Founder • Creative Direction • Design • Collaboration
Occulter
“Talk about a head trip… Derrick Cruz’s pint-size shop of curiosities is divided into two areas that symbolize each hemisphere of the brain.”
— Time Out New York
ROLE
Concept, identity, creative direction, product development, package design, store design, copywriting, social marketing
CONTEXT
Lower East Side, New York City
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Inspired by a pantheon of fringe thinkers and risk-takers, the OCCULTER collective brought together artists whose work embraced darkness, science, and wonder. Members created challenging work across a variety of media, organized highly attended group exhibitions, and displayed and sold their work at OCCULTER’s brick-and-mortar gallery/store on the Lower East Side.
PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
The gallery/store hybrid paired members’ artwork with a selection of branded and curated goods, extending the collective’s identity into a physical retail experience. OCCULTER’s online presence attracted a passionate international following, reflected in strong social media engagement and retail conversions.
RECOGNITION
The JCReport placed OCCULTER second to Comme des Garçons Black in its Top Five Small Shops.
“Looking through their wares is like browsing some marvelous antique museum curated by Gareth Pugh’s sinister taxidermist brother… exquisite chunks of strange beauty.”
— Electronic Beats
“At Occulter… dark arts become artisanship… Necromantic influences have ridden the runways, but for Derrick Cruz, it’s not a trend—it’s a lifestyle, death-style.”
— Sarah Nicole Prickett, FASHION Magazine