My Dad is a Garmento. Actually, I'm exceedingly proud of my paternal heritage which is a long line of men who bought, hawked, measured, sewed, tailored, imported or manufactured clothing for the masses. This means that I've spent many days throughout my life in and around the Garment District joyously eating bagels or deli sandwiches (depending on the time of day) and witnessing men with bellies and slicked back hair talk about how much business sucks. But, in all of my days tagging along with my Father to work, I've never quite seen anything like what I saw today. In the last year my Dad moved office buildings and when I went to visit him in his new spot today, I stumbled upon something astonishing. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the:
This lovely little display lines the lobby of 533 Seventh Avenue. It is a lineup of silver busts of America's top fashion designers stuck on acrylic poles and labeled with gold name-bearing plaques.
Thank god for the plaques...let's take a closer look shall we?
Now even before I give you the corresponding gold plaques, can you put a name to a single one of those faces? Maybe the hair gives away the ladies, but I swear I stood in amazement at who the gray heads were meant to be. Here's who we've got above:
Poor Isaac, right? I mean that must be some sort of mistake. And Marc? He looks like the love child of Sting and a Ken doll. Are they not scary in that way that clowns are scary? I really want to find out if the designers have ever seen these. Maybe they were invited to some really awkward unveiling ceremony where they had to pick themselves out of the lineup and failed, miserably. Oh, these are so classic. I almost think they need to be seen in the round to be fully appreciated. So, if you ever want to see them in person, holler at me and I'll put together a tour group.
I had family in town this weekend, and my favorite part of hosting guests in the big city is always the opportunity to see this amazing place with a fresh set of eyes. When I'm with someone who's new to New York the cabs seem faster, the lights look brighter, and the buildings feel taller. One of the tall buildings my Uncle passed prompted a question that I couldn't answer: "Do they really hand paint those huge advertisements on the sides of those big buildings?" I had to admit I wasn't quite sure, and I promised to investigate.
Turns out they do. And by they, I mean the Sky High muralists at old-school outdoor ad company Colossal Media. Yes, they hand paint those multi-story high billboards. Remember when this mammoth Madonna for H&M ad stared down into Soho? They did that. The process takes about a week of non-stop painting from atop self-constructed scaffolding. The talented painters don safety harnesses and have earned the nickname "wall dogs" for being roped to walls for hours like Lassies on leashes. The company has very successfully revived what was a dying art, and have become the premiere poster painters in America. Many fashion houses have utilized the young, Brooklyn-based company's services to create one of a kind, work of art advertisements. Besides H&M, Diane von Furstenberg and Kenneth Cole have also maximized their exposure with Colossal's help. Watching these guys work is fascinating, whether it be little by little, witnessing their patience inspiring progress on a daily walk to work, or seeing things sped up in one of the time lapse videos the company posts to their website.
Check out the Sky High team in action:
Impressive, no? Turns out the company also does their part for street art. They were behind the execution of the cheeky New York City Rat murals designed by preeminent street artist Banksy. Love the tromp l'oeil wall painter in the piece above.
Some hardcore graffiti purists think the co-opting of the art form for commercial purposes is disrespectful to the movement, but I have to say if you're going to shill for the man, why not do it with real talent and incredible craft? The sheer scale of these projects makes them awe-inspiring. The level of detail makes them masterpieces.
