OPENING PARTY: DECEMBER 4TH FROM 6-9 PM!
[Chicago] – The Department of Curiosities, located at 3013 W. Armitage Avenue, will host a shop-able installation by members of the League of Women Designers (LWD). Eve Fineman will curate the show drawing on the golden age of department stores for visual inspiration. The boutique space will be transformed with sections for housewares, lighting, furniture, clothing, jewelry, handbags and lingerie. Weetu will showcase BLADE SHELVES and debut a set of rubberized neon X2 DESKSCAPES.
The shop-able installation will be open from December 4th-20th, Tuesdays-Saturdays from 12-7 pm, Sundays 12-5pm. Check out the catalog of participating designers!
Full press release below:
[Chicago] – From December 4th-20th, the Department of Curiosities located at 3013 W. Armitage Avenuewill host a shop-able installation by members of the League of Women Designers (LWD). Eve Fineman will curate the show drawing on the golden age of department stores for visual inspiration. The boutique space will be transformed with sections for housewares, lighting, furniture, clothing, jewelry, handbags and lingerie. Participating designers include Carly Cannell, Chelli Look, Elizabeth Fiersten, Felicia Ferrone, Gerry Quinton, Jamie Hayes, Kari Merkl, Kelly Marie Thompson, Kristen Molenhouse, Maria Boustead, and Sharon Burdett.
Participating designers include Carly Cannell, Chelli Look, Elizabeth Fiersten, Felicia Ferrone, Gerry Quinton, Jamie Hayes, Kari Merkl, Kelly Marie Thompson, Kristen Molenhouse, Maria Boustead, and Sharon Burdett.
The show's name references Eileen Gray, a touchstone for LWD group. Gray was a pioneer of modernist design; an architect and designer of furniture, textiles and interiors. Her influential works in the 1920s and 30s were largely overlooked in her time and the importance of her legacy remains unrecognized to this day. One of her most innovative works, the Villa E-1027 house, for instance, was first attributed to her lover, Jean Badovice, and was later defaced by the most famous architect of her day, Le Corbusier.
“Gray’s Department Store” will provide a public platform for the LWD group as a whole, and for each individual exhibitor. The exhibit will include a printed art catalogue designed by Daniela Markova Soukup, an opening reception sponsored by KOVAL distillery from 6-9 pm on December 4th, open hours during the Holiday season for the public to view and shop Tuesday-Saturday from 12-7 pm, and Sunday from 12-5 pm. The exhibiting designers will staff the shop in order to give the public an opportunity to learn about the design and manufacturing process; most of the designers manufacture locally. In addition, special events such as demonstrations, screenings, and discussions by members of the LWD group will be held throughout the run of the show, including a pop-up dining event on the evening of December 12th featuring the work of Midnight Kitchen Projects.
The Department of Curiosities (DOC) will host the event at their storefront/workshop, which showcases fashion and design. It is home to fashion lines Morua and Production Mode, which are manufactured on-site, following a slow fashion model of transparent and ethical production. In spring 2016, DOC will introduce their first collection, a line of silk lingerie inspired by the luminous women of the 1930s. The line will be available for preview and purchase at the Gray’s Department Store event.
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A link to the Gray’s Department Store exhibit catalogue can be found here.