Patricia Field Takes On the Art World
Fashion Unfiltered | March 2016
Thursday evening at Howl Happening, the gallery space was heady with the sight of wearable art. There were leather jackets spray-painted with words, glitzy backpacks and studded vests covered in dripping puffy paint. It was humorous, naughty and loud. Any East Village local, casually walking by, might have felt nostalgic for the neighborhood’s once colorful, punk era.
But if you asked Patricia Field inside, she would have told you that the past is as much a part of the present and future. “I think that life, neighborhood, culture, all of it is liquid,” said Field. “It moves.”
It best explains how Field, stylist and “Sex and the City” costume designer, found herself across the street from her now shuttered Bowery boutique for the celebration of the launch of her Art/Fashion Weekend exhibit. At 75, Field was ready to retire from a half-century as downtown shopkeeper—but not from fashion altogether. The store closed late last February. The website, however, has since been transformed into an online art and fashion gallery with one-of-kind wares from rising artists like Scooter LaForge, Iris Barbee Bonner and Jody Morlock. These same pieces are now available for real-time viewing and purchase at the exhibit.
Call it Field’s inability to stay away from the New York street scene for long, or a desire to evolve the fashion conversation. Whatever the case, Field isn’t shy about her ability “to get on a surfboard and go with the flow.” Even with the rising tide of gentrification throughout the years, Field has managed to successfully ride it out thanks largely to her television and movie projects. (“Sex and the City” fans will be relieved to know that they can still shop online for “Carrie” necklaces and the infamous opening scene tutu.)
Special collaborations with other brands and retailers have experienced an upswell in recent years. Devotees looking to snag a painted trench coat by Scooter LaForge or Keith Haring-inspired necklace could have stopped by Field’s own shop-in-shop at New York’s Dover Street Market last winter. With the bricks-and-mortar storefront now an East Village memory, Field can devote more time to these retail partnerships. “What I would like to see, now that my store has closed, is for my artists to be represented at Bergdorf Goodman,” says Field. A lofty goal, but for Field, a long-time supporter of fresh style and talent, it’s the next step.
Back at Howl Happening, a dancing DJ in an oversized pig mask posed for pictures with the artists responsible for the splashy assortment of jackets, t-shirts and accessories. Those like Tom Knight and Jody Morlock, who Field still refers to as “her art kids” and who got their start working at the shop, found themselves reminiscing: “Pat was the mom of the house. She was honest, to-the-point and she’s given me great advice,” said Knight.
Although still popular with a contingency of New York drag performers, rockers and outré dressers, Field hopes to take her art and fashion gallery beyond the city limits. In between shaking hands with the colorful crowd, Field predicted her next possible launch. “It’ll go to Japan,” she said, with certainty.
She added: “I want it around the world.”
Patricia Field’s Art/Fashion Weekend exhibition runs now through Sunday, March 27th at Howl Happening: An Arturo Vega Project, located at 6 East 1st Street, New York, NY 10003.