October 20, 2026·Aesthetic Study
Turning the page
Books are on the runway, on your bag, and arranged by color. Reading them is optional.
Now more than ever, books are props. Last year, the internet couldn't stop arguing about "performative reading" on the subway and at the bar, as if doomscrolling were better. Coach and Penguin Random House turned real books into bag charms. Alix Earle told Interview she’d never read a book, then offered “maybe Dr. Seuss.” The internet didn’t like that. Apparently, there’s a wrong way not to read, too.
In a 2025 Gallup survey, 43% of Gen Z students said they rarely or never read for fun.
Yes, the book is having a great year, even if no one's reading it.
For its latest show in Paris, Valentino asked guests to bring a book. The runway ran through a library, and the collection was called Antibiblioteca, named for Umberto Eco's "antilibrary." That's the theory that the books you haven't read are worth more than the ones you have. Good news for anyone with a massive to-read stack on their nightstand.
A few days before Architectural Digest came to film her home, Ashley Tisdale's bookshelves were empty. She sent her husband out to buy 400 books. When people got mad, she said any interior designer would have done the same. The Strand backs her up: it sells books by the foot, by color, and for rent. Gwyneth Paltrow pays a professional to pick hers.
The runways are just as literary. Es Devlin's Design Museum retrospective ends with more than 2,000 books on a rotating shelf, sorted by color. Miu Miu sent Olivia Colman out as a librarian on her way to gym class.
Valentino's designer, Alessandro Michele, says clothes don't need to be worn to mean something. Apparently books don't need to be read, either. On a shelf, an unopened copy of Beloved says the same thing as a dog-eared one. At least Valentino's books get a happy ending. After the show, they went to public libraries, where someone just might actually read one. Or at least mean to get around to it.
- Valentino's library of books nobody's read
- Ashley Tisdale's 400 emergency books
- Is it reading if everyone's watching?
- Books, sold by the foot
- Gwyneth Paltrow's personal book curator
- Es Devlin's 2,000-book carousel
- Miu Miu's librarians on sports day
