Culture Lounge by ASSOULINE

In this episode of Savoir-Faire, Alex Assouline joins Prosper and Martine Assouline to explore the story behind Assouline's Library Collection. Together they trace the defining materials, walnut wood, brushed brass, and pebbled leather, and the organic pebble shape that threads through every piece. Prosper recalls discovering the brand's "A" emblem in Shanghai over 20 years ago,...

In this episode of Beyond The Cover, Rafael Nadal reflects on the making of  Rafa Nadal , a visual biography that looks past the twenty-two Grand Slam titles and fourteen crowns at Roland-Garros to the person who won them. Written by Jon Wertheim, the book draws on images from the private collections of Nadal’s inner circle, alongside personal reflections from those closest to him, including his w...

In this episode of Savoir-Faire, Alex, Prosper and Martine Assouline revisit Formula 1: The Impossible Collection and the year they spent creating a scent, sprayed by hand onto every copy, evoking the feeling of being on a racetrack. Prosper explains why he has always compared the maison to a racing team, where success is achieved by every person working together with precision, and Martine recoun...

In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Mario Codognato takes us inside the story of Casa Codognato and the making of  Codognato Masterpiece . Founded in Venice in 1866 by his grandfather Simeone, the house has long lived by one conviction: without excess, beauty cannot exist. Skulls and serpents, ancient intaglios and cameos, echoes of Byzantium, Rome and the Renaissance. These are jewels of memento...

In this episode of The Decisive Moment , master jeweler Glenn Spiro reflects on a life shaped by risk, reinvention, and devotion to craft. He left school at 14, abandoned a budding child-actor career, and found jewelry almost by instinct, going on to pioneer titanium in fine jewelry with large, feather-light pieces women could finally wear with ease. He speaks to walking away from his own business...

In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast, recorded at Assouline's New York headquarters, Jeannie Cho Lee, the first Asian Master of Wine, and chef Brian Kim, founder of Oiji Hospitality and chef-owner of the Michelin-starred Oiji Mi and bōm, come together to consider what it means to eat and drink beautifully today. Friends for more than a decade, they trace the winding routes that led ea...

In this episode of Savoir-Faire, Alex Assouline is joined by founders Prosper and Martine Assouline to revisit the  Impossible Collection of Wine , ten years after its release. Together they explore treating a book as an object as much as a text, the painstaking process of hand-replicating vintage labels for the world's 100 greatest wines, and their collaboration with co-author Enrico Bernardo...

In this episode of The Decisive Moment, designer Ken Fulk steps into the Assouline archive room in New York to trace the spark that turned a boy with illusions of grandeur into one of America's most theatrical creative minds. Fulk shares how every project begins with words, why he refuses to repeat himself, and the laundromat encounter that changed his life 35 years ago. A conversation about t...

In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Alex Assouline sits down with Deborah Calmeyer, founder and CEO of Roar Africa, to explore the making of  African Adventures . The word  safari  means "to journey" in Swahili, and that is the idea at the heart of the book: not a luxury trip, but a way of life. From the Victoria Falls to the Okavango Delta, the great migration to the mountain gorillas...

In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast, recorded at Assouline's Mexico City boutique, Karla Martinez de Salas, Head of Editorial Content at Vogue Mexico and Latin America, and hotelier Kevin Wendle come together to reflect on the cities that have shaped them, and the one that continues to captivate them both. From the meditative stillness of Kyoto to the effortless sophistication of Par...

In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Brazilian photographer Sam Robles reveals the story behind  Football Roots . A decade. Eighteen countries. One enduring idea: the game, in its purest form, begins long before anyone is watching. Robles spent nearly ten years documenting the football that never reaches broadcast television: children playing in alleyways, on dirt fields, between two rocks standin...

In this episode of The Decisive Moment with Alex Assouline, Valentina De Santis, owner and CEO of Grand Hotel Tremezzo and Passalacqua, reflects on growing up inside a family legacy and the instincts that shaped her into one of hospitality's most quietly formidable leaders. Following Passalacqua's recognition as the best hotel in the world, De Santis speaks candidly about inheritance and i...

