Xtreme Fashion

Radical chic gets a new definition in this stunning survey of fashion trends that are emerging far away from the runways.

In Xtreme Fasion authors Sean Topham and Courtenay Smith turn their attention to the fashion world, where haute couture is taking a backseat to serious concerns about the environment, personal safety, and privacy. Featuring more than 300 color photos and fascinating text, the authors show how real fashion starts on the streets, born of urban conditions from gang culture to teenybopper worship. They showcase the works of such designers as Moreno Ferrari, Freddie Robins, Vexed Generation, and Hussein Chalayan to illustrate the demand for clothing that can protect, extend, alter, mark or mask the human body. Putting forth the idea that truly extreme fashion is not designed to be outlandish, but useful, Xtreme Fashion looks beyond the latest hemlines and "new blacks" to clothing and accessories that respond to the world we live in.

Courtenay Smith is curator of the Lothringer Dreizehn Center for contemporary Art in Munich and runs Homeroom, a project space for international art. She is the co-author of Xtreme Houses and she lives in Munich.

Sean Topham's books include Blow-Up, Xtreme Houses, and Where's My Space Age. He lives in London.