Assouline cements New York roots with new store

When Prosper and Martine Assouline opened New York headquarters for their upscale coffee table books in 1999, it wasn’t a typical move for a fledgling family-run startup.

Still, the Assoulines had global ambitions for the book label that pioneered living fashion designers’ biopics and a host of cultural topics. Now, with second-generation Alex Assouline on board as the chief of operations, brand and strategy, the brand is celebrating its 30th anniversary and opening more retail points of sale. FashionNetwork.com sat down with the younger Assouline to discuss its trajectory thus far and for the next 30 years.

With a planned opening on June 21, the Assouline Madison Avenue boutique is located at 62nd and Madison. For the post-pandemic reshaping of the tony avenue, it’s coveted real estate. With a signature red awning and interior and brass nameplate letters, the new store will feature the popular travel series, the oversized and customized The Ultimate Collection book series, a curation geared towards New York and other non-book items such as candles and book accessories, a category ripe for expansion. The store will also feature the brand’s second café and will be the first US outpost of Swan’s Bar. The food and beverage service debuted in the brand’s London store, Maison Assouline, in 2014.

“We adapt stores to their location; we have French heritage, and we are a New York City brand, so it will have the spirit of New York via Assouline. The boutique will feature ‘local culture pieces’ like furniture and objects. On the 10th anniversary of the Swan’s Bar, we will open one here to complement the store,” said Alex Assouline, noting his first big assignment for the brand was moving to London to open the first café.

Lest one think the Assouline’s are pondering a foray into hospitality, the younger Assouline insists other areas are of more interest.

“Launching the candles of the travel series tells the story with another medium,” he said, adding, “Home fragrance, objects, and library service that we want to launch are part of owning library space as a luxury. What you can find in a library is possible, maybe furniture, lighting and shelving. We don’t consider ourselves publishers but rather a lifestyle brand.”

Currently, the brand offers special shelves for its large-format books.
The Ultimate Collection exemplifies the Assouline philosophy that what’s outside the book is just as important as the inside.

“The packaging is very important; it’s an object that lives in your life, too. We aspire to inspire and deliver education and emotion on our pages,” he asserted.

In some cases, it comes with an experience. Such was the case for a special limited-edition, The Ultimate Collection book on Versailles. When the book launched, an experience of a private tour of the closed-to-the-public spaces in the storied chateau was offered to those who purchased the $4,900 book.
 
Assouline dismisses the ‘physical book publishing is waning’ idea.

“The more they say print is dead, the crazier books we will do with incredible packaging; the tactile experience will not die,” Assouline asserted. Additionally, lest critics point out the paper books use, the Assoulines were a book industry leader for One Tree Planted.
 
Assouline also sees the brand’s potential for other types of media.

“It’s content. I can see developing and strengthening the brand in the entertainment space with documentaries, for instance,” he added.

Currently, it curates several Spotify playlists.
But for now, the focus is on retail stores and company growth. In 2024, there are seven free-standing boutiques or pop-ups, including a location in Bal Harbour, planned to open and an additional twelve branded corners in places such as select locations in El Corte Ingles in Madrid, Hankyu Tokyo in Japan, and David Jones Elizabeth Street in Sydney, Australia. In the past five years, and by the end of 2024, the stores have grown from nine to 18, branded corners from five to 37, and staff from 30 to 150.

Assouline conducted this interview from the brand’s corporate headquarters, which now includes an archive room that he oversaw the creation of last year, amassing over 2000 books, ranging in topics from art, design, fashion, history, luxury, food, wine spirits, cooking, famous people, companies and sports figures. He noted some had to be found on eBay.
 
The space is a fitting way to capture the brand’s work these last 30 years and a living history of culture. It captures the current Zeitgeist, which has always been the Assouline way.

“The way we see it, it’s where culture meets luxury. We get into a topic and treat it a certain way by transcribing culture and celebrating the heritage and everything that is part of that. We have an approach and POV, and the way of doing it is appreciated,” surmised Assouline.