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Later, 2018.
Here we are at the end of 2018. It was a fast-forward kind of year here in DK-land. So much happening in the world and so many moments of feeling both powerless and powerful. There is pleasure and purpose in realizing that although things are broken, we each individually can make them better.. and when there is SO MUCH room for improvement, you can dig in wherever you want, it ALL helps.
To wit: we expanded our collaboration with artist Jenny Belin, showcasing more of her portraits of feminists, including more contemporary women: gun-control activist Emma Gonzalez, writer Rebecca Solnit, artist Amy Sherald, professor Anita Hill, and more. We created buttons of many of them, so you can carry their images out into the world, because REPRESENTATION MATTERS.
In October we hosted the glorious Turning The Tide: Blue Wave Project from the Pen and Ink Brigade, a collective of women artists and illustrators. We raised over $8000 for voteriders.org, ensuring that people who needed assistance getting to the polls would have it. The artworks were spectacular, as was the opening party :)
This year I dug into it all by co-creating Persisticon. If you haven't checked it out yet, please do. It's a passion project: a social enterprise full of art, laughs, love, and making a difference in the world. Our ultimate goal is the election of pro-choice progressive women, but along the way we seek to foster community, provide platforms for funny women, support our local small businesses, make some art, and have fun. Here's the award winning poster Johanna Goodman did for the first Persisticon event, held in late March at the Bell House in Brooklyn:
When I started this post I planned to include a bunch of pretty new things from the resort collections pooling on the racks in the store.. but it's gotten so long I'm just gonna make another one...
Wishing you and yours all the blessings this world has to offer, and looking forward to seeing you in 2019.
xDiana
Too soon?
The weather broke yesterday. Or at least the humidity did, and it's a pleasant 75 degrees, with a calm, overcast grey sky. It's delightful. So I pulled out a few sweaters. They've been squatting in the back room waiting patiently for a moment when their mere existence won't be offensive to summer-lovers, bent on guzzling up the rays.
I love summer for sure, but man am I happy to feel a gentle, slightly cool breeze skimming my skin after a few weeks of oppressive heat. And so. I'm celebrating by pulling out a few of our sweaters. There are more to come, but in the meantime here's a little cashmere tease from Velvet. Available in a rich brick orange-red, and deep cobalt blue.
If you're traveling somewhere cold, you're welcome to ask.. the back room has more cozy goodness from Xirena, Velvet, and Hartford holding out for appropriate weather, and we're happy to give you a sneak peek.
In other news:
The sale baskets are overflowing, and we've initiated a new system: everything in there is marked with a dot: blue, green, red, $25, $50, and $75. Lucky finds abound.
Magic Hats
Cotton canvas, sized small, medium, and large, and available in both natural and black, Magic Hats are my new fave. Packable, crushable, with a perfect brim and easy cool, they provide relief from summer's unrelenting rays, and successfully top any outfit.
CHERYL STRAYED!
Maybe my favoritest bestest thing ever? On Wednesday, New York Magazine posted author Cheryl Strayed's favorite things. She's one of my favorite people. Serious shout out to Jennifer Moeller, the costume designer for the Public theater's Tiny Beautiful Things who gave Cheryl the shirt. Besos!!
Here is what Cheryl wrote..
"Diana Kane Feminist T-shirt
The costume designer for the play version of Tiny Beautiful Thingsgave this T-shirt to me as a gift, and I fell in love with it because it’s really comfortable, but it’s cool. Every time I wear it, I get a response. Once, I was in the company of several elderly men who were so taken aback, and to have to actually explain the shirt to them was funny. I was out in the woods in New Zealand, and this young kid working in one of the lodges pretty much glommed on to me because you could tell none of the other tourists he encountered really shared his values. We went on safari in Kenya and Tanzania, and some men who were part of older couples in the group felt threatened in this old-fashioned, outdated, always-incorrect assumption that feminists hate men or think they’re all bad. It allowed me the opportunity to gently educate them, and whether they received that lesson, I don’t know, but at least I got to deliver it. It’s always a conversation piece when you wear something that announces your identity. It communicates to some people that you’re safe with me, and to others that they should watch out."
January arrives
January has officially arrived, and on the east coast this week includes bitter cold (snow day even!), and the opportunity to hone in on the things that give us pleasure when the festivities have passed.
