Tobin Levy's FASHION BOOK REVIEWS "Books are the best company you can keep and they give you the most enchanting pleasure," - writes Karl Lagerfeld. The fashion titan's appreciation for books (he boasts a private collection of over 230,000 volumes) is both refreshingly passionate and remarkably sincere. Yes, Lagerfeld is a true bibliophile. And now the German-born designer, photographer, perfume-maker, gallery owner and bookshop proprietor can add publishing to his already abundant repertoire.
	ƒditions 7L, Lagerfeld's joint publishing venture with German art publisher Gerhard Steidl, may not prove quite as lucrative as designing clothes for Chanel or creating the perfect scent. However, the inaugural titles being released in the U.S. this summer exhibit Lagerfeld's signature style: An irascible emphasis on beauty, refinement and the infusion of that which is made for public consumption with a sense of the personal. Of course each book reflects the maestro's own editorial vision, but the noticeable paucity of the Lagerfeld name from cover to cover suggests he's making books not for the sake of a particular audience or, for that matter, his own self-aggrandizement, but for the sake of books and books alone.
	The fruits of Lagerfeld's literary labor oscillate between the sacred and the seemingly mundane. 'Beauty Flash' By Stéphane Marais 156 pages June 2001 Fashion ($29.95 order direct from Amazon) , the first of the imprint's titles to hit stores in early June falls into the latter category. The book's 156 glossy pages are filled with individual snapshots of models' faces transformed by the cosmetic artist's hand. There is no accompanying text and, while Giselle Bundchen and Linda Evangelista do look exceptionally glamorous with their deftly applied eye makeup and provocatively painted lips, this book remains as superficial as its title.
ƒditions 7L	"I love the mix of the important and the apparently unimportant," explains Lagerfeld. While the importance of Beauty Flash may be lost to this reviewer, that is not the case with 'Iwao Yamawaki' - Edited by Karl Lagerfeld Introduction by Ingrid Sischy, Bookdesign: Gerhard Steidl 96 pages June 2001 Photography ($54.95 order direct from Amazon) the first monograph illustrating the work of the Japanese Bauhaus photographer and the second ƒditions 7L title to be released. The book is significant not only in its contribution to the study of Japanese photography, an area of the arts that has received a growing amount of attention in the last couple of years, but it also elevates a formerly unknown artist to the status of a great one.
	Yamawaki began his career as an architect in Japan. Frustrated by the limitations imposed on him by traditional Japanese practice, in 1930 he moved to Dessau where he entered the Bauhaus and studied for two years before returning home. In this collection, Yamawaki juxtaposes Bauhaus preoccupation with the simplification of form with a more ornate Japanese sensibility. The photos, all of which were taken during his tenure at Bauhaus, are reproduced in their original size. They explore a range of subjects-from architecture and furniture to soap bubbles and cabbage-and are as visually arresting as they are delicate, appearing more like intricate pencil drawings than images captured on film. Lagerfeld, who owns a number of the prints, "wanted to help bring these pictures to light," writes Interview's editor-in-chief Ingrid Sischy in the book's introduction. Readers will want to thank him profusely for doing so.
ƒditions 7L	Another early 20th century artist whose work Lagerfeld brings to light with his imprint is Alan Seeger. 'Alan Seeger: The Complete Works' - Essays by Amanda Harlech 480 pages, July 2001 ($44.95 order direct from Amazon) will be published in July and includes three volumes-the first presenting Seeger's poetry, the second his letters and journal entries, and the third a collection of timeless photographs by Lagerfeld who sought out the landscapes Seeger describes in his work. These volumes are classically bound and presented in a slipcase featuring an engraving of the young, disconcertingly handsome poet. The American writer abandoned his native country at the age of 24 for a bohemian lifestyle in France where, at the onset of World War I, he enlisted in the Foreign Legion and subsequently died in 1916 at the age of 28.
	Seeger's verse, extolling the virtues of nature, love, and beauty is, at times, sickly sweet, and his memoirs, exalting the eminence of war and the thrill of life on the battlefield, embarrassingly naive. But his "whole-hearted devotion to the spirit of Romance" is engaging as are the uncanny parallels between the young poet and the man reintroducing his work over eighty years after their initial publication. Both enjoyed privileged youths, adopted France as a primary residence, evidence a passion for beauty and are relentless in their commitment to their own, personal vision.
	Lagerfeld's personal vision is clearly not bound by a specific medium nor is it limited to a particular field of expertise. "I am guided in my choices by my intense curiosity and the unlimited range of things which interest me," he writes. Along with the work of a make-up artist, a Bauhaus photographer, and a quixotic poet, this summer's books will include Rejane: Queen of the Boulevard ( $54.95 order direct from Amazon), a celebration of the life of the late 19th and early 20th century French actress, and volumes devoted to the works of contemporary artists Roni Horn, David Parker, and Christopher Wool.
	Expect next season to bring more fabulous Lagerfeld designs down the literary runway. In the meantime, of the seven coming out this summer, there is sure to be at least one book that will, as Lagerfeld suggests, "help you look at things with a different delight and a more informed eye." -End Question or Comments? E-mail Tobin. About Tobin Levy: Originally from Austin, Texas, our new contributing book editor comes to us from Talk magazine. She has also contributed to Elle, American Health, and Philadelphia Magazine. She is currently a freelance writer in New York City where she lives with Xena Warrior Princess...her cat. .