BEFORE & FURTHER: MODERNICA Through The Eyes of DABSMYLA

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It isn’t everyday that a major brand steps out of the box and passes its creative reigns into hands that are not celebrity. When they do it it isn’t always with the freedom to truly break ground. In this case both things happened. Modernica, the moderndesign junkie’s best friend has recently gone into collaboration with the dynamic creative duo DABSMYLA to launch a collaborative line.

They could have stopped there but it wouldn’t have been a full showcase of the visionary powers of the team. So they gave them the keys to an abandoned building adjacent to their factory and basically said, “Do your thing, let us know how we can help.”

The result was a complete remix of a 4,000 sqft building from top to bottom, inside and out. Spending the better part of 5 months to design, detail and build the space out is one thing, but this happened at the same time they worked on the furniture line as well.

While many artists of their caliber would farm out for extra hands to make a project of this scale happen Dabs and Myla did not, they had the aid of one assistance and the construction crew to handle the elements of the build that needed expertise in place. This is not to say that they didn’t have the support of the Modernica team, because they did.

In speaking to Myla during a tour of the grounds it was surprising how excited she was to describe the process of working with Modernica. Often we hear that there are many limitations imposed on creatives when this kind of collaboration is actually taking place and the back and forth can be purely superficial. ” When we had ideas their team was open to pushing themselves and figuring things out.”, she noted. This union was extended beyond just the sellable product as well, but into the exhibition space as well.

This is DABSMYLA’s most ambitious undertaking to date and it shows that while many of us wish that we could have this kind of opportunity it is not all fun and games. The duo worked months with no days off in the Summer heat. They had to tighten up their meal schedule and pack food so they could but more hours in. We all have to work towards deadlines but it is not something we always think about when we imagine artists. It is a misconception that creatives are flighty and unreliable. Even with the bright color and fun that defines the aesthetic of DABSMYLA’s perspective it take real work to pull it off.

This is what happens then you give creative room(s) to breathe and the support of fabricators with 25 years experience… Extraordinary.