Mine include finding the space to pursue a few projects that have been waiting for the frenzy to pass: One re-boots my dedication to activism, particularly around encouraging more equality in the representation in our elected offices. One reboots my dedication to finding ways to connect with friends (IRL, imagine that!) around art and literature, an activity that consistently makes me feel hopeful, and one has been a steadfast pleasure for the last fifteen years: shopping for beautiful new items for the store and website to delight us all.
Happy New Year, folks. Come shop our sale, come say hi, Come see the new pieces from Matta, and Xirena, patiently awaiting a sunshiny future.
xDiana
This Weekend
December shows- find us in these two amazing places:
PS 321's famed Stuff You Should Buy on December 9th, at 180 Seventh Avenue in Park Slope Brooklyn.
And, in San Francisco, (YAY!) at the VAS+Susan+Friends show at Zinc Details, 1633 Fillmore Street, Saturday and Sunday 11am-6pm
And then, because OMG, goddess alert: The exceptional Lindy West in a DK Feminist Gold T, rocking my world.
BeautyCounter coming Sunday 11/19
Have you heard about BeautyCounter? Founded by a woman concerned with the lack of regulation in beauty products and committed to both changing that and delivering a fully vetted, effective, quality line of skin care and cosmetics, BeautyCounter has been growing exponentially. We'll have one of their freshly minted distributors- the ever brilliant make-up artist, model/actress/musician Theo Kogan- with us to help you find exactly the right combination of goodies for your needs. Stop by! 2-5pm, with hot cider, some special shopping discounts, and our ever present good-cheer ;)
Sweet Fall
Here we are in this crazy year unlike any I've yet experienced. And yet, we here at the store in Brooklyn are continuing to do what we do: bring you beautiful, well made items, fight for the things we believe in, and offer a haven of warmth, beauty, and commitment to kindness. Come see us anytime.
Some notes on what's new:
A deepening collection of buttons and cards featuring rad women we admire and appreciate from Brooklyn artist Jenny Belin, whose paintings are up in the store now.
Fresh fall loveliness from favorite designers new and old, especially pieces from Xirena, Velvet, Hartford Baggu, Prairie Underground, and Modaspia, are populating our shelves.
Along with new jewelry from Verre, and me, too!
xDiana
Spring Update
Hey loves,
Mother's Day and May and the end of the school year and so many things are suddenly right around the corner.
The store is stocked with all sorts of warm weather goodness, including cork heeled wedge sandals handmade in Spain; plentiful stripes and fresh t shirts from Velvet; Prairie's constant sustainable made-in-Seattle super flattering pieces; fresh dresses and tops and sarongs and scarves from Matta; NEW buttons from Jenny Belin (Michelle!!!), and a host of other things.
Black tanks back in stock just in time for the sunshine
Torz's show of photographs from the January Women's March on Washington (feels like a lifetime ago, right?!) are up and giving me hope every day. If you haven't stopped by yet- do come check it out- it'll make your heart feel good, and who doesn't need that?
My door's open!
xDiana
PS- Martha Plimpton wore #FeministGold to the opening of The Handmaid's Tale!!!
Martha Plimpton has been rocking my world since the 80s (yes, I'm that old).
Nope: The Women's March on Washington, photography by Torz Dallison
“For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”
—Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
Feminism and resistance take center stage in the exhibition Nope: The Women’s March on Washington, Photography by Torz Dallison, currently on view at Diana Kane’s project space in Brooklyn. Dallison’s photographs capture the vitality, human compassion, and strength of the millions of protestors who participated in the Women’s March on January 21, 2017. On this historic day, an overwhelming sense of synchronicity and collective unrest unified the nation and the globe in the pursuit of a commitment to human rights and equality. Dallison’s singular portraits and large-scale panoramas respond to a universal and incisive question: Why do we march? Embodied among the strident interlocked figures, and the solitary heroines, we find a reservoir of tenacity, urgency, and activism. Above all else, Dallison’s photographs seize the subtle yet critical directive of the Women’s March to assemble and resist with civility.
Accompanying the installation is a beautiful catalogue for purchase, with an introduction by art historian Aliza Edelman, featuring over fifty images by Dallison. Nope is Diana Kane’s second feminist project following the presentation of Portraits of Women: Icons and Feminists, and will be on view through May 17. A closing party will be held at Diana Kane on Saturday, May 13, 5-8PM.