Lost City Products

Lost City Products is a New York City based design house specializing in hand-embroidered fabrics and other products like scarves, handbags, re-furbished antique chairs and pillows.

History

Based on information available on its website and Facebook page, Lost City Products was created in 2005, by fashion designer Afshan Durrani, a Fashion Institute of Technology, New York alumna, to revive the ancient art of hand-embroidery, particularly techniques that were developed centuries ago under the patronage of the Mughal Kings in India, and popularized by European clients. Afshan Durrani has ties to both Lucknow , home of chikan, aari, zardozi, kamdani and mirror work, and Srinagar, Kashmir, the leading center for crewel embroidery.

It seems, however, that Lost City Products was creating custom embroideries for the likes of celebrity architect Peter Marino and high-end interior designers before 2005. One of the most exclusive hotel suites in the world- the Ty Warner Suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in New York, designed by Peter Marino, is furnished with chairs custom embroidered by Lost City over a six-month period, and many designers of prestigious private homes such as the Koch residence in New York have been using Lost City Products as a hand-embroidery resource for sophisticated designs.

Judging from the beauty and diversity of styles and fabrics available on its website, Lost City Products might be one of the leading exponents of hand-embroidery anywhere in the world, particularly of the “aari” (chain-stitch) technique that originates in the city of Lucknow, India. Short videos and slide shows on the Lost City Products website demonstrate the fascinating and arduous process of creating yardage of hand-embroidered fabric from start to finish.

Product Lines

Lost City Product’s collection is currently broken out into four lines with multiple collections within each. Fabrics are broken out by florals, botanicals, graphics and silks; scarves by kamdani, mirror work and poetry; and most interestingly, pillows are divided into forensic (inspired by forensic evidence); mirror work, medieval, phulkari, roses, polka dots and poetry. There is also a five-piece collection of chairs. While each of these pieces has some of the most spectacular hand-embroidery available, the extremely comprehensive pillow collection best exemplifies the magic and whimsy of Lost City Products. This collection strays wildly from the predictable designs usually associated with pillows and takes this humble object into the realm of high art.

Unusual Influences

The Lost City Products brand is steeped in mystery and uses unusual methods, imagery, and messaging to communicate and further its mission. It also draws from romantic, dark and sometimes perverse sources for inspiration. It has succeeded in re-contextualizing embroidery as an art form while staying true to its goal of reviving craftsmanship and nurturing the men and women who create its stunning products. A visit to the Lost City website is like wandering around a strange, familiar and deeply evocative place of nostalgia, delight and yearning. Unexpected videos pop-up- Thomas Edison holding a light bulb. A wrestler from bygone years flexes his muscles. Mahatma Gandhi walks spiritedly through a crowd. A dancer twirls around in sepia toned poetry. An unidentified, androgynous young woman keeps repeating that she lives for her obsessions.

All of this imagery has a soporific effect on the brain, heightening the shock of seeing the actual products- dozens of scintillating designs that draw from sources around the world, going back and forth in time. Sarasatic block prints from ancient Japan are placed next to breathtaking art deco inspired designs that reference Weiner Werkstatte. Shockingly beautiful florals, and Turkish influenced styles are followed by embroidered love letters from a forgotten Persian poetess. The Lost City collection is quite remarkable for its range, execution, nuance and sophistication. These products are a true culmination of art and commerce, and one cannot help but marvel at the beauty that human hands can create and wonder how long it takes to create one yard of this highly complex hand-embroidery.

Mystique

What deepens the mystique of the Lost City Products brand is the obscure yet intriguing cloud that surrounds it. On its blog are entries about cult American film-maker Maya Deren, the punk rocker Nick Cave, and tight-rope walker Philippe Petit and other offbeat heroes and heroines that seem to inspire the company. The Lost City website also sometimes has provocative images and video that apparently has nothing to do with its products but everything to do with its ideology. The home page of their newly launched website and e-store features a distraught, emaciated looking young woman, apparently lost in a graveyard, clutching a Lost City pillow. The imagery is provocative and unsettling and certainly a departure from the shiny-happy-people aesthetic of most commercials for home furnishings or fashion products.

Lost City Products might revel in its obscura but the mainstream press and blogs have taken notice and have been buzzing about its products for a while. Opinion leaders like the New York Times and I.D. magazine as well as cult newsletters like Daily Candy have been writing up Lost City Products. The blogosphere has also been ablaze- everyone from Miss Cavendish to Jentrified has paid homage to this quirky little company, and some of the imagery they have used is not the norm for the usually staid interior design trade.

Website and Online Store

In November 2009, Lost City launched a sophisticated new website and online store. The rough, industrial-cool of its original site was replaced by a more polished design with several new features including a media page with multiple slide shows, and video, a new blog, better product photography and an online store through which new product lines like pillows and scarves.