i-D: The First Forty Years

A 40th anniversary rates a celebration, and that is exactly we have been invited to attend. i-D Wink and Smile!: The First Forty Years is a visual smorgasbord of a once cutting-edge leaflet that has sustained, evolved, and maintained one of the trendiest and most erudite readerships of a generation. To say that i-D captures the zeitgeist of the times is a vast understatement of its cultural and sociological impact, not to mention its influence on its readers. The mantra has always been that i-D should be inclusive, fun, diverse, and original.

From punk to present day, i-D has acted as a launchpad and incubator for all facets of talent ranging from David Sims, Edward Enniful, Juergen Teller, Greta Thunberg, Victoria Beckham, Craig McDean, Ellen Von Unwerth, Nick Knight, and many more who had not yet hit their stride. Alastair McKimm was and remains a visionary and fostering force in the creative arts. When print media all around us is waning, i-D remains the almighty power that it has retained for 40 years.

“What is really important with i-D is that it’s very current, modern but also it has this vast heritage.”

This masterful tome brilliantly chronicles the publication, decade by decade, and should remind all readers that London is still a laboratory/pressure cooker for fashion and its tangential aspects. McKimm has proven himself a clairvoyant on so many levels. Throughout this major oeuvre we are reminded of just what made i-D a driving juggernaut in print media, with 11 international editions. It continues to raise the bar year after year.

“We’re not a magazine anymore. I-D is a media company, and we really try to do our best to balance everything out across the board, whether it’s social, digital, or magazine,”

Whether the reader is focused on fashion, photography, trends, or just the latest and greatest, this is a book that must be added to their fashion library.