This lounge chair made of 1984 L.A. Olympics merch is a tribute to what's coming
I've been working on these lounge chairs for almost the last decade. I've been recycling materials, upcycling materials, into this lounge chair silhouette. For this story, I collected 1984 Olympics clothing and artifacts and all kinds of different objects and souvenirs. I worked closely with Goodwill on helping me source some of the materials. I found some of the materials on EBay, had a couple things in my collection, and mixed them together in the creation that you see.
The uniforms that were made by Levi's are really interesting, because I remember the L.A. Summer Olympics when I was 8 years old and seeing those uniforms. Being able to source a couple of those was a key element of the chair. A Levi's bag that was almost like a suit bag is on the back of the chair — that was a great discovery, and the guy's name was still on it. There were a couple of tote bags that I hadn't seen before, a bunch of T-shirts, some sweatshirts. Then I bought some pins that I used as detailing on the chairs, and these press credentials for photography, which are on one side of the chair.
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Goodwill and I have been building a pretty unique relationship over the last three or four years now. I've developed a great dialogue with their team where, depending on what project I'm working on, I can ask them to help me source a couple things. Sometimes I’ll go on ShopGoodwill just to look for inspiration or different vintage I'm trying to find. They helped find a couple of the key items in the chair, including that one Olympic experience shirt that had the autographs of the athletes, which I thought was pretty special. There are a few elements on the chair that I had asked them to find, like there's a logo shirt that they helped me source that was the main graphic for the Olympics. They also surprised me with a surfing shirt that just says “California” that's on the ottoman. I thought that was a nice nod to surfing being in the Olympics — I was blown away by the surfing competition in this last Olympics, in Teahupo'o, and how amazing it was. I'm not sure whether they're going to do surfing here in Los Angeles, but I thought it was nice to throw that in there, because surfing wasn't in the Olympics in 1984.
"I remember moving to Los Angeles from San Francisco in 1984. I was 8 years old ... I remember the feeling of everybody coming together. It was a really incredible experience. That was my first time really collecting something. I became obsessed with the pins."
Darren Romanelli
I remember moving to Los Angeles from San Francisco in 1984. I was 8 years old. We drove down in the family Volvo, and Coca-Cola was the title sponsor of the Olympics. I just remember there was a lot of Coca-Cola iconography all throughout Los Angeles, and we were lucky enough to get to go to a bunch of the different competitions and events. I remember the feeling of everybody coming together. It was a really incredible experience. That was my first time really collecting something. I became obsessed with the pins. I had this big USA hat with a long brim, and I remember trying to cover it in the pins. All the souvenirs I got from that summer — I held on to them for forever. At least a few of the items made it onto the chair — this one white Adidas hat that's on the top-left corner and a diving shirt.
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Right around that age, I became obsessed with a few brands and started collecting; whether it was trading cards or shoes or certain clothing items, there was this curiosity and interest in organizing and collecting. I was obsessed with Jordan and Nike as a kid, and I remember thrifting on the weekends during my university years and coming back to L.A. with all this rare Nike gear. I was really into fashion and had this idea to rework vintage or take apart something old and make it new. I had this idea of being a doctor breathing new life into older clothes or things I would find at the bottom of a pile, resurrecting them. I had this concept of taking these older ghosts of a story and bringing them back to life. Originally, it started with reworking vintage Nike items into these jackets that I revisited over the course of the decade.
I kind of retired from doing jackets and segued into doing furniture, mainly chairs. But it's still the same approach with reworking the vintage items, having a sustainable mind-set, because there's a lot of waste out there. I've always thought about all the stuff that's produced in the fashion industry, it's kind of overwhelming. My practice as a whole is really focused on sustainable creations that are visually interesting, because you recognize this older garment, but the way it's been reworked, it feels more current. I love the idea of mixing generations and mixing eras. I'm inspired by the process, because I get a lot out of it. It's almost meditative for me, finding the materials and then living with them, reworking them.
I hit a point with my jackets where I had kind of peaked, and I wasn't as interested in exploring them. Maybe it was a moment where I was more interested in sitting down, and I was interested in staging environments a bit more. I love living with art, and whether it's my living room or my outdoor area, or whatever office space I'm working on, I'm always reconfiguring the layout, because the right environment creates the right atmosphere for conversation. I wanted to have the perfect chair that I could not only move around easily but something that was maybe more comfortable. The lounge silhouette is super comfortable, and over time it molds to you. I kind of perfected the filling over the years, and I don't want to say it's the perfect chair — because some people might say it's too low or it's too loud, or it ages — but I love sitting in them because the material, the history of the materials, feels not only comfortable to me but it's this idea of being engaged with what I'm sitting in based off the mood I'm in. And I'll move them around — they’re all over my home and my work environment.
The thread line of my work is the history of iconography. I love brands, and I love the idea of reworking the iconography in a way where it has a new meaning, or it could exist in a new light. This chair in particular, in anticipation of 2028, made a lot of sense for me. I grew up in L.A. I love my city, and to be able to create this tribute piece to that moment in anticipation of what's coming was really meaningful.
—As told to Elisa Wouk Almino
Darren Romanelli, born 1976, who also goes by the monikers of Dr. Romanelli or DRx, has more than 20 years of experience in curation and creative direction. Inspired by his dedication to sustainability and upcycling, Romanelli's numerous collaborations with Converse, Levis, Coca-Cola and Disney have straddled the design, music, art, food and fashion disciplines.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
