A collaboration between Loro Piana and Marie Watt, "Companion Species: Blanket Stories, Generations, Acknowledgement," is now on view at Loro Piana, coinciding with the opening of their new Meatpacking District store in New York City. Loro Piana will feature three sculptures, by Marie Watt as a collaborative reflection on community and environmental stewardship, generational respect, family history and the myriad symbolic meanings of loved – and lived-in – textiles.
Blankets are an essential component of Loro Piana and Watt’s respective histories.
At Loro Piana, blankets were among the first products ever produced. To this day, they remain an important element of the company’s legacy: blankets are an ultimate expression of warmth and comfort. Within Watt’s oeuvre, blankets symbolize safeguarding, established traditions, familial heirlooms, and physical entities to which memories may be imprinted and embedded. Together, the brand and the artist believe in weaving together textile and form to tell stories from our vast yet inextricably connected global community.
The Blanket Stories sculpture, in particular, consists of nearly fifty thoughtfully layered and stacked blankets donated by a diverse group of Loro Piana’s friends, partners and family. Donations were submitted from around the world and each blanket arrived with an anecdote from its owner; their narratives range from humorous to heartwarming, with every single anecdote illustrating a deeply personal sentiment that is as once individual in experience yet universal in feeling. These stories are written on hang tags attached to the piece, and can be viewed on Loro Piana’s website as well.
For more information on the project please visit : https://www.loropiana.com/blanket-stories/en/
Featured in the New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/t-magazine/wine-wallpaper-sol-lewitt…
"Companion Species: Blanket Stories, Generations and Acknowledgment" is on display from December 14th, 2020 to January 31st, 2021 at 3 Ninth Avenue, New York City.
