Sruli Recht is a designer and artist based in Reykjavík, Iceland. He was born in Jerusalem, Israel and holds Australian and Icelandic citizenship. Recht studied Fashion Design at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia. In 2005 Recht left Australia to London where he worked with British designer Alexander McQueen before relocating to Reykjavik, Iceland, where he has been based since 2005.
Work
Recht's work is considered to be innovative in its use of indigenous, new and unconventional materials and technologies though also seen by many to be controversial due to the use of materials such as minke whale foreskin, spider silk, seal and human skin. Although he is known mostly as a fashion designer, some garments and show pieces from his seasonal collections are seen to blur the relationships between art, design and fashion. Examples of this are:
A Lasting Impression: Gloves made from the skin of a basking shark with the barbs on the inside of the glove. Due to the direction of the barbs, once the glove is put on the wearer can not remove them again unless they cut the gloves off.
The Damned: A pocket square, or handkerchief, made from bullet-proofkevlar, intended to be worn in the breast pocket of a suit to protect the heart.
And his arguably his most controversial piece:
Forget Me Knot: In 2012 Recht documented a one-off surgery/performance during which a plastic surgeon removed a 110 mm × 10 mm strip of skin from his abdomen while he was awake. The piece of skin with the hair still attached was tanned and mounted to a 24kt gold ring
Collections
His solo commercial career began with the launch of a shoe collection under the Sruli Recht label in 2007, described by as "...one of the most intriguing and imaginative footwear collections seen." This collection was highlighted by the controversial use of one boot made from minke whale skins. Prior to the 2008 economic downturn Recht began to release one product a month under a collection titled Non-Products, while preparing to launch the main clothing line. Recht launched the seasonal clothing line in Paris in 2011 that he had developed during the crash in Iceland, in 2010 from his studio based on the outskirts of Reykjavik He has been presenting as part of the Paris Fashion Week runway schedule since January 2012
Notoriety
Wallpaper magazine selected Recht's store Vopnabúrið, an Icelandic word for "the Armoury", among the ten most interesting shops in the world in 2010, along with stores such as Hermes in New York, Comme de Garçons in Hong Kong and the Stella McCartney store in Milan. Recht's studio was raided by the Icelandic police in August 2009 where they seized stock of The Umbuster and charged Recht with prohibited weapons importation, prohibited weapons manufacture, and intent to sell prohibited weapons. Recht initially lost the case brought against him by the police, though appealed, while at the same time opening a new case with the supreme court of Iceland to de-categorise The Umbuster as a weapon. In October 2010 Recht won the case, the court deciding that The Umbuster was not a weapon, and was acquitted of the earlier charges.
