Client: Canada Goose, Berlin

Overview

On behalf of their client, NAMARA commissioned Berlin-based, Canadian artist Shannon Bool to reconsider Canada Goose’s iconic Snow Mantra. Bool’s starting point was the Vienna Secession, an avant-garde artistic movement from late 19th century Germany that countered the academic standards of art-making of the time. Funktionsumhang (Function Cape) makes use of Mathilde Flögel’s graphic embroidery pattern, complementing and challenging the technological aspects of the Parka resulting in a sculptural garment.

Goals

The Snow Mantra is the brand's oldest and most important parka. It is the core of their function-forward design. For this commission, it was the source material and inspiration for the artwork.
The curatorial theme for the Berlin location is Arctic and German textile, and we wanted to add a central commissioned piece that would conceptually bring together accompanying works in the space.
As a Canadian, based in Berlin Shannon Bool was the ideal artist to work with. Quoting from the artist's bio, "The exploration of the ornamental plays an important and reoccurring role in the work of the artist. Shannon does not see ornamental elements as decoration or embellishment but rather as signifying a further level of understanding and perception. For her, they are transparent visual systems that mark the processes of perception and work."
Bool's design sensibility, along with her conceptual understanding of German textile art history supported the successful execution of the project.