Swampgod

Swampgod is the work of Arturo Boem, who came out of graffiti writing and started the line in Venice in 2020, during lockdown, by rebuilding archetypal workwear, trousers and jackets mostly, and putting the results on Instagram. Rick Owens saw them late that year and invited Boem to cut into his own house’s remainders. What followed ran to nineteen capsule collections and more than a thousand garments made from Owens offcuts, unsold pieces, and samples.

The method has not changed since. Swampgod builds one-of-one pieces from factory cutoffs, deadstock garments, and salvaged metal hardware. No two are identical, and none of them could be reordered. Panels are patched, seams are left legible, and the construction is the point rather than something to be hidden. END. wrote well on the practice, and WWD covered the Owens capsules as they came out.

Swampgod at W Department

W Department stocks Swampgod, cut for men and for women. The heart of it is Italian-made and plainly material: a Hand Knit Basic Sweater in 100 percent wool, black; Stovel Sweatpants, also 100 percent wool, which is an idea worth pausing on, a sweatpant with the hand of a sweater; Stovel Wide Pants in black cotton; a Cropped Patchwork Hoodie in cotton; and a Triangle Bag in black leather. Around those sit the denim, the Cutout Jeans and the Double Layer Denim, along with the Bosega Pant, the Skirt Pants, the Fontana Tee, and the Vest Jacket in both cloth and leather.

Rick Owens has been in the store for years, so this lineage is one we already speak. But Swampgod earns the space on its own terms. These are singular objects made from what an industry throws away, closer to a gallery proposition than a rail of stock, which is the argument W Department has been making since it opened. Because each piece is unique, sizing and appearance vary. Call or come by.

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Continue Exploring

• All Swampgod. No two of them the same.
• Rick Owens. In the store for years, and the house whose remainders Boem first cut into.
• Sweaters and knitwear. Wool and cashmere across the roster.
• Webster Collection. The family gallery on The Plaza, dealing in antique Native American and ethnographic art since 1972.
• About W Department. How the store grew out of the family gallery on The Plaza.

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