Parsons graduate Katherine Tsina Bird has dabbled in a host of creative genres from literature to fashion, so its not surprising that she created a book, Artists at Work and at Home, to launch her new line of shirts designed under the Avion Clothier label. The fall collection is comprised of limited-run oxford-style shirts for men and women. Rather than simply compiling a lookbook, Bird tapped photographers Addie Juell and Eric Kjensrud to shoot such friends as Devendra Banhart and India Salvor Menuez as well as Bird’s husband, musician Andrew Bird, wearing the designs. Then the designer published the project in the newly-launched paperback volume. The result is a sociology project of sorts with artists perched in their own environments at work on projects of their own in their studios and at home. The images capture the choreography of the creative life, something Bird, who trained at the Merce Cunningham Dance School, knows quite intimately. Here, the Los Feliz resident discusses the book and her new collection.

What inspired you to create a book of images depicting artists both at work and also at home?
I found myself thinking about people who I had met at different points with a personal style I admired when I was planning to shoot the collection. Shirts are a classic and personal element of any wardrobe, so I wanted to present them in a real and frank way. I contacted some friends, including Devendra Banhart and Simone White, most of whom already had some shirts, and we just went and shot them in their workspaces or homes. It was very natural and casual, and we had so much fun with it that I hope to continue doing it in the future.

How did you decide to include India Salvor Menuez and where was she shot?
We shot India in New York at her studio. We met many years ago when I was working on a collaboration with her dad, Ross Menuez, who is also a great artist. I have always thought India was so intelligent, lovely, and talented in her work, so she was an obvious choice.

Tell us about the shirts Menuez is wearing from the fall collection.
India is wearing the boyfriend style in striped linen, a great oversize men’s long oxford. She is also wearing  the classic oxford in white piqué, our most basic white shirt in a beautiful crisp fabrication.

By Elizabeth Varnell

Pictured: An image of India Salvor Menuez from Artists at Work and at Home published by Avion Clothier.
Photo by Addie Juell and Eric Kjensrud

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