This year, Daniel Arsham A'03, one of the principals of the design firm Snarkitecture, is launching his own clothing line, Objects IV Life. Arsham, a renowned artist who has been a generous donor to The Cooper Union, has brought his smart, cheeky investigations of ordinary objects to many venues beyond galleries, including designing sets for Merce Cunningham and dancer and performance artist Jonah Bokaer. Perhaps his best known works have been part of his series, Future Relics, consisting of casts of defunct technology—land line phones, Polaroid cameras, analog alarm clocks. Arsham has already had much success in the fashion world. He’s collaborated with Adidas, Uniqlo, Dior, Rimowa, and Tiffany (for this last, he merged symbols of street style and luxury by creating a basketball in the storied Tiffany blue). In 2020, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Arsham’s hometown team, hired him as their first creative director. 

The inaugural collection of Objects IV Life, called Chapter 001, features oversized denim work jackets loaded with pockets, steel-toed boots, jeans, hoodies, caps, and tote bags. Arsham, who regularly sports a lab coat made of denim, sees the line as one designed to last both in terms of timeless fashion and durable materials. In a press release, the artist has described this latest venture as “an evolving proof of concept, an endless work in progress, a tangible manifesto for change: you are the vehicle.”