Now On Display — Desperately Seeking Serpentines
Step into our Tribeca boutique and experience Stephan Schneider’s newest showcase, Desperately Seeking Serpentines, a curling and swirling streamer display that falls freely from the store’s ceiling to the floor. “Serpentines symbolize freedom and breaking away from daily routines,” explains the German-born, Belgium-based designer Schneider. Rather than traditional serpentines, which are printed in bright blue, green, yellow colors, Schneider felt it imperative to print his in “Schneider colors,” which he found to be no easy feat. Thanks to a happenstance meeting with Veit, a storied serpentine manufacturer, Schneider was able to customize his streamers to mirror the colors and prints of his spring 2017 collection.
From a distance the surreal and serene banderole strips could just as easily evoke imagery of sea grass and schools of dancing sea life, however, upon closer inspection, each ribbon is poetically inscribed with what feels like a secret message. “I’m not the kind of designer that’s much for logos,” explains Schneider. “Then I thought, celebrations always revolve around dancing, and slow dancing, and more dancing, so why not print love songs.” Should you step inside Schneider’s serpentines you’ll find angsty ballads by the likes of The Smiths and Adele neatly scribbled along each and every ingot.
“For me, it’s not about catwalks or lookbooks that excite me, but rather, fashion starts the moment that the clothes enter the store and have to speak for themselves. That’s when it gets exciting.”