Assouline takes the "coffee table" book to a whole new level with their stunning selection. The company began in 1996 when its founders, Martine and Prosper Assouline, wrote a beautiful art book based on La Colombe D’Or, a hotel in the south of France, known for its colorful history and luxuriously bohemian décor. In the 1940s, artists would pay to stay by donating art to the hotel. The art remains intact, as the Colombe d’Or has no interest in relinquishing any of its masterpieces. Martine and Prosper fell in love with the space. As Amane, who works at the 77th Street location explained, “The hotel could be called quaint, but when you have your breakfast, there’s a Picasso hanging in front of you.” Prosper took photographs of La Colombe D’Or and Martine wrote the texts for their first book, causing the product to become an exquisite work. That book led to many more, and today their company, Assouline, publishes beautifully designed books on countless subjects. Assouline’s twenty-nine outposts are scattered around the world, often near luxury hotels, easily recognizable by their bright red colors and warm atmosphere. Lit with aromatic candles and adjacent to the Mark Hotel, the Upper East Side location is especially inviting. I was in awe as I flipped through each magnificent book. As a former bookstore owner, myself, for some ten years, no detail in this tiny space went unappreciated.
Whereas at the beginning, Martine and Prosper searched for their next book topic, the publishers now get proposals from various sources. What has not changed, however, is their hands-on approach with every title. As Amane leafed through a giant book based on the South Pole with me, I was totally enchanted. “You really get a sense of the brutal experience they went through,” he commented, referring to the many explorers who braved the cold southern extremes. Standing above this book was an entirely "waterproof" edition, which comes with its own story: One evening, a man wandered into the store from The Mark Hotel next door with some friends and half of a dirty martini in his hand. He said that he did not believe the book was waterproof. In response, Amane took the martini from the gentleman and splashed it on the pages. Sure enough, they remained dry. The man “whipped out his black Amex” and purchased the several thousand dollar book.
Amane is the perfect person to be the face of the Mark boutique. “I’ve always dreamed of one day working for the brand,” he admitted, adding, "I couldn't be more proud or lucky to work for influencers whose books have taken me on a journey growing up. I always say: these are the real textbooks that shaped who I am today." He told me about his childhood as an Upper East Side kid, when he would spend his pocket money on books at the Plaza Assouline Boutique. Since joining the team, he appears to have had his fair share of fascinating experiences. One of his fondest is meeting Lee Radziwill, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ sister, who often comes in to see how her books, Happy Times and Lee, are doing (Happy Times continues to be a best seller). She first approached Assouline in 2001 with a suitcase full of photos, saying that she wanted to look back on what she felt were the ten most important years of her life - the "happy times."
As Amane flipped through the pages of a decadently illustrated Haggadah, and several other breathtaking creations, he revealed that another wonderful aspect of his job is that he is occasionally invited to his clients’ homes. He appreciates seeing where they have chosen to showcase their purchases from Assouline, immediately recognizing the books’ importance to their owners.
