Andrea Zittel

A seated figure wears a simple outfit described by the word smock, written vertically at left. This drawing was made for Smock Shop, a clothing enterprise that sold a wraparound garment intended to be worn every day for a season.

Andrea Zittel started Smock Shop in 2006 in response to her work at a New York gallery. Unable to afford designer clothing, she developed a smock as a uniform. For the shop, she hired a crew of artists, who could make their own choices about fabric and ornamentation, to produce the garments. Lasting until 2010, Smock Shop provided a creative livelihood for artists and inspired sustainable design. The RISD Museum collection also includes one of the smocks.

–Jan Howard, Houghton P. Metcalf Jr. Curator of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs

Zittel formed A-Z Smockshop in the summer of 2006 as part of her ongoing Concepts for Living project. Smockshop was and is an effort inclusive of multiple makers, devised to investigate the relationships between function, fashion, design, life, commerce, and art. Using a basic pattern that Zittel provides, men and women sew smocks that they personalize with any materials they find suitable. In addition to the conceptual weight of the project, it is also intended to be a source of income for struggling artists in the Los Angeles area. Each smock is sold with the suggestion that the buyer wear the smock every day for the entire season. Smockshop becomes a performance perpetuatedby each participating smocker.

The smock itself holds special significance as a work garment. It was adopted by followers of William Morris as the uniform of social protest and a symbol of the simple life.