The charm of bookstores is something to which one eventually and happily succumbs. From the generalist to the themed, some are truly special, if not unique, because they contain a piece of history, a particular architecture of the interior or exterior, or, as in this case, above all because of their contents.
Above a door at the end of the rue de Lille, in the VII arrondissement of Paris, hangs the sign of 7L, a space designed by Karl Lagerfeld.
It is a legendary place, partly open to the public as a bookstore and partly private as a library with a cultural program.
It houses Lagerfeld’s art library and his former photo studio, which is also a library, at once grand and intimate.
7 Rue de Lille was originally a paper warehouse and later the headquarters of a car magazine.
In 1991, film director and producer Claude Berri transformed it into an art gallery – Renn Espace d’art contemporain. In 1999, Karl Lagerfeld moved in.
Entering Lagerfeld’s studio is like going on a journey. The first thing that catches the eye are the books stacked up to the glass roof. The upper shelves are accessible via a suspended walkway.
Small signs read: “If you wish to consult a book, please leave it on a table afterwards.” This is not the library of a bibliophile, but of a reader, a lover of books, a curious soul.
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