Announcing the second installation in our celebration of cutting-edge design with couture milliner and accessory designer Heather Huey, and Urban A&O, one of a handful of architecture and design firms in the field of parametric modeling*, launching September 23rd under the New York City High Line Park at HL23, 504 West 24th Street. The Heather Huey/Urban A&O installation is one of five, including Simon Spurr, House of Waris, Siki Im, and Richard Chai.
Heather Huey and Joe MacDonald, Urban A&O’s principal, are collaborating in the creation of Mortal Coil, a dark experimental exhibition integrating Urban A&O’s organic molded forms and space with Heather’s pieces. Heather will be exhibiting work from her Cocoon and Asylum projects. Cocoon, is a study in soft lines, raw shapes, close-fit, and color combinations created out of recycled felt. Asylum is Huey’s long-awaited “sequel in white” to her popular black Cages project. Cages feature black architectural forms built around the body creating haute couture exoskeletons. Heather Huey has built her brand of couture headwear and body-wear around bold shapes, strong lines and textures, as they relate to the human form. Being a major advocate of “no waste” fashion, Huey has focused her current projects on utilizing recycled materials and found objects without compromising on design or quality. The space will also feature a retail component for the sale of Heather’s pieces.
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Heather Huey made an unexpected leap into the art of millinery after earning a degree in Architecture from Fordham University. Since the launch of her eponymous label in 2005, Huey expanded her design repertoire to include not only headwear but also bodywear. Huey’s couture pieces have been pulled by stylists Alex White, Camilla Nickerson, Karl Templer, Lori Goldstein, Ludivine Poiblanc, Nicola Formichetti, Patti Wilson, and Tabitha Simmons. Her designs have been photographed by Steven Meisel and Steven Klein for Vogue Italia, Mario Sorrenti for W magazine, Mert & Marcus for Interview, Miguel Reveriego and Greg Kadel for Numéro France, Terry Richardson for Purple, and Tom Munro for Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue Italia. Besides her couture projects, Huey creates a popular line of blocked felt and straw hats for men and women available in select boutiques throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Urban A&O was founded by Joe MacDonald as a multidisciplinary urban design practice in 2002. Based in New York City this firm combines cutting edge technology and practices along with a diverse group of designers, artists, urban planners and technologists to profoundly alter the way we measure, create, and ultimately inhabit space. Their body of work has been recognized internationally, accolades include: the International Design Excellence Silver Award for the Water Planet, at the California Academy of Sciences Aquarium in 2009, China’s Most Successful Design Award for the Johnson & Johnson Olympic Pavilion in Beijing in 2009. www.urbanao.com