Stéphane (Brussels, BE, 1967) ; (, )

For those into fashion design, you’ve probably already heard of the infamous Maison Martin Margiela down in the quartier de créateurs of Dansaert. After closing down permanently in 2019, there was a soul left in it that Stéphane (Brussels b. 1967) was particularly sensitive to, which led him to take over the house during lockdown and turn into quite a bookshop.
He curates mostly art books, rare photography and fashion catalogs. With a strong emphasis on transmission and tradition, the Saint Martin Bookshop also pays honor to its predecessors as well as to other artists with some historical pieces carefully stored inside a smaller section, L’Ombre. 'It is our homage to the books we love and the stuff we cherish, with a twist of Boltanski, a bit of Gainsbourg, the spirit of Shiva and the soul of Margiela'.

Paying honor, that’s something we can relate to with special frames… Some even too special to be sold. We took this reddish 1940’s 8mm celluloïd (Morez, FR) upstairs for restoration and Stéphane instantly spotted them. We struggled to let it go but so did he. The guy has an eye for precious things. No regrets, what a fit both esthetically and spiritually.