MOVED: How many cows are there in NYC?

15 Feb 2011, Posted by Kylie in awareness,do not use this category, 0 Comments

Hi,

My name is Thu and I’m the newest member of the design team at Co-op. So very nice to meet you. (handshakes)

Recently I’ve left my tranquil hut in Savannah, Georgia to move to a 3-roomies apartment in Brooklyn, New York. Needless to say, the change can be quite overwhelming. Moving from Georgia to New York is like changing from phonebooth to touchphone, from country music to rap, and from butter-hearty Southern foods to organic crunchy snacks (mainly because I barely have time to sit down and eat).  This series is a collection of things which question and inspire me on the street of New York. My hope is that they will give you a breath of fresh air and a new perspective on scences you see everyday.

MOVED: How many cows are there in NYC?

I spent about 40 mins everyday riding the subway to the city. One thing I recognize in NY is that people tend to live in their own bubbles, with the earplugs on and their eyes fixed on the screens. Perfect opportunity for observation. People are less likely to notice an asian girl staring at them for 15 mins straight. It was in one of these ventures that I realized how many animal products New Yorkers carry with them everyday to work.

Img: Kate Moss in a Maison Martin Margiela hair jacket in the shoot for V magazine by Mario Testino. Source by http://www.dailymail.co.uk.

Journal entry / Feb 8th: “Saw a girl wearing a goat-hair coat today. Thought it was real hair from someone’s head at first. She was very tall.”

I had to admit when I first realized what it was that I was looking at, it made me startled. People always want what they do not have: straight hair/curly hair; long hair/short hair; natural color hair / dyed hair; no hair / a lot of hair.

Leather jackets revive. They must have carried them from France to New York. Wonder if you can tell a French cow from a US cow just by looking at the texture? Img: French boys on NYC subway by djmalone2003 on Flickr.

Leather bags by Erin Templeton. Aside from the reasons fashion industry gives to explain why a tail of an animal hanging might be aesthetically pleasing, may I ask what is the practical function?

Leather shoes are here to stay. Even longer than their owners. Img: http://littlebrownpen.blogspot.com/2010_02_01_archive.html

These are just a few examples of wearable objects which come from animals. My question is are we so uncomfortable being human that we have to obsessively cover ourself with other animals? How many cows do you think must take to keep NY going? What is the line between making uses of the material versus becoming materialistic? And for us designers, what is the line between enough and too much?

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Cover Img Brown Leather Bag Source by http://www.photos8.com