Fashion designers, Dao-Yi Chow and Maxwell Osborne, the masterminds behind Public School, recently celebrated their new collaboration with New Era by hosting a pizza party. However, instead of displaying their new line of sports hats in a store or gallery space, the duo set up a two-day, pop-up pizza shop, right next door to the New Museum.
The makeshift store was installed over the course of several days. Linoleum, aged walls, furniture, pizza equipment and the signage were all brought in for its set up. There was even a faux “wall of fame” with photographs of celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Jackson and Woody Allen.
Modeled after Joe’s Pizza, the store evoked the very essence of New York City. Outside, a yellow sign claimed to sell “Pizza by the slice.” Yet, the display cases, which would have normally presented the slices, were filled with Yankees’ and Mets’ snap back hats ($75) and dad caps ($65). The letters WHL (Where NY Lives) were also embroidered into the design. This is the first time the Major League Baseball (MLB) association has permitted designers to tweak its trademarked logos.
Although it was raining on Thursday, there was a huge line to get into the shop. Inside, guests, including New York Giants’ Victor Cruz, artist Daniel Arsham and model Martha Hunt, were treated to free slices of pizza and specialty cocktails. A DJ also played New York City 90’s hip-hop and R&B tracks, which was later followed by surprise performance from Cam’ron and Juelz Santana of Dipset.
Staying true to the theme of their pop-up, Chow and Osborne dressed up as employees, donning aprons and pizza themed t-shirts. Those wanting to purchase a hat also had to do so over the counter.
Next, check out The New York Pizza Project: Documenting the City’s Last Authentic Pizza Shops and 10 NYC Pizza Joints with a Big Slice of Personality.
