Words of literary wisdom greet you at Assouline.

During our time in New York for Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, Fashion School Daily had a chance to stop by the Assouline offices for our latest Industry Interview! We’re sure you all know Assouline by now – remember our Impossible Collection of Fashion Contest? But in case you don’t, Assouline is a leading publisher of luxury books on subjects including art, fashion, design, photography, travel, and so much more. They have a unique way of capturing beauty and bringing it to life in the pages of their books. If you’ve ever seen their books in person – you know exactly what we’re talking about. And if you know how beautiful their books are, just imagine how gorgeous an office full of them would be. Lucky for you – you don’t have to imagine because we’re going to show you!

The first thing we noticed when entering the Assouline office in Chelsea was the gorgeous view. The entire office is covered in windows, showcasing the beautiful New York City skyline. Filled with items brought back from travels to exotic locations, a trip to Assouline is like a quick trip around the world – there is inspiration at every turn. The Assoulines have created a world of the things they love, and have been kind enough to share it with us. Seated at a gorgeous table – glass cut in an outline of Paris, complete with the Seine (etched glass) separating the Left and Right Banks – we chatted with the Assouline team about creative inspiration, publishing, and everything in between.

The beautiful view from the Assouline office.

Where does the inspiration for all of the amazing Assouline books come from?

The majority of our books come from the ideas and experiences of founders Prosper & Martine Assouline. For example, our new book The Grand Bazaar of Istanbul, was published after they went to Istanbul for the first time and visited the Grand Bazaar. They were so inspired by the colors, the flavors, smells and the textures at the Grand Bazaar, that they came back and said, “This is our next book – we want this in our library.”

And once you have an idea, what are the steps to publishing?

First, it’s a process of either sending someone to shoot the images, or sourcing images and obtaining rights. For The Grand Bazaar, our in house photographer went to Istanbul and shot everything, which was amazing.

As we gather the images together, our editors work on finding an author – someone who is well versed and somewhat of an authority on the subject. For our book on the Hudson’s Bay Company, we reached out to Graydon Carter, the Editor in Chief of Vanity Fair, because he is filled with Canadian born pride, knows the brand well, and clearly has an eye for fashion and culture.

And from there, the editorial team works on all of the text and our creative team designs the layout. Each book is unique, customized down to the last detail, from the texture of the paper to the font. And covers are always a huge process because they are what sell the book and draw people in. They are the first impression.

Prosper and Martine are very involved in the process – Prosper is the Creative Director and Martine the Chief Editor, so she takes charge of the text and images and he concentrates on the overall package presentation.

Each element is created in house – the only aspect Assouline doesn’t physically do is the printing.

Once the books are printed, our sales & retail teams focus on getting the books to not only all of our Assouline boutiques, but specialty book stores, gift shops, museum exhibitions, and private properties all over the world. The public relations team works on promoting the book through press, Social Media, events, partnerships, and contests, like we did with The Impossible Collection of Fashion.

A very successful event was 2011’s Fashion’s Night Out. We celebrated Brazilian Style at our Plaza Hotel Boutique with caipirinhas, festive colorful apparel, and Brazilian Samba Dancers! The pages were truly brought to life in the boutique, and author Armand Limnander was there signing books through the night.

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… Jordan Epstein! Jordan chose Yves Saint Laurent’s Cocoon wedding dress from 1965. Not only could Jordan’s choice most definitely be included in the Impossible Collection of Fashion -  she took the time to draw it and her sketch is beautiful!! It was clear that she put a lot of time and thought into the submission – we even learned a few things from her explanation. So congratulations Jordan!!

It was very hard for our judges to pick just one – you all submitted such amazing, gorgeous dresses! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to enter the contest – we hope that it inspired you!

And a HUGE thank you to ASSOULINE for making this contest possible! You have been such great friends of the School of Fashion and your generosity is greatly appreciated. Your books are a constant inspiration in every way possible and we feel so lucky to be able to share them with our students – thank you so much! Students – be sure to check out all of the amazing books over at ASSOULINE.com and in the library at 180 New Montgomery!

Below are a just a few of the amazing entries – they were all so wonderful!

Zangchi Wang – who submitted an original piece from a design project. She was inspired by 16th century fashion as well as contemporary sculpture, and the concept was “quiet movement” – the pieces look as if they are blowing in the wind. These are so amazing – thank you Zangchi!

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We know that you have all been working so hard for finals and finishing all of your projects – and you’ve all been doing such great work! Because we know how busy you’ve been, we’re extending the Impossible Collection of Fashion Contest with ASSOULINE until this Sunday, December 18 at 12 PM. You can let your mind unwind from the all the stress, and let it wander to a place where everything is beautiful, innovative, and exciting – The Impossible Collection! You may think that you need a break from fashion after all that work – but let’s be real – you can never really forget about it, you all live and breathe it. So take a few moments to think about a dress that truly inspires you, a dress that sums up all the reasons you love fashion – it’s that simple.

