Library

General Information

Opening hours

From July 2nd to September 28th

Monday to Friday: 8.30am – 6.00pm

From August 1st to August 24th

Closed

Contents

• 22,000 volumes (66% in English, 30% Italian, 4% other languages)
• 500 magazines, from the second half of the 19th Century to the present
• 850 look books and commercial catalogs
• Database of The Vogue Archive
• Over 1000 multimedia contents, including fashion shows, movies and documentaries

The Library is organized into four areas:

• Textiles and Clothing: the fashion philosophy of the history of costume, from the textile and fashion design to pattern making
• Arts: the arts in all their manifestations
• Photography: including nature, fashion, travel and anthropological photos
• Innovation Management: how to fuel creativity and manage innovation

Methods of use

The Library is open to anyone interested in researching the rich collection of materials. Access and consultation are free to all students enrolled at Polimoda and to Polimoda alumni. After this period, they receive a special alumni rate. All other external researchers, students from other universities, operators and companies in the industry, may have access to the library and its services according to the following conditions, as well as paying a registration fee.

Users have direct access (open-shelf system) to books, current magazines and periodicals, back issues of selected texts, commercial catalogues and look books. For audio-visual materials, books of particular value and magazine archives, requests must be made to library staff.

Catalogue and Online Resources

Kentika, the online catalogue of the Library, contains all the information on the resources in the collection, including monographs, periodicals, videos, DVDs and CD-ROMs. There are several ways of consulting the catalogue to obtain information:

• simply search by keyword;
• advanced search, for a more detailed search across a number of fields
• expert search, for unrestricted personalisation of the search template

If you need help with the search criteria, you can consult the Thesaurus or ask the librarians for help.

The Film Archive

The Library houses a collection of films associated with the world of art, architecture, the history of fashion, and cinema. These are all films that have close connections with the world of fashion, where the essence of the character is expressed through costume, the style of film stars have become part of a collective imagination, the world of fashion is used as a film setting, or where numerous fashion designers have worked for the film.

The titles of the films present in the Polimoda Library can be found by consulting the online catalogue. Each record includes all the details of the film: the original title, a summary and the name of the director, the cast and the costume designers.

The Collection of Fashion Magazines

The Library offers a unique collection of fashion magazines. Covering a timespan of over 150 years, from the mid nineteenth century to the present, you can find vintage issues with covers designed by great illustrators and the first colour photo covers of the most important journals. This collection is a seminal source of research for fashion, trends, fashion communications and the history of fashion marketing.

The current issues arranged on stands are:

• Women’s fashion magazines: Amica, Elle, Marie Claire, Numéro, W, Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue (in the American, English, French, Indian, Italian, Japanese and Russian editions).
• Men’s fashion magazines: L’Uomo Vogue, Numéro Homme, Vogue Hommes International, Men’s Non-No, Leon and Fantastic Man.
• Journals devoted to particular types of clothing, such as wedding dresses, children’s clothes, sportswear, underwear and knitwear, as well as magazines devoted to accessories.
• Publications on fashion trend forecasting: View, Trends Collezioni, Bloom, Viewpoint, and Zoom on Fashion Trends.
• Magazines representing contemporary fashion media: Purple, Gray, Self-Service, Dazed and Confused, Encens, Jalouse, Mixt(e), Nylon and i-D.
• Journals focusing on art and the history of costume: MCM: la Storia delle Cose, Art e Dossier and Costume and Fashion Theory; and with interior design: Wallpaper, Monitor and L’Officiel Design.
• Periodicals addressing the economics of the fashion system, including Fashion: il Settimanale della Moda and Pambianco Week.

The Vogue Archive

The Library offers visitors the chance to use the electronic archive of Vogue (American edition), the first fashion magazine to be completely digitised and indexed. The Vogue Archive contains the entire collection from the first issue published in 1892 up to the present, reproduced in high-resolution colour images. The archive comprises of over 400 000 pages, indexed by research criteria and keyword, and represents a precious source of research bringing together the work of the greatest stylists, designers, photographers and illustrators of the Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries.

Consult the Online Catalogue

Reference Materials

This section of The Library includes works – dictionaries, encyclopaedias, catalogues – which can be useful for obtaining information about the fashion industry, as well as reference material on arts and crafts. All the works in this list can be found in the Polimoda Library.

