Laurel Parker – Design and Art of Bookbinding

Île-de-France – 1968

Laurel Parker has been working for more than 25 years in fields of paper, design and publishing.

After two years with Ateliers de Paris, she founded in 2008 her workshop, located first in Paris and then in Romainville (France). In her workshop, she designs and makes bespoke books, presentation and conservation objects. She collaborates with artists, publishers, institutions and luxury brands including Hermès, Louis Vuitton, Cartier Archives, BNF, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chaumet, etc.

Her works are handcrafted. She uses a mix of traditional techniques from classical bookbinding to new technologies normally reserved for industrial production. She reaches to enhance the quality and the precision of her works. Moreover, she collaborates with other craftsmen. There are printers, gilders, leather parers, cabinet makers, paper mills, book and print restorers and digital and laser cutting workshops.

In 2018, Laurel Parker has become a member of Grands Ateliers de France, and has created her own publishing house, Laurel Parker Edition.

2019 – ADAGP’s Prix Révélation from MAD art fair for her fifth publication, Swatchbook. This project was a collaboration with the artist Sara MacKillop. 

2019 – Laurel Parker and her associate Paul Chamard  were together awarded residency at Villa Kujoyama. Their work has been exhibited at Nuit Blanche Kyoto ‘sleepless night’ event in October 2019.

Will to transmit

Transmission is an essential part of Laurel Parker’s work. Since 1996, she has been holding workshops on book publishing, graphic techniques and design in art schools in France and abroad. These have included the AA School of Architecture, INP (Institut National du Patrimoine), and many more.

Several times a year, she welcomes interns. She has trained apprentices through Prix Savoir-faire en transmission in 2014 and 2021. Each year, she takes part of Journées Européennes des Métiers d’Art (JEMA). This is how she opens her worshop to the public.

Fondation Rémy Cointreau has supported Laurel Parker by accompanying her in the acquisition of an electric paper-cutting machine. Since then, it has saved valuable time in trimming bookbinding projects and finishing paper.