[January 21 2011]
I’d always wanted to do a Pacific North West collection. I grew up watching Twin Peaks and River’s Edge and then a few years ago I came across an artist by the name of Dan Attoe. Dan was then known for his neon bar-sign sculptures but it was his paintings that captured my imagination. I was instantly drawn to his images of the
rugged sublime that is the Pacific Northwest – where snow covered volcanoes and primeval redwood forests are the backdrop for the shit-kicking, off-roading antics of his strange biker dudes and Paintallica philosophers. I went to Portland to research the collection. When I visited Dan Attoe I fell in love with his world. It was an
America that was more motorcycle punk than granola backpacker – exactly the Twin Peaks vibe I was looking for. I based the collection on the look and sensibility I discovered there. Translated, it became a hip-length hunting jacket that unsnaps and zips to become a long trench. The t-shirts and scarves come with custom Dan Attoe painted motifs. Wearing the signature canvas biker jacket from the collection is a road-trip into the back woods of the artist’s psyche.
Text Adam Kimmel and Photo Charles Duprat
© Purple Institute