With the passing of Labor Day comes a change in seasons—and with it, a subtle shift in our mood and mindset. Summer is behind us. The rhythm of our days is changing, becoming more structured and contingent on school-day rules.
So we’re fighting back.
How? By throwing one tried-and-untrue rule out the window: instead of boxing up our whitest whites in these post Labor Day days, we’re shining a spotlight on the great white world.
Why We Love White
As much as we at Unison are known for color and pattern, we’re also obsessed with white. Why? It’s a clean palette. A classic backdrop. An inviting canvas on which to display your creativity. An enduring staple of good design.
The clean minimalism of white allows your own unique style to capture attention through the color and texture you layer atop it.
In short, it’s one of my favorite “colors.” And it’s perennially in style.
The Wide World of White
Many of today’s foremost designers have a passion for white:
Commes des Garçons often shows white on the runway.
Layering white upon beautiful white, Comme des Garçons proves time and again that great style transcends the seasonal—and transcends that old no-white-after-Labor-Day rule.
One great adopter of such fashion is Karim Rashid, a perennially hip style icon who has made all-white ensembles one of his personal signatures. He proves that white is a class act, as does another favorite style icon, Martin Margiela. This Belgian designer has cultivated a white aesthetic from the start of his career.
As much as I love white, I couldn’t live in an all-white world. After all, one of the things I most appreciate about white is its gracious ability to let other colors and textures take center stage.
This is why we at Unison do what we do: we design and curate layers of modern beauty, and we let white (or sometimes black or gray) pose as a backdrop for that depth of thoughtful design.
Take white shelving. Dieter Rams‘s Vistoe shelving, for example, creates the perfect first building block in your tower of great design.
And what about white floors?
Sure to feel crisp and clean: Scandinavian-style white floors
This is a classic interior element in many Scandinavian homes. What better place to begin building your look than from the ground up?
This year’s summer catalog was a blast, for many reasons, and one of them is because we got to work with an amazing Chicago-based photographer, Katrina Wittkamp. Katrina is an excellent example of organic connections that is fueling our company. When we opened our store “experiment”, the Studio+Store at our warehouse location, she noticed the sign on the sidewalk featuring Modern Bedding. She stopped in and promptly fell in love with all we had, bought our Larch bedding and a collection of throw pillows. At checkout she could not contain the fact that she lives nearby, is a pro photographer working often with CS Interiors and adores our brand. The day arrived months later that we needed another photographer and we knew Katrina was the perfect fit. Not only was she a Unison fan already and is super talented – she has the most adorable kids who could also be our models – perfecto! All we can say is the shoot went great, the results were beyond our expectations and we too fell in love!
We asked Katrina to share a bit about her (amazing story!) and how we found each other (also pretty fascinating!):
You have such an inspiring, modern home. Have you always lived in such cool digs?
I am originally from North Carolina….I grew up outside of Asheville, North Carolina in the Smoky Mountains. Last summer, I took my kids to visit my childhood home, which is on top of a mountain in Sylva, North Carolina and it looked so small I was almost embarrassed. The kids said, “is this it???” I have such fond memories of that house, which we heated with wood stoves and we grew all our own food in a huge garden next to the house. We even had an orchard, and when we needed a snack we would often climb down the mountain in search of wild blackberry bushes. My mom lived an “organic” and “sustainable” lifestyle before people even used these terms. This upbringing has influenced my choices as an adult, and my husband and I chose stay in the city even after having kids because we like being about to bike or walk anywhere. We also decided to buy a solar-powered “green” home in the city. Since we have moved in six months ago our largest electric bill has been $13.
Katrina’s childhood homeKatrina’s family home today
What drew you to photography?
I started taking pictures in college after taking a photojournalism course at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. I quickly realized I would be taking pictures the rest of my life. I obsessed over, dreamed about and absolutely fell in love with photography. After graduating from UNC, I started an internship at the Chicago Tribune and my second love to photography became the city of Chicago. I will never forget my first drive up Lake Shore Drive and the city unfolded in front of me. I had never seen anything so beautiful.
You’ve shot product for Unison and it’s been a match made in heaven. Want to share the story?
When we were building our Chicago home a year ago, I happened upon the Unison warehouse store which is a few blocks from our house. I couldn’t believe my good luck when I walked in the store and saw all the beautiful linens and pillows. I almost blurted out “where have you been all my life.” I bought the Larch Ash duvet cover for our master bedroom and paired it with Dover Ocean sheets….it looks exquisite. I mentioned to the woman who was helped me at Unison that we were building a new home down the street from Unison if they ever needed a location for shooting some of their products. This is how I became fortunate enough to shoot some of the photos for the new Unison catalog.
Family time is important to you, too. What do you like to do with your kids?
I have two kids, August who is 6 and Ella who is 9. They are city kids through and through. They always ask “is there valet?” when we drive to a restaurant, and they do a happy dance when I find free parking. We love going for bike rides around the city on the weekends, and lately we’ve been having “epic” Uno card games in the evening after dinner. And every Wednesday we all snuggle up on the couch and watch Modern Family which is our hands-down favorite show.