Clothing and Apparel

• Les accessoires de A à Z: encyclopédie thématique de la mode et du textile: accessoires de coiffure & chapeaux, accessoires textiles, bijoux, ceintures, chaussures / Sophie George; illustrations Armelle Claudé – Paris: Editions Falbalas, c2008.
• Les accessoires de A à Z: encyclopédie thématique de la mode et du textile: eventails, gants, lunettes & masques, maroquinerie, montres, parapluies & cannes / Sophie George; illustrations Eric Rabiller – Paris: Editions Falbalas, c2008.
• Anziehungskräfte: Variété de la mode 1786-1986 – München: Hanser, [1986?].
• The Berg companion to fashion / by Valerie Steele – Oxford: Berg, c2010.
• Berg encyclopedia of world dress and fashion / editors Joanne B. Eicher and Doran H. Ross – Oxford: Berg, c2010. – 10 v.: Vol. 1: Africa – Vol. 2: Latin America and the Carribbean – Vol. 3: The United States and Canada – Vol. 4: South Asia and Southeast Asia – Vol. 5: Central and Southwest Asia – Vol. 6: East Asia – Vol. 7: Australia, New Zeland and the Pacific Island – Vol. 8: West Europe – Vol. 9: East Europe, Russia and the Caucasus – Vol. 10: Global perspectives.
• Contemporary fashion / editor Richard Martin – 1st ed – New York: St. James Press, 1995.
• Costume of the Western world: pictorial guide and glossary / Doreen Yarwood; illustrated by the author – 1st ed – London: Lutterworth Press, 1980.
• Dettagli di stile: il linguaggio nella moda / [a cura di L’Affiche] – [Milano]: Lineapiù, 1991.
• Dictionary of children’s clothes: 1700s to present / Noreen Marshall – London: Victoria & Albert Museum, c2008.
• The dictionary of costume / R. Turner Wilcox – London: Batsford, 1989.
• A dictionary of costume and fashion: historic and modern / Mary Brooks Picken – New York: Dover, 1999.
• A dictionary of English costume: [900-1900] / by C. Willett Cunnington, Phillis Cunnington and Charles Beard – Repr., with “Glossary of laces” – London: A. and C. Black, 1976.
• Dictionary of fashion: the terminology of fashion in four languages / Marguerite Devine – London: Emraine, 1988.
• Dictionary of ornament / Philippa Lewis and Gillian Darley – 1st ed – New York: Pantheon Books, 1986.
• Dictionnaire de la mode au XXe siecle / collectif sous la direction de Bruno Remaury – Paris: Editions du Regard, c1994.
• Dictionnaire du costume et de ses accessoires, des armes et des étoffes des origines à nos jours / Maurice Leloir; achevé et realisé sous la direction de André Dupuis; prèface de Georges G.-Toudouze – Paris: Librairie Grénd, c1992.
• Dictionnaire international de la mode / collectif sous la direction de Bruno Remaury et Lydia Kamitsis – Paris: Edition du Regard, 2004.
• Dizionario della moda: la terminologia della moda in quattro lingue / Marguerite Devine – London: Emraine, 1988.
• Dizionario della moda / Mariella Azzali – 1a ed – Bologna: Calderini, 1990.
• Il dizionario della moda: i protagonisti, i movimenti, i segni, le parole: tutto ciò che fa moda dal 1840 ai giorni nostri / di Georgina O’Hara – Ed. italiana, 1a ed – Bologna: Zanichelli, 1990.
• Dizionario della moda [2010] / a cura di Guido Vergani – Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, 2010.
• Enciclopedia illustrata del costume / di Ludmila Kybalovà¡, Olga Herbenovà¡, Milena Lamarovà¡ – La Spezia: Melita, 1988.
• Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion / Valerie Steele – Detroit: Charles Scribner’s sons, c2005, 3 voll.
• The encyclopedia of fashion: from 1840 to the 1980s / Georgina O’Hara; with an introduction by Carrie Donovan – London: Thames and Hudson, 1986.
• Encyclopedia of fashion details / Patrick John Ireland – London: Batsford, 1987.
• The encyclopedia of world costumes / Doreen Yarwood – London: Batsford, 1986.
• Encyclopedie de la mode – Tielt: Lannoo, 1990.
• Essential terms of fashion: a collection of definitions / Charlotte Mankey Calasibetta – New York: Fairchild, 1986.
• The Fairchild encyclopedia of accessories / Phyllis Tortora – New York: Fairchild, 2003.
• The Fairchild encyclopedia of menswear / Mary Lisa Gavenas – New York: Fairchild, c2008.
