K.Z.O., Gen Art and the Recycled Dead
Deer legs, chicken feet and porcupine skulls? In case you’re wondering where those shocking accessories featured in K.Z.O.’s runway show at Gen Art came from, here is the answer.
The line, called “Road Kill,” is created by designers Christopher Brunner and Whitney Pierce for their company The Reycled Dead. The pair created the collection of accessories, made from dead animals, out of their love for taxidermy, nature, fine art and road trips.
The collection has an almost Native American feeling in the way that they use every piece of the animal. Items used—such as bones, teeth, feathers and claws—came from creatures that either died from natural causes or less-natural causes such as cars—hence the name Road Kill. “It’s sick, but it’s true,” Pierce said. “There’s a lot of borax involved.”
The pair create the collection from animals they find themselves or from those found on Native American Reservations. “We keep in close contact with them and try to get as much from them as possible,” Brunner said. “They’re doing the same things that we’re trying to do, which is preserving life and nature.”
Pieces in the K.Z.O. runway show included a chicken leg paired with a mackaw feather, a rattlesnake rattle and turkey feather and a porcupine skull decorated with quills, and an antler button.
I helped style the show for K.Z.O. designer Joel K. and loved the effect. The accessories added to the raw-outdoors-meets-multicultural look of the collection, which was inspired by Manzanar, the WWII Japanese internment camp in the California desert. But I have to say, I would be bummed if my date showed up for dinner wearing a deer leg.
Next up for the design duo? Whitney and Chris are planning to expand into a lifestyle company. They are experimenting with a small line of clothes that will continue the recycled theme including recycled patterns and dead stock clothing.
For more information, go to www.therecycleddead.com.
Model wearing a slightly tamer version of the collection
K.Z.O. designer Joel K. (right) and model wearing a deer-leg necklace
Whitney Pierce and Christopher Brunner of The Recycled Dead
