Introducing the 2026 Book of the Night

In June, we returned to Hollywood's Chateau Marmont to celebrate another year of spectacular coffee table book publishing at the 2026 Booktique Awards Party. Seventeen books from the world’s leading publishers were revealed as the 2026 Winners across categories including Art, Design, Fashion, Home Interiors, Music, Nature, Sports, Travel, and beyond.

Cohosted by Kevin Kwan, Brigette Romanek, and Sarah Meyer Michaelson, the evening brought together a sparkling mix of Hollywood creatives—including Molly Shannon, Ali Larter, Joe Zee, Cornelia Guest, Tim Street-Porter, Barbara Bestor, Mayer Rus, and many others—for an unforgettable night of florals, candlelight, piano music, and hands-on exploration of the year’s most beautiful books.

Throughout the evening, the ballot box drew a steady crowd as guests cast their vote for the 2026 Book of the Night, choosing one book from the 17 hotly debated candidates on display. Try as we might, we couldn’t predict which one would ultimately take the top prize. The most talked-about book was surely In the Land of Fire and Ice. The most pored-over books (based on the traffic jams around the display tables) were City of Angels and David Hockney. Another contender, America the Abandoned, elicited hushed wonder in everyone who touched its pages.

But at the night’s end, the vote-count revealed all: Wild Ocean claimed third place, Elliott Erwitt: Last Laughs took second, and Pamela Hanson: The ‘90s emerged as the clear winner, earning the most votes by an impressive margin. Congratulations to our 2026 Book of the Night!

Throughout the evening at Chateau Marmont, the ballot box drew a steady crowd as guests cast their vote for the 2026 Book of the Night, choosing one book from the 17 hotly debated candidates on display. Try as we might, we couldn’t predict which one would ultimately take the top prize. The most talked-about book was surely In the Land of Fire and Ice. The most pored-over books (based on the traffic jams around the display tables) were City of Angels and David Hockney. Another contender, America the Abandoned, elicited hushed wonder in everyone who touched its pages.

But at the night’s end, the vote-count revealed all: Wild Ocean claimed third place, Elliott Erwitt: Last Laughs took second, and Pamela Hanson: The ‘90s emerged as the clear winner, earning the most votes by an impressive margin. Congratulations to our 2026 Book of the Night!

Pamela Hanson: The ’90s is the first major book in more than 20 years from the legendary fashion photographer, presenting images she hand-selected from her archive specifically for this landmark publication. Known for her instantly recognizable editorials for Vogue, Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Vanity Fair, and more, as well as advertising campaigns for clients such as Dior, Esprit, and Polo Ralph Lauren, Hanson is celebrated for what fashion insiders call her “unique female gaze”—the ability to capture her supermodel subjects in moments of relaxed intimacy and exuberance, resulting in photographs that draw you effortlessly into their beauty. This book presents more than 300 of them in full color and black & white, each one an intoxicating glimpse into fashion’s most iconic and nostalgia-inducing decade, where carefree cover girls twirl, dream, and captivate viewers in fashion capitals around the world.

And then there’s the book’s design, which is every bit as award-worthy as the images within. Tall and lithe in shape, and with a crisp white hardcover that evokes impeccably fresh bed linens, this book is playfully sophisticated, sporting a rounded spine, cloth quarter-binding, colorful Helvetica typography, and a cover image of a ’90s-era Linda Evangelista flashing an uninhibited smile. Our absolute favorite design detail? The endpapers, which frame the interior in a show-stopping color story—red-to-blue at the front, blue-to-yellow at the back. A delightfully cheeky foreword by Hanson’s lifelong friend—and fellow fashion icon—Lisa Love is the perfect finishing touch to a book that you’ll want to buy in multiples: one copy for yourself, and more to gift to everyone you know. Congratulations again to the 2026 Book of the Night!