How you choose to style your home is deeply personal, a space shaped by memory and meaning. From wallpaper and furniture to art on the walls and objects collected along the way, every element tells a story. Yet there is one space where all of these layers come together most intimately: the library.
For Alex and Solange Assouline, the library in their Parisian apartment is far more than a collection of books. It is a living archive of their shared life, built over time and rich with memories. "Our library is very personal. There are so many things from our childhood, lots of memorabilia," says Solange, who retreats there for quiet reflection and inspiration. The room itself feels like a conversation across time, where objects from different chapters of their lives coexist in a dialogue much like the one they had when they first met.
This philosophy of thoughtful curation extends beyond their personal space and into the brand itself, which they lead under the guidance of founders Martine and Prosper Assouline. It's a philosophy rooted in what Valentine's Day has always meant: the small gestures that say everything, a gift that proves you've been listening, a token chosen for what it represents, a moment that becomes a memory. At Assouline, romance lives in these details. It lives in celebrated titles like Heart and Love, which explore devotion through iconic couples and timeless symbols. It lives in the Pebble Trinket Box that captures the holiday's passionate hue, and in every carefully crafted volume meant to be given with intention and received with joy.
Among shelves of rare volumes and carefully chosen objects, the Assoulines' history comes into focus. "I love the anchor points in our collection," says Alex, "like New York by New York, a tribute to the place where we first met twenty years ago." The book represents more than nostalgia. It's a testament to how place shapes love, how a city can become the setting for a lifetime. The sentiment finds its most whimsical expression in a statement chessboard, with each piece cast as an iconic landmark, New York's skyline facing off against Paris's monuments in a playful reminder of the two cities that define their story.
But perhaps no volume represents this connection more clearly than one given in the early days of their romance. "The first book I gave you was an Assouline book actually, it was on Valentine's Day six years ago," Alex recalls. "You loved Cipullo as a jewelry designer and all the work he did with Cartier, so our book, Cipullo: Making Jewelry Modern, was the perfect gift."
Now with a son, their love has evolved like their library, understanding that these first years with him, and with each other as a family, are some of the most precious. In this season of love, we sat down with the couple to explore a library that serves both as a gathering place for family and a vessel for their most meaningful narratives. Discover the elements that make their literary haven uniquely theirs, from intimate objects that mark milestone moments to beloved tomes they revisit again and again.