29Rooms by Refinery29 brought an array of collaborators, partners and performances to Williamsburg. Anyone could attend and create, breaking the exclusive and elitist barriers that tend to surround most fashion events.
From celebrities to local artists, anyone exiting the L train station at Bedford Avenue to world renown companies were present at 29Rooms. From Wednesday September 8th to Monday September 11, 106 Wythe Avenue was filled with orbs and neon lights, paper and splattered paint, imagination and hope. 29Rooms celebrated its third edition this year, presenting 29 creative spaces with the objective for audiences “to come through to connect with the pieces and to leave with a sense of possibility, feeling like they want to create something in their own lives,” as Piera Gelardi, Executive Creative Director and Co-Founder of Refinery29 told Her Campus NYU.
Because of the success of the two previous editions as the event for anyone off-Fashion Week, masses of people were attracted to the event. This year Gelardi and her team sold tickets to see the installation at $19. The event sold out in less than a month. Proceeds were donated to Planned Parenthood, The Art of Elysium, amongst other organizations.
The colors, inclusivity and imagination that brought in about 20,000 visitors, drew in a variety of collaborators and partners as well. There was even an opportunity to engage in social activism in the Women’s March by writing postcards to local and state representatives in a room titled “Hear Our Voice.”
Madame Gandhi and Jen Mussari collaborated to create a boxing room, “The Future Is Female” where visitors could punch away their frustrations on hand-painted punching bags with motivational and inspiring quotes.
Known for creating two-dimensional portraits by painting three dimensional bodies, Alexa Meade told Her Campus NYU that she decided to participate in 29Rooms because the event “is so much about creativity and expression and my work really comes to life when there is that element of interactivity.” While in most exhibits visitors cannot touch the art presented, at 29Rooms Meade’s work could be worn, touched, and played with.
Jason Wu and Cadillac installed a piece, “The Art of Innovation,” presenting visitors with the opportunity to step in and admire the merge of the fashion world and the automobile industry. In three words, Wu described 29Rooms as “instagramable, colorful and fun.”
Katie Kim, manager of Cadillac’s Brand Partnerships and Experiences told Her Campus NYU that the company is “trying to make some sort of positive, tangible impact in the world.” The arts, Kim said, “are a great way to do that, especially in this time… that’s something we are really committed to.”
With it’s affordable price, the “creative playhouse for the Instagramset,” as the New York Times called it, broke the barriers between design and exclusivity. The event welcomed attendees to step into the installation, interact with the art pieces and take pictures freely throughout the artsy warehouse.
ALL PHOTOS: BY LAURA S. DIAZ