When Smoke Clears is brand born in fire, and they have returned to New York 10 years in the making. I had the opportunity to visit When Smoke Clears’ “D R Y MUSEUM” at Capsule NYC in Harlem on August 21st. Rather than organizing a standard popup, K$ace and Thermal curated an exhibit that tells the story of the brand and captures the resilience that fuels this brand’s progress. In the center of the sales floor were plinths covered in burnt fabric. On them sat a picture of When Smoke Clears’ original studio, an incident report, and a burnt piece of jewelry. They were all relics of the fire that destroyed their original Yonkers studio where they were just beginning to make jewelry in 2016. As a result, the brand includes handmade jewelry in many of their designs. Every piece in their collection has handmade elements either through printing, sewing or intentional distressing that makes each piece truly unique. When Smoke Clears already had their name before their studio fire, but a...
