In my opinion this is one of Ottolinger’s strongest collections.
In collaboration with contemporary artists being inherent to Ottolinger’s creative process, this season the designers are partnering with NY Bronx-based artist Cheyenne Julien.
Cheyenne’s subject matter explores ethnic inequalities. These paintings have been transferred in graphic prints onto the Ottolinger iconic mesh body-con pieces.
“We asked Cheyenne to collaborate with us, as we absolutely love her work. We discovered Cheyenne through our ongoing art research and is the first artist we are collaborating with who is not in our close friend circle which makes the collaboration extra special for us. For an artist to trust in us to work with their very personal artwork is very special.
Cheyenne’s work is inspired by environmental racism, her community, very close friends and family, self portraits, and bodies as medium in her work. It reflects deeply on the time we are living in and it feels to us that her practice is incredibly relevant and important.
As Cheyenne is inspired directly from her community, a full circle moment came into fruition including her closest peers. Her dear friend photographer Shotti NYC captured the artist trio, Cheyenne and multi-media artists Tau Lewis and Eric N. Mack, to close the talented circle as direct representations of the community that fuels Cheyenne’s subject matter outside of her family, herself, and the eco/socio/racial issues highlighted within her painting. It was important for us that Cheyenne and her friends interpret our clothes with her paintings in her own way.” – Christa Bösch, Cosima Gadient
In cohesion with the designers previous collections and film graphics, inspiration is sourced from Chinese science fiction literature, such as Cixin Liu’s Three Body Problem and Vagabonds from Hao Jingfang.
