Each bookstore will act as a concierge, recommending "the book you should read now" to FASHION HEADLINE readers. Every Saturday, we will introduce books selected by Shelf (3-7-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo), a Harajuku/Gaienmae bookshop that specializes in foreign books.



■ "The Diary of Ellen" by Elein Fleiss

"Whenever I fall in love, I am overcome with the desire to create something with that person."

The first solo book by Elein Fleiss, founding editor-in-chief of French fashion magazine Purple, which sparked indie culture, has finally been published. This book features 38 exquisite diary essays by Ellen, a solitary editor who rejects superficial trends and commercialism, trusts her own sensibility, and is constantly pursuing beauty. She shares her passion for fashion, film, and literature, her interactions with artists and writers, her travels around the world, including Tokyo and Brazil, her encounters and partings with friends and lovers, and the launch of her new personal magazines, "Hélène" and "The Purple Journal." In the introduction, translator Nakako Hayashi introduces the significance and contemporary relevance of Ellen's work, along with the cultural context of the 1990s and early 2000s. The book also includes 150 photographs (16 color pages) taken by the author. This is the book version of "Elein's Diary," which ran in the fashion magazine "Ryuko Tsushin" from 2001 to 2005. "After opening this book, I want to feel like I've become a slightly different person. I'm still me, but I want to become a different person and see the world with new eyes."





Ellen Fleiss was born in France in 1968. From 1992 to the early 2000s, she published the fashion and culture magazine Purple, which had an independent editorial policy. She subsequently worked on the personal journalism magazines HÉLÈNE and The Purple Journal. She has also curated exhibitions at art museums around the world, including L’Hiver de L’Amour in 1994. She currently lives with her daughter in Saint-Antonin-Noble-Val in southwestern France, and is active as a photographer. She has edited and published the book Les Chroniques Purple (VACANT, 2014).