Viral bookstore Climax just opened its first New York outpost downtown
New York’s bookstore scene just welcomed a new player: Climax Books, a purveyor of hard-to-find tomes on art, photography and culture that was established by one Isabella Burley during the pandemic in 2020 and has since then earned viral status.
Burley, the former editor-in-chief of Dazed and current marketing officer at Acne Studios, has already collaborated with big names in the industry and run a pop-up in London that led to a move to a permanent space out there in 2023.
Located at 56 East 4th Street by the Bowery in the East Village, Climax Books feels like a repository of Burley’s cultural pursuits: in addition to books, shoppers will get to browse through VHS tapes, art and photography pieces, special-edition merchandise, vintage erotica and more.
As central to the business as the latest brick and mortar space is, Climax Books remains a force in the digital world as well, a fact that isn’t lost on Burley.
“I love the idea of them both coexisting: we spent so much time on the design and the visual language of the website and the way that we photographed each book or piece of ephemera as a kind of cultural artifact,” the founder said to Vogue. “It’s [also] just really nice to have people come in or kids that want to spend hours looking through the books—this sense that they’re interested in the point of view of Climax and what we have to offer.”
The physical space will also serve as a community meeting point. Burley is planning on regularly hosting events on site, from book signings to talks and more. Clearly, the destination is much more than a traditional bookstore—and we’re here for it.