With Valentine’s Day around the corner, it’s high time we “paws” to appreciate Crypton’s very own rock star: William Wegman.

 

This talented, prolific polymath – photographer, author, filmmaker, and designer of Super Fabrics – delights the world with witty depictions of dogs. His artworks reside in the collections of such prestigious institutions as the Whitney Museum of American Art.

 

Here at Crypton, we’re so lucky to have Wegman creating fabric designs that are every bit as uniquely captivating as his art.

Wegman’s Crypton creations are art you can really live with, taking the form of pillows, aprons, or dog beds. 

They’re functional accents that turn any home into an art gallery; they’re also Funny Valentines. And when they get dirty, you can just toss them in the washing machine, and they’ll come out good as new. That’s not something you can say about a framed artwork!

 

With their glossy blue-gray coats, Wegman’s sleek, elegant Weimaraners make gorgeous models and muses; they are truly fashion hounds. Little wonder so many fashionable companies have commissioned Crypton’s favorite artist to create iconic imagery. One of my all-time favorites is his portrait of a dog wearing a fabulous “Pleats Please” garment by the legendary Japanese fashion designer Issey Miyake.

 

But chic as they are, Wegman’s dogs, and the numerous artworks they inspire, are about so much more than style. They’re serious fun. By dressing dogs up in human clothing and posing them to look like people - sometimes with, say, a hand in the mix, holding a pair of binoculars for the dog to peer through - Wegman blurs the line between person and canine. More than willing to suspend  our disbelief, we can’t tell where the person ends and the dog begins, and we don’t want to. We’d rather see it Wegman’s way: there’s really no barrier between the two species, as anyone who’s ever loved a dog knows for sure.

That’s a powerful, immediately accessible way to convey the magical bond between people and pets. I’ve dedicated my career to describing and celebrating that bond in my writing, but too often language has a way of coming up short. Wegman’s insightful imagery does the job much more eloquently than mere words ever could.

Posted by Julia Szabo.