A novel concept store that blends art, design and fashion
September 2012 (New York, NY) United Colors of Benetton announces the launch of a pop-up, store/gallery concept in the heart of New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. The space will fuse art and commerce through the creative lens of the brand’s colorful, fashion knitwear. The brand will transform a 2,200 square-foot former garage space attached to a BP gas station with an innovative art/design installation, including highlights from the Fall-Winter 2012 collection.
The space, located at 135 Crosby Street, will open on September 6th, 2012 and run through December. The location showcases the collaboration between You Nguyen, Chief Merchandising Officer and Creative Director, who designed the women’s and men’s Fall 2012 collections, and Sam Baron, Design Director of FABRICA, the Benetton Group’s center for communication research where artists from around the world develop innovative art and media projects.
Visitors will enter through open garage doors on either side of a long rectangular space featuring the range of 12 key hues that both designers used as inspiration. The installation is composed of art pieces knitted by resident artists of FABRICA, mixed with design objects for sale, as well as Benetton sweaters. Fall’s colourful fair-isle dresses and graphic colorblocked v-neck sweaters are viewed in the context of knit art objects of every shape, size, and function – blurring the line between contemporary art, design, and wearable fashion. The space celebrates United Colors of Benetton’s commitment to creativity through art, craftsmanship, the use of color, and its roots as a knitwear brand.
Additionally, sculptures of the LANA SUTRA, created by Cuban-born FABRICA artist Erik Ravelo, will be featured prominently in the space. Life-size figurative “couples” in poses from the Kama Sutra are wrapped in brightly-colored woolen yarns, and joined in positions expressing sensual pleasure and love. The sculptures engage the senses through sight and touch, communicating the warmth of wool, a human embrace, love, emotion, pleasure (kama), and a common thread which unites mankind (sutra). The artistic concepts capture Benetton’s DNA consistently expressed through its colourful knitwear: Fashion that unites disparate people and points of view, touching the whole of humanity.
With a long-standing commitment to art and creativity in all its forms, the United Colors of Benetton pop-up provides an innovative showcase of the brand’s legacy in knit fashion and color.
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