Fashioning the Object Bless, Boudicca and the Sandra Backlund Zoe Ryan

The newest volume in the Art Institute of Chicago's successful A D series, Fashioning the Object, invites readers to visit three of the most visionary design studios at work today: Bless, Boudicca, and Sandra Backlund. Fiercely independent and far-reaching in their influences, these young designers from Berlin, London, Paris, and Stockholm are producing fashion objects that straddle the line between traditional craft and cutting-edge technique, both in their use of materials and in the promotion of their brands.

Zoe Ryan establishes the context for understanding the exciting departures these design houses represent, as the young creators draw inspiration from an array of other disciplines, including architecture, performance, film, and fine art. From Bless' numbered editions, to Boudicca's graffiti-can perfume, to Backlund's ready-to-wear pieces of knitted copper, these designers adapt storied objects to new uses and break old conventions, promulgating their ideas in playful, groundbreaking ways.

Zoe Ryan is the Art Institute of Chicago's Chair and John H. Bryan Curator of Architecture and Design. Her previous books include Bertrand Goldberg: Architecture of Invention, Hyperlinks, Graphic Thought Facility, and Konstantin Grcic.