Assouline, publisher of beautiful, heavyweight coffee table books, focuses on the American woman for its latest title. American Beauty celebrates the fashionable spirit of the American woman through a series of stunning portraits. Photographer Claiborne Swanson Frank, a Vogue alumna, creates vignettes—accompanied by text from Genevieve Bahrenburg—for each of her subjects, styling them in their own clothes and their own surroundings. Giving insight to the world in which these women live and capturing each in her own element, Frank aims to reveal the casual glamour of powerful, American women.

Her subjects run the gamut from artists (Field Kallop), designers (Sophie Buhai), and musicians (Solange Knowles) to writers (Lesley M. M. Blume), businesswomen (Marissa Mayer), and, of course, fashion editors (Taylor Tomasi Hill). Quotes are sprinkled throughout the book, from fashionable and historical figures alike. The first portrait in the book is appropriately of Frank herself, who declares that she “set out to take portraits that capture women in their greatest beauty and truth, whatever that may be.” Although she says it with such nonchalance, Frank has truly captured the beauty and spirit of
the American woman.

Published by Assouline 

Text by Ashley Brewster