Hieronymus Mixes Underground Culture with Digital-Wave Inspirations

A sportswear brand that's inspired by the internet and German aesthetic theory.

September 28, 2015, 8:05pm

Photo Rodger Brown

Hieronymus is a young conceptual brand mixing the aesthetics of athleticism with technology ramblings. Centered on three pieces—the sonar sweatshirt, the magnetic fields hoodie, and the wifi-waves five-panel cap—designed by Anna Hieronymus, a motion graphics artist-turned-sportswear designer.

The small line is inspired by the nexus of art, music, philosophy, and science. Hieronymus the designer says, “I play with the idea of the balance between our physical experience and our digital existence, and the ways that they interact and form a singular idea of self. I also was inspired by the idea of all of the unseen digital waves (wifi, cellular, etc.) that surround us and the idea of those waves intersecting, surrounding and passing through us as they help to facilitate the world we live in.”

Photo by Rodger Brown

Conceived in Berlin, the Hieronymus line hopes to find an active global audience that travels and runs in urban environments. The look can be construed as part-Kant philosophy and part-Bauhaus craft. Hieronymus says she hopes the pieces “transcend any specific time, or physical location. The clothing is futuristic, but it’s also now.”

To launch the line at the tale end of New York Fashion Week, Hieronymus collaborated with a handful of friends to create a look book and a physical pop-up installation in Chinatown. Ariel Roman from Hella Crisis Studios helped Hieronymus brand and design the lookbook, referencing from the internet and original sources for 80’s manga, neon lights in Hong Kong, 90’s rave flyers, and old punk Japanese record releases. Rodger Brown, a visual artist, built out an interactive and reflective sports wear mobile for guests to experience.

Photo by Sara Kinney

Hieronymus says, “We wanted the vibe to be downtown and a little bit underground. We transformed the space into a club-like atmosphere. To highlight the concept of avatars we are presented the clothes with the garments hanging on suspended mannequins in an environment of mirrored plexiglass. We also projected a feedback loop of the installation and audience. By projecting the audience onto the installation we allow them to experience it while also actively creating through their movements.”

The end result is a fragmented reality of mirrored reflections paired with the continuous loop of yourself in the crowd projected onto the clothing, which you then want to record as a selfie. It’s a meta moment where you are the central figure within a composition, until you remember it’s actually about the clothing. The whole referential cycle blurs the lines of art and commerce.

Photo by Will Pierce

On the construction of the fashion launch art project, Rodger Brown says, “I view the installation as an expansion of my photography work. In my art I take visual cues from the self-generating nature of the internet and I try to bring [them] to the surface and possibly resolve unconscious memories. I was inspired by the MOMA and Guggenheim, and how the openness of those spaces helps to frame the people walking around the museum as art pieces themselves.”

By creating an art-centric installation, the Hieronymus brand positions itself away from the big athletic brands and into the realm of downtown art collaborations in unique spaces. It is a brand that can be venerated by art enthusiasts and those who care about supporting emerging artists. Hieronymus hopes that her brand feels borderless since it was developed as a concept between two cities as well as inspired by the infinite possibilities of the internet.