Please tell us the reason why you named "RareBooksParis". Are you based in Paris?

Yes exactly I am based in Paris and have been for the past 15 years. The name is pretty self explanatory and it came rather quickly as I was selling rare books and live in Paris

Who are you? How many people are you?

It's just me, I work alone.

Do you make a living only with selling books?

No unfortunately I don't sell a high enough volume to make a real living, but then again I was never doing it for the money. I've never sold out, selling baseball caps and tote bags to profit from the name...... I do however teach, consult and research for some fashion brands which is how I pay my bills.

How did you start collecting and selling books? Please tell us some of your first books that attracted you to art, fashion etc.

I have been interested in books from as long as I can remember. I actually studied graphic design many lifetimes ago so I was studying print from an early age. When I was in high school I remember someone brought in a copy of The Face. 1991 to be exact was the year and I had never seen anything like it before, the fashion editorials in that period were particularly striking, so I suppose in hindsight I caught the style bug then at 16 years of age.

Is there any other editorials that you adore from old magazines? What are your favorite fashion magazines besides The Face?

Yes there are many editorials that I love. Used to buy double copies so that I could put them on my wall!
Self Service, Purple (vintage), Doingbird, Made in USA, Dutch, Ryuko Tsushin, RE-magazine etc.

What do you think of fashion magazines nowadays?

That it has become a little like fashion designers. There are too many and too few with a real point of view.

What do you think of the current book archive phenomenon? Especially old Purple magazines that are very expensive in the market.

There is definitely a huge interest in vintage publications, especially ones which were/are very good. But why not, this principal functions for clothes so it only makes sense that with good design then the same would exist for printed matter.

This might be a very typical question but what do you think of fashion online media? Do you feel excited to see any of them, like in the same way as The Face?

I don't look at fashion online media.

How and where do you collect books from?

I just spend a lot of time travelling and searching. Obviously pre pandemic it was easier as travel has been very restrictive for a year now but there are still some secret places in Paris, flea markets, bookinistes along the seine and places like that where you can find treasure. Also now some people write and propose things to me directly when they have items to sell which helps. P.S. Japan is one of my favourite places to buy books. I can spend days in Jimbocho alone...

How many books do you own as for yourself and as for stocks?

I've never counted but it has to be in the thousands.

How do you keep and maintain all the books?

They are in my apartment. I am lucky that it is quite large so they are all here with me but I prefer this as they are like friends and I like to be surrounded by such beautiful things. People think it's strange as I have many books also in my bedroom which for me is quite normal, but for others they think it looks like I'm sleeping in a library.

Do you read all the books you sell online? Do you collect only for sales or for yourself as well?

Yes of course! I buy the books because I love them or there is something which strikes me as interesting about its contents or style or is just different from anything I've seen before. I worked over 10 years as a fashion designer here and during that period looking at books was always an integral part of my research process so somehow that habit has stayed on even though I no longer make clothes. I collect now mainly for selling but if there is an item that I'm really fond of I will buy two copies so even when one sells, I will still have one to keep for me.

How did you end up using Instagram for your project? Why don't you have your own website?

I used instagram as in the beginning it was a relatively straightforward easy to use app which lent itself perfectly to my way of communicating images. I never had my own website because I'm lazy and really preferred to spend my time looking at and for books rather than maintaining a webpage constantly. I work alone, remember.

I think your Instagram feeds are posted in a very well-curated way. Tone of each scan has very poetic, even better than original print magazine. How did you end up with scanning in the way you do now?

Yes careful consideration is taken when curating the images. Ive always worked as a kind of editor in that way, I have an ability to scan a publication and very quickly select the best images which represent that particular publication.

I guess Rare Clothes Paris is another account that you have. You have nearly 2,000 followers and nothing has posted there yet. Why? Any future plan for this? What will you show and sell there?

Oh I forgot I even had that account. Yes it was created a few years back with the intention of selling some rare and collectable clothes but I simply didn't have the time to take care of it properly. Thanks for reminding me, I will close it.

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