• Fairchild’s dictionary of fashion / Charlotte Mankey Calasibetta – 2nd ed – New York: Fairchild, 1988.
• Fashion 1 / Colin McDowell; [prefazione di Natalia Aspesi] – Bergamo: La Biblioteca di Repubblica, c2006.
• Fashion 2 / Colin McDowell – Bergamo: La Biblioteca di Repubblica, c2006.
• Fashion 3: dizionario della moda A-K – Bergamo: La Biblioteca di Repubblica, c2006.
• Fashion 4: dizionario della moda L-Z – Bergamo: La Biblioteca di Repubblica, c2006.
• Fashion: critical and primary sources: Late Medieval to Renaissance / edited by Peter McNeil – Oxford: Berg, c2009.
• Fashion: critical and primary sources: the Eighteenth Century / edited by Peter McNeil – Oxford: Berg, c2009.
• Fashion: critical and primary sources: the Nineteenth Century / edited by Peter McNeil – Oxford: Berg, c2009.
• Fashion: critical and primary sources: the Twentieth Century to today / edited by Peter McNeil – Oxford: Berg, c2009.
• The fashion encyclopedia: an essential guide to everything you need to know about clothes / Catherine Houk – First ed – New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1982.
• Fashion now: i-D selects the world’s 150 most important designers / edited by Terry Jones & Avril Mair – Kà¶ln:Taschen, 2003.
• Fashion now 2: i-D selects 160 of its favourite fashion designers from around the world / edited by Terry Jones & Susie Rushton – Köln:Taschen, 2006.
• Fashion system in China – Modena: Logos, [2005] – Suppl. di Collezioni donna, 2005, n. 107.
• Glossario illustrato abbigliamento confezioni in cinque lingue / Giuseppe Suppa – Biella: Tecnologia Tessile, 1983, 6 voll.
• The Greenwood encyclopedia of clothing through world history: Prehistory to 1500 CE / edited by Jill Condra – Westport: Greewood Press, c2008, 3 voll.
• The guide to historic costume / Karen Baclawski; with a foreword by Negley Harte – London: Batsford, 1995.
• Historical dictionary of the fashion industry / Francesca Sterlacci, Joanne Arbuckle – Lanham: The Scarecrow Press, c2008.
• International dictionary of fashion: essential fashion industry terminology in 8 different language – New York: The Fashiondex, c2005.
• Männermode: das Lexicon / Stefan Thull – Stuttgart: Arnoldsche, 1998.
• La moda: dizionario monografico dell’abbigliamento / Anna Evangelista – Padova: MEB, 1986.
• Les mots du costume / Colette Guillemard – Paris: Belin, 1991.
• Le parole a maglia / Leonardo Ceriani – Milano: Magliecalze, [198-?].
• Le parole della moda: glossarietto guida alla comprensione dei termini del tessile/abbigliamento / CITER – 1a ed – Carpi: CITER, 1991.
• Le parole della moda: dizionario del tessile abbigliamento: italiano, inglese, francese, tedesco, spagnolo – Carpi: Citer, 1998.
• Le parole della moda: costume, abbigliamento, tessile, sartoria: dizionario tecnico / Antonio Donnanno – Milano: Ikon, 2001.
• Quadrilingual fashion glossary: this book contains 5.000 representative fashion related words written in English, French, Italian and Japanese (…): French, Japanese, English, Italian / [edited by Quadrilingual Fashion Glossary Commitee] – 1st ed – Tokyo: CIFS, 1989.
• Reclams Mode – und Kostà¼mlexikon / von Ingrid Loschek – Stuttgart: Reclam, 1987.
• Lo slang della moda – Milano: [s.n.], 2000.
• Student reference guide: AP 101 / revised and edited by Roberto Cahill Berke – New York: Fashion Institute of Technology, 1977.
• The Thames and Hudson dictionary of fashion and fashion designers / Georgina O’Hara Callan – London: Thames and Hudson, 2001.
• Le vêtement de A à Z: encyclopédie thématique de la mode et du textile / Sophie George; illustrations de Caroline Guérin; avec la partecipation d’Audrey Takali – Paris: Editions Falbalas, c2008.
• Visual dictionary of fashion design / [Gavin Ambrose and Paul Harris] – Lausanne: AVA Publishing, c2007.
• Where to wear 2006: fashion shopping guide from A-Z: [Italy]: [Rome, Florence & Milan] – New York: Fairchild, 2006.
• Who’s who in contemporary fashion: 2008 – Milan: Sportswear Intrenational, c2007.
• Who’s who in contemporary fashion: 2008/2009 – Milan: Sportswear Intrenational, c2008.