TO ENTER: Send a picture/sketch of a dress that you think could be included in The Impossible Collection of Fashion and write a few sentences as to why you think the dress has what it takes. Send your submission to aaufashion@assouline.com, with your Name, School/Major, and ID Number.

THE PRIZE: The winning student will receive three books from ASSOULINE’s CFDA Collection (amazing books about fashion, style, décor, and more!) for their own personal collection, and The Impossible Collection of Fashion will be donated to the School of Fashion in the name of that student.

You can view the complete rules and regulations here.

To view a complete list of The Impossible Collection of Fashion, click here.

The incredibly stylish woman above is indeed Elsa Schiaparelli – which was correctly guessed by Aja! (Sorry, we don’t have your last name on the comment!) Mrs. Schiaparelli was born in Italy, but her true artistic talents were realized when she moved to Paris. Mrs. Schiaparelli first began designing with encouragement from the famed couturier Paul Poiret. Unfortunately, after only a few years her business closed despite glowing reviews. Not to be deterred, she launched a collection of knitwear in 1927, featuring sweaters with surrealist images. Her first collection was featured in Vogue, and her career took off. She expanded her line to include sportswear and evening wear – a few of her evening wear pieces even made it into The Impossible Collection of Fashion. Schiaparelli was lauded as one of the most innovative fashion designers of her time, which brings us to the clues.

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Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons – 1997.

Have you entered the School of Fashion and ASSOULINE’s Impossible Collection of Fashion Contest yet?! We have been getting some amazing submissions, so keep sending them in! You may have seen me going around to classrooms, showing students the gorgeous book. It truly is a work of art in and of itself – just what ASSOULINE is known for – not to mention all of the gorgeous dresses inside.

Some students have asked about a complete list of the 100 dresses included in the Impossible Collection of Fashion, so here it is! I’m sorry that we cannot include pictures, but I have typed up descriptions of each dress. I hope that this is helpful as you think about what dress you would add to the Impossible Collection!! And if you have any questions about the dresses included, feel free to comment below or on our Facebook page.

1. House of Worth – 1900 – Ivory satin dress embroidered with pink and blue garlands, tulle, and lace.

2. Jacques Doucet – 1903 – Black silk lace with bead embroidery and velvet; silk chiffon sleeves with lace inset; belt of gold grosgrain ribbon.

3. Paul Poiret – 1907 – Black satin, chiffon, pearls, gold thread, and mink gown.

4. Callot Soeurs – 1908 – Evening cape in satin, with embroidered tulle and beading.

5. John Redfern – 1909 – Silk chiffon dinner dress with rose silk taffeta, black silk marquisette, and aubergine silk velvet; gold metallic lace and cream Alençon lace trimmings.

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We are SO excited to finally announce this contest with ASSOULINE!

ASSOULINE, a leading publisher of luxury books, has recently released The Impossible Collection of Fashion. The book chronicles the 100 most iconic dresses of the 20th century, with text by Valerie Steele, Director and Chief Curator of the Museum at FIT. The “Impossible Collection” includes dresses from Cristobal Balenciaga, John Galliano, Vivienne Westwood, Yves Saint Laurent, and many more.

Contest Details:

In celebration of this book, ASSOULINE and the School of Fashion are holding a contest. We are asking all Academy of Art University students, “What would you include in your Impossible Collection of Fashion?” Students can submit a photograph or sketch of an original dress design or something created by another designer, with a brief explanation of why they think it deserves to be included in the Collection. All submissions can be sent to aaufashion@assouline.com.

Prize:

The Impossible Collection of Fashion will be donated to the Academy of Art University library in the name of the winning student, and the student will personally receive 3 books from Assouline’s CFDA Collection. This contest is only open to Academy of Art University students.

About Assouline:

Renowned for their highly original graphic concept, ASSOULINE books and luxury gift items are works of art that capture culture and bring it to life. The spirit and savoir-faire of the company have contributed to the creation of a unique and eclectic, chic and elegant brand that is immediately identifiable. ASSOULINE has published over one-thousand titles across international markets on subjects including fashion, art, architecture & design, gastronomy, photography, travel, and viticulture.

For more information & to view the entire Assouline collection, visit www.assouline.com.

Submissions for the Impossible Collection Contest will be accepted from

November 24th to December 15th, 2011

For details, rules, and regulations, visit www.facebook.com/academyofartfashion and www.facebook.com/assoulinepub

 BONNE CHANCE!

Below are some of the gorgeous dresses included in the Collection.