Angela Hill and David Owen chart their seven most elusive publications from the IDEA archive
Business partners and marrieds Angela Hill and David Owen – AKA IDEA Books – have cornered the market for supplying vintage, coveted and difficult-to-find magazine issues and photography books. Hill began trading years before the pair set up shop in a Brewer Street loft space, buying in curated books for famous couture house Colette in Paris after renting a west London flat with owner Sarah Lerfel. Now, IDEA source literary fare for Kenzo and Marc Jacobs stores worldwide, alongside booking private appointments with the likes of Bruce Weber and Joe McKenna. Hill talks Wonderland through seven of the IDEA archive.
1. SELF SERVICE, ISSUE 13
“I used to be a photographer and I just can’t use digital because my pictures wouldn’t come out how I want them to. I like my pictures to look like they’re film stills. Saying that, I love Terry Richardson’s stuff [and his work for Self Service, issue 13], so I can appreciate the clash of handmade things like this in a world where everything is digital.”
Steidl (August 15, 2013)
2. THE OFFICIAL SLOANE RANGER HANDBOOK: THE FIRST GUIDE TO WHAT REALLY MATTERS IN LIFE, ANN BARR AND PETER YORK
“I love Sloane culture, I love Peter York. It’s hilarious as well. It’s very well done in the writing and choice of imagery. It’s just superb: a real classic. It’s long been a favourite.”
Ebury Press, London (18 Oct 1982)
3. WOODY ALLEN’S PLAY IT AGAIN SAM, EDITED BY RICHARD J. ANOBILE
“Just brilliant; almost better than the film! A book of stills with the script: Diane Keaton looks amazing in it.”
Grosset & Dunlap; First Edition edition (1977)
4. CHARLOTTE RAMPLING, WITH COMPLIMENTS
“It’s made in 1981, and just has this look. You can see how much inspiration fashion designers and stylists have taken from it. Some pretty major designers have bought it. I just adore this book, it’s truly amazing.”
5. PARIS, TEXAS, WIM WENDERS AND SAM SHEPARD
“Stills from the film Paris, Texas – it’s so beautifully put together. It’s something about the colours – the way reds have come out in this is just amazing.”
Handmade Houses, Von der Kunst der neuen Zimmerleute Fricke (1977)
6. HANDMADE HOUSES, VON DER KUNST DER NEUEN ZIMMERLEUTE
“Just the most inspirational book from 1973. It was so popular when we put it on Instagram, because I think people like to dream. You can easily forget that there’s nature and wood and trees out there when you’re running around Soho going to appointments.”
7. ADORAE CURIEUX ZAMOK, PORTRAIT OF LITTLE GIRLS SERIES, BY GILLES MIMOUNI AND JEAN-PAUL DUMAS-GRILLET
“This is the most “Sunday” book of all, and is super scarce now. I grew up in London and always dreamed of being French. When my school did an exchange with a school in Troyes, I desperately tried to copy the French girls’ style… This is a wonderful book and has the look I was aiming for!”
Hachette; First Edition edition (1981)
Words: Emma Louise Tovey