In Best Stuff of 2020, we listed a handful of our favorite coffee table books published this year. The ones that helped us get outside our four walls and refill our creative gas tanks. We’re back again because, frankly, there were too many on our shortlist to ignore. Flipping the weighty pages of a book that is literally and metaphorically heavy with transportive photos, soul-stirring art, and mind-shifting conversations makes us feel better than doomscrolling through our timelines. The 16 coffee table books below offered us vital escape.
Beyond that shared purpose, though, it’s open season: from an intimate look at the global street style of the early ’80s to a deep dive on an iconic American building. (And not to brag, but several are from GQ contributors.) So take a seat, then dig into our director’s cut list of the art, fashion, and design books that spent as much time on our laps as they did on our coffee tables.
Sam Reiss and Stephanie Tran contributed research to this piece.
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