M to M of M/M (Paris) Collector’s Edition

An exclusive collaboration between two of the most influential creative studios working today, a monumental collector’s edition limited to only 25 copies

19remaining £895.00

Overview

M/M (Paris) is one of the world’s most innovative and intriguing design studios. Established in 1992 by Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak, the duo’s work at the jagged confluence of the art, music and fashion worlds has attracted leading names and brands to their exceptional approach to print, advertising and editorial. Designed by London’s Graphic Thought Facility (GTF) – M/M met GTF when they were students at London’s Royal College of Art – the first major compendium of M/M’s work was published by Thames & Hudson in 2012, followed by a second volume in 2020. Together, the two books comprise an almost 1,000-page archive of images, identities, alphabets, posters, campaigns, books, exhibitions and collaborations. They have become both reference works and objects of fascination: a dense visual record of a studio whose practice has continually expanded the role of graphic design.

Now, inspired by the success of these ambitious publications, Volume is releasing an exclusive collector’s edition. Paul Neale, of GTF, says, ‘Mathias and Michaël invited me to consider what a collector’s edition of their monographs could be, at a time when I was already thinking about the aesthetics of personal libraries—specifically the tension between preciousness and protection, and use and wear.’ The result are the first and only hardcover editions, specially conceived to evoke archival volumes unearthed from a deep archive yet using cutting-edge printing techniques to achieve.

The monumental set is bookended by cast-iron ‘Agents’, one of M/M’s most recognizable recurring figures. First conceived in 1996 for an unrealized artificial intelligence project, The Agent has since moved through the studio’s work as a mutable character, acquiring new meaning with every appearance. In Volume I, it appears as a fictional interviewee, confirming its role not as a mascot, but as part of M/M’s own mythology. The totality of the bookends and ‘archive’ books form a unique and fleeting publishing event, available only to those who act swiftly.

Specification

Two volumes
350 × 260 mm
‘Archive’ hardcover

Foil blocked with laser-cut details
984 pages in full colour
Printed on 80gsm Eos Blaulich Weiss
Numbered on specially
designed ‘Agent’
page-marker tabs

Bookends
Cast iron, sand-casted, shot-blasted and powder-coated matt black

Editors
Volume I edited by Emily King
Volume II edited by Grace Johnston

How it works

Limited to an edition of 25 sets

Estimated delivery

September 2026

Shipping

Tracked worldwide

The Bookends

When asked to conceive a limited edition for the two books, Paule Neale, of GTF, turned to The Agent. He explains, ‘this super-deluxe edition takes a more sculptural approach to the two volumes, holding them in a deliberately monumental way. In powder-coated cast iron, M/M’s Agent becomes a natural bookend – flat-backed and weighty, with a tome-like base.’ The pieces are produced by a family-owned aluminium and non-ferrous foundry, established in 1975 in Staffordshire, England, and serving a wide range of businesses, from aerospace and automotive to marine and rail. Each bookend weighs approximately 5 kilograms and is around 250 millimetres high.

For fans of M/M’s work, print designers, bibliophiles and book collector’s, the bookends will bring character and heft to any library. Each set is presented in a bespoke transit box made form corrugated cardboard with a black foam protective insert.

These images show prototypes and intended to be indicative of the manufactured product.

I have always admired them; they are brilliant.

Miuccia Prada (fashion designer)

The Books

Originally published as large-format paperbacks, the two volumes have been reconceived as ‘archival’ hardcovers by Paul Neale, who says, ‘As a special edition, upgrading the original softback covers to a case binding felt like an obvious move—provided there was a counterpoint. Thinking of the torn jackets of some of my most-read books, I imagined those lost fragments drawn back together, like the surviving pieces of a Roman mosaic returned to their original positions in an archaeological reconstruction.’

Featuring Thames & Hudson’s original mid-century cartouche logo revived for this archival edition, the books’ content includes hundreds of collaborations that form a constellation of contemporary culture: fashion designers and houses including Yohji Yamamoto, Miuccia Prada, Nicolas Ghesquière, Jil Sander, Jonathan Anderson, Alexander McQueen, Loewe, Louis Vuitton and Acne Studios; musicians including Björk, Madonna, Étienne Daho, Vanessa Paradis and Kanye West; and artists including Philippe Parreno, Pierre Huyghe, François Curlet and Sarah Morris.

Their world is like a labyrinth, and there’s always a new path. You don’t know where you’re going, but it takes you to another world.

Nicolas Ghesquière (fashion designer, Louis Vuitton creative director)

Artists who make history… able to push the boundaries of their medium… defying all forms of categorisation and blurring the lines between graphic design and art.

Vogue Italia

Meet the author

Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak formed their studio, M/M (Paris), in 1992. Since then, it has become one of this generation's most distinctive and influential voices in graphic design.

Originally working for small independent music labels, M/M soon caught the attention of the fashion world, and later developed long-term collaborations with a rich array of iconic artists, art directors and musical artists - most notably, Björk and Madonna. Across more than three decades, M/M has treated graphic design not simply as communication, but as a way of constructing worlds.