Design Du Jour
NEW YORK, United States — For the past few months, we’ve been profiling industrial designers who meld function and form. Practitioners today can find their designs enjoy a level of protected status (by virtue of intellectual property protection) and/or in some cases, a level of ubiquity that frankly cannot be easily found in other domains.
The point of ubiquity is a fine one. While not necessary to be considered successful, it does lay the ground work for keeping a creative practice alive (particularly in fashion, which relies heavily upon the continued distribution of the work to the people). We reference Telfar a lot, but the brand represents an apt example. Telfar was launched in 2005 across ready-to-wear and accessories by Telfar Clemens, but only in late 2019, did the brand reach a level of ubiquity through its now iconic Shopping Bag (which launched in 2014 and has since been copied ad nauseam). You see it everywhere whether you like it or not, across an incredibly diverse array of individuals.
Bernard James x USM Modular Furniture
The other critical element is IP protection that can be enjoyed via design; although not commonly upheld in fashion or visual arts. It is no surprise then that fine jeweler Bernard James established a partnership with Swiss-born USM Modular Furniture on a trio of truly singular jewelry cases in the signature USM brand codes. In theory, these objects will live forever (or at least in the research annals to be studied at a later date). Part of the protection necessitates inclusion into the design canon. Through produced work, there is an inherent time-marking or date-stamping to acknowledge the context of one’s work, the interrelatedness of other works made in the same time period, and the mostly ongoing use of the work by real people that re-contextualizes the work over and over in a semi-permanent way.
Bernard James x USM Modular Furniture
One of our Founding Supporters sent across the forthcoming work of artist and maker Reginald Sylvester II, who is behind Chair 001-V1 that was released late last year. Sylvester II’s current artistic practice involves radical paintings and 10-ft-plus-tall rusted metal sculptures, most recently on view at Roberts Projects in Los Angeles.
Composed of 100% white ash, hand-dyed with an ebony patina in a drool-worthy matte black finish, the level of craftsmanship behind Chair 001-V1 is as considered as that in one of his paintings. In his own words, he shared, “while painting has been the foundation of my creative endeavors, design has always been a great interest of mine. Having ideas surrounding furniture and objects, I’ve often found that their ability to exist within my studio and home environments are pivotal.” We couldn’t agree more.