Fashion at the Intersection of Arts and Industry
By Stuart White
Arts and industry are colliding in Sunset Park, and for people like fashion designer Baruch Chertok, that’s a good thing.
Chertok held a show last week for his new line of accessories in Sunset Park’s Industry City—an industrial complex that recently began renting affordable studio space to artists.
Last week’s show featured pieces that Chertok—a Jewish designer—says were inspired by the keffiyah, the patterned scarf often associated with Palestinian solidarity. As Chertok put it, “Jews and Arabs are cousins,” and his pieces—some embroidered with Stars of David—are a nod to that.
In addition to holding his show there, Chertok says that he hopes to move into a studio in Industry City in the near future. According to him, it’s no longer enough to just be creative—integrating production into the process is key.
“You can have a terrific line, and it can be beautiful and fantastic, but if you can’t produce it, or you can’t produce it on time, or the fitting is not there, or certain manufacturing things are not there, then it affects the business,” said Chertok. “And if it affects the business, there goes the design.”
“You have to wear a creative hat and a business hat as well,” he added.
To see some of Chertok’s pieces, go behind the scenes of his show, and listen to the man himself talk about Industry City’s “arts incubator” and the future of Sunset Park, check out the slideshow below.