Fashion Designers Redesigned Every State Flag

Fashion designers including Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Tory Burch and more redesigned flags representing all 50 states + 6 of the U.S. territories for a project called Fashion Flags of America. They’re all flying at Rockefeller Center in New York City. There are more than 120 flags in the show, created by members of the Council of Fashion Designers of America, and also Vogue is involved. I ended up going on a minimally windy day, so seeing some of the designs was kinda hard. But the project’s website is really well designed, thought out, and responsive. It’s fun to click around and reorganize and explore. You can browse the flags by state, through an index, or on a map of Rockefeller Center. But since the digital experience was so well thought out, I was left surprised and a bit disappointed by the exhibition and information design in person. They didn’t have the names of the designers or states at the poles. It relied on you to pull out your phone. I had the feeling a lot of the tourists there weren’t even aware there was anything special going on. That’s less a criticism of Fashion Flags of America itself and more about how the project was presented physically. I think the idea and execution of the redesigns is really fun. Flags are always pieces of design that people hold VERY close to the chest, so giving designers permission to experiment was fun to see. Eventually, the flags will be donated to the SCAD Museum of Art for archiving and display. What do you think about your home states flag? The redesign?