For those who’re accustomed to the much-loved, much-lauded boutique empire Chook in Brooklyn, you recognize that the retailers outlined indie fashion within the borough for greater than a decade (see the The Instances piece Saying Goodbye to Chook, “the store that created the ‘Brooklyn Look’ of the aughts).
Plot twist: In 2022, proprietor Jen Mankins closed her shops, moved to Sweden, and shifted her focus to inside design.
Right here’s the backstory:
“I lived and labored in Brooklyn for greater than twenty years earlier than my faculty boyfriend-turned-husband and I made a decision to maneuver to Sweden with our twin toddler sons in 2022,” Jen says. “Our timing coincided with me touchdown my first skilled inside design with Brooklyn-based shoppers I knew via Chook. Fortunately, regardless that I used to be shifting 4,000 miles away and embarking on a brand new career, they didn’t blink a watch.”
In live performance with Ingui Structure, a NY agency identified for its method to sustainable residing, Jen designed the interiors of a six-story landmarked brownstone from 1895. Her inspiration? “Sweden has been vastly influential for me personally and continues to be a unending supply of design inspiration. On my earliest visits to Stockholm with my husband, I used to be instantly drawn to the colours and patterns of Josef Frank designs championed by visionary retailer Estrid Erickson at Svenskt Tenn. I used to be charmed by the whimsical ceramics of Stig Lindberg and Lisa Larson. (Though I can’t deny that my first expertise with Swedish design was by way of Ikea, the design emporium that has for over 80 years introduced Swedish fashion to the plenty.)”
Be a part of us for a tour of Jen’s not too long ago accomplished undertaking:
Pictures by Jessica Antola.
