Our interview with Assouline founder Prosper Assouline.
I have been very lucky to experience the world on a whim without the aid of a passport or very little to almost no preparation. I have been able to spend days and nights with some of the greatest minds of our time, going over famed stories and private moments very rarely shared, all in the comfort of my home. Through the pages of my coffee table books, the world opened to the most intimate adventures and explorations. What began as a hobby soon became an obsession, and every surface of my home quickly became the soil for my growing stacks of books, which all together only resembled the beautiful leaning tower of Pisa.
My very first coffee table book–ALEXEY BRODOVITCH by ASSOULINE–sat solo on the shelf of a now defunct lifestyle store, drawing attention to my lonesome eyes. As soon as I picked it up, it removed me from the place in which I stood and placed me directly in Brodovitch’s world. And that was only the beginning.
Over the years, I was able to visit a gallery in Paris with Jean-Paul Goude, share ideas with George Lois, talk prep with Tommy Hilfiger, and explore the mind and the eyes of Cecil Beaton. It was only recently however that I had had the privilege to go back in time and explore what would eventually be called Canada, through HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY by ASSOULINE.
HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY by ASSOULINE tells not only the history of a company, but the forming of a country. It is a story of beginnings–beginnings that have created the world in which we live now. From producing the first currency in North America, to creating an iconic symbol of great design with the Hudson’s Bay Blanket, the history of Hudson’s Bay Company is the history of Canada. The skillful hands and minds of ASSOULINE are incomparable; there is no better publisher in telling such story. With lavish full page spreads and carefully curated images direct from the historic archives, the book is your personal invitation to explore a company that became a nation. – Christopher Sherman
BUY THE BOOK HERE. VISIT OUR FRIENDS AT WWW.ASSOULINE.COM.
