Luxury book brand Assouline has just opened a new concept store — Assouline Books, Gifts, & Gallery — at South Coast Plaza.
It’s the fourth freestanding Books, Gifts & Gallery store for the company, joining Paris, New York, and Las Vegas. Here’s the deal: The store boasts the entire collection of over 1,000 book titles, as well as curated vintages tomes and gifts including leather bags, vintage bookends, limited edition luxury libraries, art and collectibles, stationary and candles.
Prosper Assouline, the fabulously named founder of the 15-year-old company, personally designed the Art Deco-inspired space, modeled after his own library. Ecru lacquered shelving, red walls and objets d’art from Prosper and Martine Assouline’s global travels pepper the boutique, and the back of the store features framed limited edition prints (large-scale iconic Slim Aarons photographs, images of Baccarat clad Vintage Cocktails, etc.) — comprising the first Assouline “gallery.”
Gifty items include gilt-edged leather notebooks with Italian paper, leather book bags designed in collaboration with MCM, cashmere blankets, library-theme scented candles, the limited edition Oscar Niemeyer lectern ($8,500), and a one-of-a-kind special edition Goyard trunk ($20,000) that doubles as a library, holding 100 books.
Aren’t you dying to go?
3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.
