Answer extracted from the Beyond Luxury podcast — listen to the full episode below.
How do you decide which cultural subjects and stories truly deserve full book treatment?
Selection comes naturally through genuine curiosity and understanding how the world is changing. Ideas emerge from meeting people and feeling drawn to their stories—not from market analysis or trend forecasting. When Assouline decided to create a book on Roger Federer, it was because the team recognized it as a sensational cultural moment worth capturing: the opportunity to express the spirit of a champion, what drives their brain and body, and how to present that in a beautiful visual form.
From Personal Connection to Published Work
The path to a book at Assouline starts with an emotional or intellectual spark, not a business plan. Martine Assouline explains that ideas often emerge organically—you meet someone, hear a story, witness a moment in culture that feels significant enough to preserve. This approach requires patience and taste, qualities that cannot be learned from data.
The Roger Federer project illustrates this perfectly. Rather than commissioning a conventional sports biography, the publisher saw an opportunity to distill something ineffable: the essence of championship-level performance and dedication. As explored in the episode, this meant asking not just who Federer is, but how to express his spirit through design, photography, and narrative in a way that moves readers.
Beauty as a Decision-Making Criterion
For Assouline, publishing is fundamentally different from journalism or information distribution. The publisher's responsibility is to show subjects not just as they are, but as they deserve to be seen—with intention, beauty, and respect. This is not artifice; it is curation.
Every book that leaves Assouline's editorial offices carries this philosophy. Whether the subject is a place like La Colombe d'Or (their second home, which became one of their most enduring titles), or a legendary athlete, the question is always the same: What does this story deserve? How can we honor it in physical form? As discussed throughout Martine Assouline's conversation with Carlota Rodben, this commitment to aesthetic integrity has defined the publisher's over 2,000 titles across fashion, travel, art, design, architecture, and gastronomy.
"Culture is something that nobody can take from you. And it's going to shape you. And it's going to make your identity stronger."
Martine Assouline — Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief, Assouline. Together with her husband Prosper, she founded the luxury publishing house over 30 years ago, building it from a basement operation into a global brand. Her background in fashion and PR, combined with education in French literature at Lycée Français and extensive travel experience, shaped an editorial eye that has guided the selection of more than 2,000 books spanning luxury culture, design, and heritage documentation.
This philosophy extends beyond individual book decisions. When the Assoulines observed their beautifully published works displayed awkwardly alongside mass-market publications in traditional retail, they recognized a gap worth filling. The insight that drove them to open Maison Assouline—physical spaces dedicated to curated collections—came from the same principle: culture deserves an environment that reflects its importance.
Key takeaways
- Book selection at Assouline is driven by genuine curiosity about cultural moments and the people behind them, not market trends.
- The publisher views its role as showing subjects in their best light—with beauty and intention—rather than merely documenting reality.
- Over 30 years, Assouline's commitment to this selection philosophy has produced more than 2,000 titles in fashion, travel, art, design, architecture, and gastronomy.
- When a subject is chosen, it reflects a belief that the story will shape readers' identities and deepen their understanding of culture.
See also
How did physical luxury retail spaces emerge from a publisher's vision to showcase curated collections?
After spending years creating beautiful books, Martine and Prosper recognized that traditional retail could not properly display their work. This gap inspired the creation of Maison Assouline, where curated collections could be presented with the same aesthetic care as the books themselves.
What role does curiosity and personal taste play in building an authentic cultural perspective independent of influencer trends?
True taste has nothing to do with wealth—it stems from curiosity and the choices you make about the life you want to live. Cultural authority comes from genuine engagement with people and experiences, not from following external trends or influencer preferences.
How should luxury brands approach heritage documentation and storytelling in the digital age?
As the world becomes increasingly digital, physical books offer rare permanence and tangibility. The book has shifted from a mere information source to a sacred object—a lasting relationship that readers own and return to, in contrast to disappearing digital content.