Back in 2020, during the height of the pandemic—at a time when most of us were more likely to be binge-watching The Real Housewives or trying (and failing) to master the art of sourdough—Isabella Burley launched a business. As the chief marketing officer of Acne Studios and the former editor-in-chief of Dazed, Burley had spent much of her career traveling the world for fashion shows and shoots, and used every spare minute in the cities she was visiting to trawl through bookstores to build her collection of art and photography monographs, vintage erotica, VHS tapes, and rare pieces of print ephemera from across every creative discipline. But it was only the time afforded to her by lockdown that allowed her to fully realize her vision of her own independent rare book dealership and store: Climax Books.
Photo: Jacob Lillis
With its hot pink packaging, minimalist typography, and meticulously curated selection of items that reflect Burley’s own, highly defined tastes, Climax was an immediate hit. (The stores sells vintage erotica and the like, but also a wide range of non-explicit materials.) Over the past four years, the store has amassed 25,000 followers on Instagram; collaborated with the likes of Heaven by Marc Jacobs and Dover Street Market; and following a successful pop-up at the Sadie Coles Gallery in London, eventually moved into a permanent space last year in London’s Soho district. Now, Burley is launching her most ambitious outing yet: a new store on New York’s East 4th Street, just around the corner from the Bowery Hotel.