In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Daniel Arsham takes us beyond the pages of The Book of HOV Special Limited Edition, an exclusive collaboration between the celebrated visual artist and Assouline that extends the world of Jay-Z into an object of enduring significance. Arsham, who created the iconic "HOV Hands" sculpture for the Brooklyn Public Library exhibition, brings that same visi...

In this episode of Savoir Faire, Alex, Martine, and Prosper pull back the curtain on Football: The Impossible Collection, a love letter to the world's most beloved sport and an object entirely worthy of it. Housed in a handcrafted clamshell case complete with a 3D sculpture of a football, every detail was chosen to capture the soul of the game.  For more inspiration, head to ⁠assouline.com,⁠ where...

In this episode of Beyond the Cover, Claiborne Swanson Frank takes us beyond the pages of Father and Child, a photographic exploration of modern fatherhood that captures the joy, tenderness, and profound connection between fathers and their children. For more inspiration, head to assouline.com, where culture meets luxury.  To learn more about Father and Child visit assouline.com/products/lfather-a...

In this episode of The Decisive Moment, Gracious Hospitality Management Founder and CEO Simon Kim reflects on the pivotal choice that transformed his career and the philosophy that continues to guide it. Following the success of COTE, the world’s only Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse, and COQODAQ, his Michelin Bib Gourmand–recognized fried chicken restaurant, Kim speaks candidly about ambition,...

In this episode of Beyond The Cover, we sit down with Alexandra Fairweather, daughter of John Chamberlain and Director of the John Chamberlain Estate, as she takes us Beyond The Cover of “Living with Chamberlain”—a vibrant tribute to the legendary artist. The book highlights his boundary-pushing vision, lasting collector relationships, and a body of work that remains as formidable today as ever. F...

In this episode of the Beyond the Cover, Alex Assouline sits down with Marylin Fitoussi, the Emily in Paris costume designer, proclaims: “Books are the best accessories ever. So, less selfies and more books.” For more inspiration, head to assouline.com , where culture meets luxury. To learn more about Emily in Paris: The Fashion Guide, visit assouline.com/products/emily-in-paris-the-fashion-guide...

In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast, we introduce Savoir Faire, a new series devoted to the rarest of arts: knowing exactly what to do, and doing it with intention. To open the series, Alex Assouline sits down with Martine and Prosper Assouline around a title that is, in every sense, a masterwork: Venice: La Serenissima. A portrait of the world's most alluring city, and an object worthy...

In this episode of the Culture Lounge podcast interior designer Miles Redd and Editorial Director of ELLE Decor and Editor-in-Chief of Town & Country Stellene Volandes come together for a conversation as layered and considered as the rooms that inspire it. They trace the winding paths that shaped their careers, step inside the world of auction houses, and reflect on the objects we choose to li...

There are conversations that inform. And then there are conversations that transform. Season Two of The Culture Lounge Podcast opens with the latter. Returning with a new series called The Decisive Moment, listeners are invited into something rarer than a typical interview: a genuine reckoning. Host Alex Assouline sits down with the visionaries who have shaped culture, art, and ideas, and asks the...

Hosted by Alex Assouline, the Culture Lounge podcast by Assouline launching on April 3 opens a new chapter, with new voices, new series, and an even deeper exploration of culture in all its forms.

“It’s so important to dream. And people always say, your life starts when your comfort level ends.” - Aerin Lauder In this chapter of Assouline’s Culture Lounge , we’re learning about interior design with the founder and creative director of global luxury lifestyle brand AERIN, Aerin Lauder, and former Ralph Lauren designer and current founder and creative director behind his namesake studio, Alfr...

“Carbone is the show. It's not the dinner before the show.” - Jeff Zalaznick In this chapter of Assouline’s Culture Lounge , we’re getting a taste of cuisine with renowned chef Mario Carbone and restaurateur Jeff Zalaznick. Mario and Jeff share how a joint love of Italian-American food led to the creation of Carbone, explain how the word “yes” is at the core of what they do, and describe the first...

“What are you passing down? What’s the legacy?” - Young Guru In this chapter of Assouline’s Culture Lounge , we’re getting lost in the creative minds of one of the most influential radio personalities, Angie Martinez, and one of hip-hop’s most sought-after producers and engineers, Young Guru. Angie and Guru paint a picture of the diversity of the NYC music scene in the ‘90s, describe the curse of...