Art and Arts & Crafts

• Les années 10 – Paris: Editions du Regard, 1991, 2 voll.
• Les années 20 – Paris: Editions du Regard, 1989, 2 voll.
• Les années 30 – Paris: Editions du Regard, 1987, 2 voll.
• Les années 40 / d’Anne Bony – Paris: Editions du Regard, 1985.
• Les années 50 / d’Anne Bony; introduction [par] René-Jean Clot – Paris: Edition du Regard, 1982.
• Les années 60 / d’Anne Bony; introduction [par] François Olivier Rousseau – Paris: Edition du Regard, 1983.
• Les années 70 – Paris: Editions du Regard, 1993.
• Les années 80 – Paris: Editons du Regard, 1995.
• Les années 90 d’Anne Bony – Paris: Editions du Regard, 2000.
• Arte contemporanea / Lara-Vinca Masini – Firenze: Giunti, 1989-1996, 4 voll.
• A dictionary of fabulous beasts – Rochester: The Bodydell Press, 1996.
• Dictionary of forniture – New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985.
• The dictionary of interior design – New York: Fairchild, 1986.
• Dictionary of subjects and symbols in art / James Hall; introduction by Kenneth Clark – Philadelphia: Westview, c2008.
• Dizionario dei numeri: storia, simbologia e allegoria / Franz Carl Endres, Annemarie Schimmel – Como: Red, 1991.
• Dizionario dei termini d’arte – Padova: Muzzio, 1988.
• Dizionario degli animali mitologici e simbolici / J. C. Cooper – Vicenza: Neri Pozza, 1997.
• Dizionario dei simboli / J. C. Cooper – Padova: Franco Muzzio, 1987.
• Dizionario dei simboli: miti, sogni, costumi, gesti, forme, figure, colori, numeri / Jean Chevalier, Alain Gheerbrant – Milano: Rizzoli, 1987, 2 voll.
• Dizionario dei termini d’arte / Edward Lucie-Smith – Padova: Franco Muzzio, 1988.
• Il dizionario della fotografia – Roma: Cesco Ciapanna, 1985.
• Dizionario della mitologia: mitologia classica, germanica e scandinava – Bologna: Zanichelli, 1987.
• Dizionario della mitologia classica / Michael Grant, John Hazel – Milano: SugarCo, 1986.
• Dizionario di mitologia – Bologna: Zanichelli, 1968.
• Enciclopedia dei simboli / Hans Biedermann – Milano: Garzanti, 1999.
• The facts on file dictionary of numerical allusion / by Laurence Urdang – New York, 1986.
• Guida alla formazione di una cineteca: [i film che bisogna aver visto per una cultura cinematografica di base] / Gianni Volpi; prefazione di Goffredo Fofi – Roma: Dino Audino, c2003.
• Illustrated dictionary historic architecture – New York: Dover, 1977.
• The international dictionary of graphic symbols / Joel Arnstein – London: Century Publishing, 1983.
• The language of store planning and display – New York: Fairchild, 1982.
• Il Mereghetti: dizionario dei film 2006 / di Paolo Mereghetti – Milano: Baldini Castoldi Dalai, c2005.
• Signs and symbols in Christian art: with illustrations from paintings of the Renaissance / by George Ferguson – London: Oxford Univerity Press, c1961.
• The Thames and Hudson dictionary of art terms / Edward Lucie-Smith – London: Thames and Hudson, c2003.

Footwear and Leather Goods

• El calzado: [lenguaje de varios sectores economicos en una serie concebida como ayuda a los ejecutivos; quatro lengua latinas] – Lisboa: Lidel, 1998. Dizionario tecnico della calzatura – Milano: ARS Sutoria, [s.a.].
• Campionario pelli = Leather samples catalogue – Milano: UNIC, stampa 2004.
• The complete footwear dictionary / compiled and edited by William A. Rossi – 2nd ed – Malabar: Krieger Publishing Company, 2000.
• Dizionario tecnico della calzatura – Milano: Ars Sutoria, [1998].
• Dizionario tecnico della calzatura, degli articoli in pelle, dei loro componenti e macchinari – [s.l.]: Ars Arpel Group, [200-?].
• L’impresa calzaturiera: progettazione, tecnica e organizzazione: vol. 1: la progettazione – Trescore B.: Ed. San Marco, 1998.
• L’impresa calzaturiera: progettazione, tecnica e organizzazione: vol. 2: la tecnica – Trescore B.: Ed. San Marco, 1998.
• L’impresa calzaturiera: progettazione, tecnica e organizzazione: vol. 3: l’organizzazione – Trescore B.: Ed. San Marco, 1998.
• International glossary of leather terms – London: International Council of Tanners, 1975.
• Il lessico della pelle = Vocabulary of leather – Milano: UNIC, 2004.
• Vocabolario tecnico dell’industria calzaturiera: dizionario francese, spagnolo, inglese, tedesco / Associazione nazionale calzaturifici italiani – Milano: ANCI, 1967.
• Wörterbuch der Schuhmarkt: Deutsch, Französisch, Englisch, Italienisch / herausgegeben von Hans Weber; unter Mitarbeit von Pl. Maissen und Carl Hans Roemheld – Frankfurt am Main: Umschau, 1958.

