The New York Public Library is getting a bit more fashionable, thanks to MZ Wallace. The design company, founded by Monica Zwirner and Lucy Wallace Eustice in 2000, has partnered with artist Raymond Pettibon on a limited-edition tote bag, with all proceeds going to the Library’s special collections. “As a born-and-bred New Yorker, the New York Public Library was a part of my life from the beginning,” said Eustice. “When I was a kid you didn’t have school ID cards, so getting your first library card was a big deal. You could go by yourself and take out a book and that freedom was intoxicating…this collaboration with Raymond for The Library was a perfect fit, it gives us the ability to support the city that we grew up in and the city where MZ Wallace was started.”
Related Articles
Added Zwirner of the collaboration with Pettibon: “I have known Raymond for over 20 years; he is arguably one of his generation’s most influential artists…He is also probably the most literate person I know; he often uses text in his work so having the opportunity to collaborate with him for The New York Public Library seems like a perfect partnership.”
You May Also Like
The bag takes on the classic tote shape with the phrase, “Good prose is of no harm,” emblazoned across the front, done in the brand’s signature water-and-stain-resistant Bedford nylon. “Lucy and I chose a tote/book bag shape for this collaboration as it was important to us that the bags could be used for books or catalogs,” said Eustice. “In fact we gathered together many of Raymond’s books and catalogs to make sure that they would fit in to this tote bag, which ended up being ever-so-slightly taller than a classic book bag shape. We also hope that this shape can be used by both men and women — Raymond’s fan base is definitely not gender specific, nor is the New York Public Library.”
The bag will be available beginning November 2nd to coincide with the Library’s annual Library Lions gala, and sold at mzwallace.com, the brand’s retail stores in SoHo and the Upper East Side, at the New York Public Library Shop and shop.nypl.org.