What room in your home is your family naturally drawn to?
My favorite place in my house is my bed. I love my dark grey walls of my bedroom, and my beautiful Unison linens of course. My daughter and I go upstairs every evening around 8pm and snuggle in my bed and read our books for an hour or so. Ella is a voracious reader and I love to read as well, so this is my favorite time of day. I tell my daughter this on a nightly basis and she rolls her eyes and says, “I KNOW mom, you say that every night.”
Here are more shots by Katrina from our summer catalog!
We sure loved having Jonathan Lo around, founder and editor of Happy Mundane (aka J.Lo in our office). What an inspiring person, full of talent but also full of humility. Surrounded by lovely ladies and a few dudes, Jonathan gave us the low-down on what it takes to run a creative production company, manage an insanely followed blog and Instagram account, and how to follow your design dreams without getting discouraged. After a few spiked lemonades, some friendly laughs, and Jonathan’s talk, we got stuck in a torrential downpour. Good thing Jonathan was totally into it. I guess he doesn’t see much rain in the desert of Southern California.
Get stoked for our upcoming summer event with the coolest blogger around, Jonathan Lo of Happy Mundane! Come to the store at 1911 W Division this Saturday from 3:00-6:00pm to chat and learn about his current mundane musings. Hear his take on his top three picks from our summer collection – which will be on sale during the event at 20% off. Plus we’ll be raffling off an Aerial lime pillow to one lucky fan.
Happy Mundane is a blog that “celebrates the ordinary and the extraordinary, good design of any kind, and takes a moment to appreciate some things that get overlooked in the everyday”…with over one million followers and is listed as one of the Top 10 Most Followed Men on Pinterest. We can’t wait to meet you Jonathan!
It’s a letter! It’s a shape! It’s COOL. Come get your dose of geometric pow this Saturday from 3-6pm at our store at 1911 W Division. Alex Fuller, graphics extraordinaire, creative director, publisher and man about town will be there with words of wisdom to share. Plus all kids and baby bedding, pillows and artwork will be 20% off until June 22nd. Yes, Alphablocks bedding, pillows and art included. Now that spells NICE.
Jane and Francois Robert (pronounced Row-bare) are a husband and wife team (like us, but much cooler) who have been the team behind photographing Unison products since 2006. We have become good friends and over time have found them both to be great inspirations. They are super talented in the world of commercial and fine-art photography and graphic design to boot. Doesn’t hurt that they are also super happy, funny, healthy, good-looking, cat-loving, modernists too.
Jane and Francois love to travel the globe and always take the viewer by surprise with their imagery. We are so happy they share their visual passion with us. Below is a series of images they took while on trips to Paris (the source of the Koi photograph) and Coyote Buttes, a protected area in Utah. We are so excited to offer their work at Unison. Each photograph is professionally framed in from sustainable woods sourced in Italy, then cut and joined right here in Chicago.
We are thrilled! We are honored! We are overjoyed to celebrate the launch of our new Float collection, designed by one of our favorite local (an internationally renowned) artists, Cody Hudson! Bring the whole family, pets as well! This event takes place at our store on Division during Do Division Street Fest, the official kick-off to all Chicago summer events. Here comes the fun!
My incredibly brave mother-in-law speaks out against deportation. The numbers are astonishing! We honor her and her incredible efforts to help others this Mother’s Day.
“As we celebrate Mother’s Day, we do not want to hear that another parent has been taken away. We are a moral and just society in America; it is an issue of high urgency to keep families together. Are we not a nation of immigrants? Can we not join together and change this terrible dynamic to one of liberty and justice and mercy for all?” – Carole Segal
Every photo shoot is always a blast (how can it not be when you do what you love?) but this summer one was a really fun. We really pushed the collection into colorful territory (with new collaborations!) and brought in a whole slew of new housewares that we think everyone will love for summer entertaining, both indoor and outdoor. We also got really lucky and shot in two homes (both insanely modern) within blocks of our offices so running back to the warehouse for last minute samples was super easy.
The first shoot took place at the home of Teresa Surratt, creator of modern day Camp Wandawega, and David Hernandez, both advertising executives at Ogilvy & Mather (the birthplace of big ideas). Their home, a renovation of old horse stables, was done by Studio Gang Architects and is known as the Brick Weave House. Check out the behind the scenes taken by Francois Robert, the photographer for this set, and stay tuned for more, ie. Part II.
We are going gang busters getting ready for the 9th annual multi-boutique and designer warehouse sale, CHEAP THRILLS! For one weekend only, you can shop local designer goods for deep discounts. Vendors include Penelopes, Eskell, Cities in Dust, Una Mae’s, Kokorokoko, Asrai Garden, and Unison.
Find us in the heart of Wicker Park at 1564 N Damen, 3rd Floor above City Soles.
This Weekend! April 12+13, Saturday 11-6 / Sunday 12-5
Here are a few behind-the-scenes at our warehouse.
The clean minimalism of white allows your own unique style to capture attention through the color and texture you layer atop it.
