designers & Books
Designers & Books advocates for books as important sources of inspiration for creativity and innovation. Our initiatives supporting this mission include: a website that publishes lists of books recommended by internationally esteemed designers, the Designers & Books Fair (with FIT), public programming, and crowdfunding launch campaigns for new and out-of-print books. Visit: designersandbooks.com
About the Gladys Marcus Library at FIT
The Gladys Marcus Library at FIT supports the academic and research needs of the FIT community and serves the fashion and design industries. The library’s specialized diverse resources—in print, non-print, and electronic formats—include specific materials for art, design, and business. The library’s Department of Special Collections and College Archives holds a rich assortment of rare and fragile scrapbooks, archives, illustrations, and other materials related to fashion and design, providing an extraordinary lens through which to view and research fashion history, the way people lived through what they wore, the way they bought clothes, and more. The holdings—from original designer sketches, manuscripts, and monographs to works on paper, books, periodicals, and oral histories —cannot be found in any other collection in the world. Collections also include specialized electronic and digital resources and materials not often found in conventional academic libraries, such as the fashion and trend forecasting services, sketch collections, clipping files, fashion show DVDs, and the Interior Design Resource Center. Visit: fitnyc.edu/library
About FIT
The Fashion Institute of Technology, a part of the State University of New York, has been a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology for 70 years. With a curriculum that provides a singular blend of hands-on, practical experience, classroom study, and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, FIT offers a wide range of outstanding programs that are affordable and relevant to today’s rapidly changing industries. Internationally renowned, FIT draws on its New York City location to provide a vibrant, creative community in which to learn. The college grants AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, and offers more than 45 majors in fields ranging from marketing and textiles to toy design and entrepreneurship, preparing students for professional success and leadership in the global marketplace.
FIT’s special brand of education reflects the college’s close ties to industry. Top executives serve as curriculum advisors, faculty, and mentors to students; industry members and leading companies provide scholarships, internships, and support for critical FIT initiatives. Relationships with industry enable the college to offer students experiences that mirror the marketplace and give them a competitive edge.
Unique facilities include the only professionally outfitted fragrance development lab on a U.S. college campus, and the knitting lab, which features the same equipment used in industry. The Museum at FIT, one of the world’s leading collections of fashion and textiles, houses more than 50,000 garments and accessories and more than 300,000 textiles and swatches.
FIT alumni have attained top positions in industry. Among notable alumni in fashion are Calvin Klein, Reem Acra, Francisco Costa, Norma Kamali, Nanette Lepore, and Ralph Rucci. Other prominent graduates include Leslie Blodgett, executive chairman of Bare Escentuals; international restaurant designer Tony Chi; Edward Menicheschi, vice president and publisher of Vanity Fair; and Joe Zee, creative director of Elle. Visit: fitnyc.edu