Energy in Textile Form
Jackets and totes by designer/artist Ronen Azulay are made on a base of recycled fabrics.
Photo by Michael Parente
Ronen Azulay, an Israeli born artist, has led a dual life, moving back and forth across the blurry line between art and design. Prior to his mandatory military service in Israel, he studied painting. Upon moving to New York City in 1996 he studied illustration and graphic design at FIT, which led to stints as a clothing designer at Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.
In 2018, it came time to meld all of his training and artistic outlook into a non-corporate lifestyle, which is why he started his own company, RO25 Design. The hallmark of this new endeavor is an embrace of recycled materials and the slow processes of hand painting, mending, collage, and one-piece-at-a-time creation. The clothing and home goods that result are luminous, textured, fascinating…and wearable.
His fine art pursuits continue as well, with assemblages of carefully sewn, tinted, painted, bleached, and manipulated textiles at the root. Like his clothing, the work merits more than a second glance. There is energy stored in this work, ready to charge your gaze with ideas worth thinking about.
Ronen Azulay, Departure, 60” x 28”, recycled textiles and mixed media