Inside Back Market x Gab Bois’ packed NY launch event

If you missed it, where have you been?

Late last week Back Market and Gab Bois – the Montreal-based artist – debuted their exclusive accessory capsule collection F/W 2005: Hardwear to an audience of influencers, artists, and tech industry reporters at the Storefront Gallery in Chelsea.

Guests like musician Gus Dapperton, designer Isabella Lalonde and content creator Jazmine Brown danced, as DJ Rex DeTiger spun House mixed with Tumblr-born hits like Flight Facilities’ “Crave You”. The retro-futuristic space was decked out in chrome, plexiglass, and mirrors — a contemporary elevation of 2000s aesthetics that have since coined memes, while also embracing the techno-futurist vision of a world where we use our tech, forever.

If it sounds utopian, you’re on the right track. Back Market — which is on a mission to fight e-waste and planned obsolescence — partnered with 27-year-old artist Gab Bois to launch a collection of wearable tech and home accessories inspired by the rampant waste in the fashion and tech industry. Each luxury piece was crafted in Gab Bois' studio, and the proceeds are going to Right to Repair, a movement who are helping extend the life of our tech devices by making repair a fundamental right, and refurbishment easier.

Gab Bois’ collection evokes early-00s nostalgia while highlighting the need for a circular economy. Standout pieces including a knit balaclava made from wired Apple headphones and a set of e-waste decorated press-on nails were thoughtfully curated throughout the gallery space. When asked who she’d love to see wear her work, Gab Bois noted “It already happened,” referring to actress and model Julia Fox’s Instagram post earlier in the day where she styled the collection into a stunning look. 

This collaboration is an example of “resistance of engineered obsolescence in tech,” noted Back Market CMO Joy Howard, who took the stage with Gab Bois for a brief Q&A as attendees sipped Thyme Palomas and French 75s. Opening the chat with a quote from novelist Mary Shelley, the discussion ended on a topic that has captured human attention throughout every decade — the Zodiac. “Can you guess our sign?” asked Howard to a very Gen Z crowd. The answer? Gemini, although not without some resounding cries of “Capricorn!” echoing from the crowd. Given the Capricorn stereotype of “determination, ambition, and vision,” it’s not hard to see where the guess came from.

No matter their planetary alignment, attendees got into the “Tech to Accessory Workshop”, building their own mini F/W 2005: Hardwear-inspired accessories and keychains using e-waste from vintage tech. Think: chunky keyboard hair clips, shiny chunks of hard drives transformed into keychains, and discarded wires braided into friendship bracelets. 

Guests didn’t want the night to end. Despite the overhead lights flicking on, people ignored the polite overtures of event staff, snapping photos of the collection, themselves, and of course, sipping the last of their Thyme Palomas before heading back into the chilly New York City evening. Who knew resisting engineered tech obsolescence could look so chic? 

Shop the F/W 2005: Hardwear collection here.