New York indie institution Paper magazine's Kim Hastreiter shows us her bookshelf

Date
18 November 2015

Back in 1984, Kim Hastreiter along with David Hershkovits founded Paper magazine, the independent New York City-based mag focused on fashion, pop culture, music, art and film. Still at the helm as co-editor-in-chief 30 years later, Kim has moved the magazine miles beyond its first issue that was a poster-sized, 16-page foldout printed in black and white newsprint.

Kim’s daring ideas and cool attitude to magazine making, meant it felt right to ask what sits pride of place on the editor’s bookshelf. Her selection is as colourful and interesting as Kim herself, covering fashion, advertising and even jello.

Tibor and Maira Kalman: (un) FASHION

This is my number one favourite fashion book because it was compiled by my friend the late, brilliant cultural anthropologist and art director Tibor Kalman with his artist wife Maira Kalman who looked at the world through different eyes. I love it because it truly addresses where fashion comes from. And, guess what? Fashion does NOT come from the runways or the couture houses. Fashion comes from inspiration seen on the streets, the clubs, global uniforms around the world, and even the accidental choices of the everyday man. Fashion starts with culture. Most fashion designers look at culture and then appropriate it into their work often mixing references which takes style to a new level.

Joys of JELL-O

This vintage book was a recent gift to me from our fabulous west coast fashion editor and stylist Shirley Kurata. Shirley gave this to me to celebrate an amazing fashion story she created for Paper ’s Nowstalgia issue that was entirely inspired by jello! The book is filled with insanely ornate recipes from the 1950s when folks used to serve outrageously beautiful, colourful and complicated jello creations for parties.

Tauba Auerbach: How to Spell the Alphabet

This amazing book was the first of many produced by my favourite artist Tauba Auerbach. I have every book she has ever made but this one is the best because it was borne from one of her first solo shows at New Image Art in Los Angeles in 2005 where I first saw her work. Reflecting her fascination with language and alphabets, the centrepiece of her show was her seminal drawing How to Spell the Alphabet, which I wish I had bought at the time. After I saw the show I became obsessed and invited Tauba to do a page in Paper and she graciously accepted. She became a friend and I am still in awe of her thinking process, her ethics and her art.

George Lois: The Art of Advertising

Ad-man, art director and maverick George Lois has always been one of my heroes. His legendary Esquire covers and powerful yet hilarious advertising campaigns from the 1960s inspired me when I started Paper in 1984. He was a communicator who used ideas and didn’t just rely on moving pictures and type on a page. This is what I wanted for Paper. I did a little story on Lois for the magazine and interviewed him at his hotshot agency. Coincidentally he lived in the same Greenwich Village apartment building as my mother and father did, so as the years went by my father always gave George a copy of Paper for me and they eventually became friends.

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About the Author

Rebecca Fulleylove

Rebecca Fulleylove is a freelance writer and editor specialising in art, design and culture. She is also senior writer at Creative Review, having previously worked at Elephant, Google Arts & Culture, and It’s Nice That.

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