Marketing

• The dictionary of retailing – New York: Fairchild publications, c1985.
• The Fairchild dictionary of retailing / Rona Ostrow – New York: Fairchild Books, c2009 [i.e. 2008].
• Global guide to international business – New York: Facts on File, c1983.

Catalogs

• Elenco nazionale marchi di identificazione: fabbricanti, orefici, gioiellieri, argentieri – Milano: Globo, 1992.
• L’ industria italiana dell’abbigliamento, della maglieria e della calzetteria = Italian industry of clothing, knitwear and hosiery – Milano: Gesto Editore, c2008 – Contiene anche CD-ROM.
• Italian shoe directory: le prime 900 aziende calzaturiere italiane (Supplemento della rivista Vogue pelle, n. 73 luglio/agosto 1993).
• Italian shoe directory: le prime 900 aziende calzaturiere italiane (Supplemento della rivista Vogue pelle, n. 77 luglio/agosto 1994).
• I marchi dell’intimo in Italia (Supplemento della rivista Intimo più mare, n. 102, gennaio 1999).
• I marchi dell’intimo in Italia (Supplemento della rivista Intimo più mare, n. 122, marzo 2001).
• Marchi moda: mappa dei marchi dell’abbigliamento italiano – Milano: Studio Sabatini, 1993.

Textiles

• Alfabeto dei termini ricorrenti nei tessuti per abbigliamento / Franco Pizzato – [S.l.]: [s.n.], 1985.
• Atlante di storia del tessuto: itinerario nell’arte tessile dall’antichità al Déco / Tamara Boccherini, Paola Marabelli – Firenze: Maria Cristina de Montemayor, 1995.
• Dictionary of fiber and textile technology / Hoechst Celanese – Charlotte: Hoechst Celanese, 1990.
• Dizionario etimologico dell’arte tessile – Napoli: Società editrice napoletana, 1981.
• Dizionario internazionale dei tessuti / Ettore Bianchi – Como: Tessile di Como, c1997.
• Dizionario tecnico della tessitura / a cura di Attiliana Argentieri Zanetti – Udine: Arti grafiche friulane, 1987.
• Dizionario tessile / Alberta Boccato – S.l.: Gruppo Montedison Montefibre, [198-?].
• Les etoffes: dictionnaire historique / Elizabeth Hardouin-Fugier, Bernard Berthod, Martine Chavent-Fusaro; avec la participation de Florence Charpentier-Klein; dessins de Camille Déprez – Paris: Les Editions de l’amateur, 1994.
• Eurodict: dizionario europeo del tessile/abbigliamento: italiano, inglese, francese, tedesco, spagnolo, olandese – 1. ed – Milano: Tecnica della confezione, 1991.
• Fairchild’s dictionary of textiles – New York: Fairchild, 1996.
• Glossario dei termini della nobilitazione tessile – [S.l.]: AIITSFT, 1986.
• Glossario italiano tessile in cinque lingue / Giuseppe Suppa – Biella: Tecnologia Tessile, 1975, 2 voll.
• Guida ai tessili tecnici per l’abbigliamento – [Carpi]: [S.n.], 2006 – Tit. della cop.: cfashion: Carpi, la moda e il made in Italy.
• The guide to Asian textile collections / compiled by Winnie Nelon – 2nd ed – Hong Kong: Textile Society of Hong Kong, 2000.
• ITS textile dictionary: clés linguistiques français – Completely rev.new ed – Schlieren-Zurich: International textile service, 1989.
• ITS textile dictionary: English, Deutsch, français, italiano, espanol, portugues – Completely rev. new ed – Schlieren-Zurich: International textile service, 1989.
• ITS textile dictionary: indici-chiave italiano – Completely rev. new ed – Schlieren- Zurich: International textile service, 1989.
• ITS textile dictionary: Sprachschlüssel Deutsch – Completely rev. new ed – Schlieren-Zurich: International textile service, 1989.
• Sport apparel dictionary of performance fibers, fabrics and finishes – North Palm Beach: SGMA, 1997.
• Tessuti & C.: piccolo dizionario dei termini del mestiere / testi Franco Pizzato; disegni Carlo Preti – Miranoa: A.S. Zara, 1992.
• Wool textile dictionary English-Italian – Biella: Ramella, 1967.