Boehringer Ingelheim, Fashion Institute of Technology’s DTech Lab introduce fifth piece to award-winning design collection that raises awareness of rare disease

Ridgefield, Conn., June 28, 2023– In partnership with the Fashion Institute of Technology’s (FIT) DTech Lab and world-renowned designer, Bart Hess, Boehringer Ingelheim today announced the introduction of a fifth piece to The Unwearable Collection™, an award-winning art collection that uses raw materials like paper and glass to uniquely illustrate the physical and emotional burden that people living with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) may experience.

Designed by FIT students in partnership with Hess, the Collection’s fifth piece—Trapped by Uncertainty—brings to life one of the most common experiences of people with GPP, who cite the uncertainty of how it will impact their life each day, or how others will perceive them. To inform their design, the students had the opportunity to hear from and interview people living with GPP, who described the threat of flares as “very unpredictable.”

“Since its introduction last year, The Unwearable Collection has helped to raise much-needed awareness for GPP. With the addition of Trapped by Uncertainty, we hope to improve the understanding of what life with GPP feels like and illustrate the intense emotional burden it can have,” said Claudia Beqaj, Executive Director, Dermatology, Sales and Marketing, Boehringer Ingelheim. “With the help of Bart Hess, the students and faculty of the FIT DTech Lab have done an incredible job of bringing the anxiety and uncertainty of GPP to life through fashion and design.”

GPP is a rare and potentially life-threatening neutrophilic skin disease characterized by flares of widespread eruptions of painful, sterile pustules across the body that have been described by people living with the disease as equivalent to the pain of “10,000 papercuts.” Flares can greatly affect a person's quality of life both physically and emotionally and, in severe cases, can lead to hospitalization with serious complications, including heart failure, renal failure, sepsis, and death.

Trapped by Uncertainty combines unwearable elements, such as shards of glass and crystals, with materials used in everyday fashion design. The outer layer of the design uses materials like tulle and mesh that have been manipulated to appear as smoke billowing around the individual, to represent the feeling of uncertainty that many people with GPP experience between flares. The placement of colorful glass on the hands, face and body represent the beauty and individuality of people living with this rare disease.

FIT’s Fashion Design team worked under the supervision of Dobriana Gheneva, Assistant Professor, Fashion Design, with creative direction by Michael Ferraro, Executive Director, FIT DTech Lab to create the fifth design. The collaboration also welcomed students from across multiple interdisciplinary teams—including Animation, Interactive Media & Game Design, Exhibition & Experience Design, and Advertising & Digital Design teams—who developed launch strategies for exhibiting and promoting the fifth piece. “The students who developed this design were insightful and empathetic in their ability to creatively convey the emotional uncertainty and discomfort of living with GPP through an evocative and alluring design,” said Michael Ferraro, Executive Director, FIT DTech Lab and Creative Director, Center for Innovation at FIT. “The FIT DTech Lab is incredibly proud to contribute to the creative industries worldwide with socially conscious solutions that have a positive impact on the world and to be able to be a part of this extraordinary project.”

Hess, who collaborated with Boehringer Ingelheim to develop the first four designs in The Unwearable Collection consulted with FIT students and faculty to inspire the fifth design while ensuring it was a natural complement.

“It was the experiences of people living with GPP and their descriptions of the disease that ultimately inspired me to create The Unwearable Collection. As the Collection evolves, it has been a privilege to act as a mentor to FIT’s talented group of designers and witness how they have interpreted the experience of people living with GPP to add a new dimension to the Collection,” said Hess.

The five pieces of The Unwearable Collection were unveiled this week to a private audience that included Hess, people living with GPP, members of the FIT DTech Lab and Boehringer Ingelheim teams. Following the US reveal of the Collection, the pieces will make their international debut at the upcoming GPP Forum and World Congress of Dermatology in Singapore from July 1 to 5, 2023.

The Unwearable Collection will be on display in an exhibit inside FIT’s Gallery of Art and Design from September 14-October 15, when visitors can view the Collection and further explore the experiences of those living with GPP. You can learn more about the exhibit at TheUnwearableCollection.com.

About generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP)
GPP is a rare, heterogenous and potentially life-threatening neutrophilic skin disease, which is clinically distinct from plaque psoriasis. GPP is caused by neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) accumulating in the skin, resulting in painful, sterile pustules all over the body. The clinical course varies, with some patients having a relapsing disease with recurrent flares, and others having a persistent disease with intermittent flares. While the severity of GPP flares can vary, if left untreated they can be life-threatening due to complications such as sepsis and multisystem organ failure. This chronic, systemic disease has a substantial quality of life impact for patients and increased healthcare burden. GPP has a varied prevalence across different geographical regions and more women are affected than men. GPP flares can lead to hospitalization with serious complications, including heart failure, renal failure and sepsis, and the unpredictability and severity of these flares greatly affect a person’s quality of life.

About The Unwearable Collection™
Boehringer Ingelheim partnered with world-renowned artist, Bart Hess, to bring to life the physical and emotional burden that people living with generalized pustular psoriasis (GPP) may experience through a four-piece art collection, named The Unwearable Collection. Bart created four art pieces, each of which represent one aspect of the disease – physical pain, flare intensity, emotional burden, and life – threatening. Because of his creative perspective and ability to bridge the relationship between materials and the body, Boehringer Ingelheim chose to partner with Bart to uniquely bring to life how severe GPP can be – using a medium, like art, that many can relate to. In 2023, Boehringer Ingelheim and Bart partnered with the FIT DTech Lab and FIT students to extend the Collection with a permanent fifth design.

Boehringer Ingelheim
Boehringer Ingelheim is working on breakthrough therapies that improve the lives of humans and animals. As a leading research-driven biopharmaceutical company, the company creates value through innovation in areas of high unmet medical need. Founded in 1885 and family-owned ever since, Boehringer Ingelheim takes a long-term perspective. Around 52,000 employees serve more than 130 markets in the three business areas, Human Pharma, Animal Health, and Biopharmaceutical Contract Manufacturing. Learn more at www.boehringer-ingelheim.com

About FIT
A part of the State University of New York (SUNY), FIT has been a leader in career education in art, design, business, and technology throughout its history. Providing almost 9,000 students with an uncommon blend of hands-on, practical experience, theory, and a firm grounding in the liberal arts, the college offers a wide range of affordable programs that foster innovation and collaboration. Its distinctive curriculum is geared to today’s rapidly growing creative economy, including fields such as computer animation, toy design, production management, film and media, and cosmetics and fragrance marketing. Internationally renowned, FIT draws on its New York City location to provide a vibrant, creative community in which to learn. The college offers nearly 50 majors and grants AAS, BFA, BS, MA, MFA, and MPS degrees, preparing students for professional success and leadership in the new creative economy. Among notable alumni in fashion are Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Norma Kamali, Reem Acra, Brian Atwood, Stephen Burrows, Dennis Basso, Daniel Roseberry, Francisco Costa, Nanette Lepore, Bibhu Mohapatra, Ralph Rucci, John Bartlett, Peter Do, and Michelle Smith. Other prominent graduates include Leslie Blodgett, creator of bareMinerals; international restaurant designer Tony Chi; and Nina Garcia, editor-in-chief of ELLE. www.fitnyc.edu

About the FIT DTech Lab
An extension of FIT’s Innovation Center, the DTech Lab is FIT’s on-campus innovation lab developed with the mission to revolutionize the creative and retail industries, uniting design thinking with emerging technologies. Working at the intersection of industry and academia, it is where teams of FIT students and expert faculty engage in research and problem-solving projects for companies encountering a wide range of business challenges.  Industry partners enjoy the benefits of FIT’S creative and innovative minds who develop bold, original solutions solving industry problems with design and technology.  The DTech Lab has collaborated with a diverse portfolio of fashion, technology and entertainment partners including IBM, Adidas, Netflix “Karma’s World”, Bambuser, PVH, the YES Network, Girl Scouts of the USA and Tommy Hilfiger. https://dtech.fitnyc.edu/webflow/index.html

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