ABOUT
Upstate is a clothing, textile, and glasswares line, as well as creative studio founded by Kalen Kaminski. Both a meditation on and celebration of the numinous nature of color, Upstate takes inspiration from the terrestrial as much as the cosmic. Often drawing from the palettes, landscapes and visual cultures encountered in her global travels from locales ranging from Oaxaca, Mexico to Puglia, Italy to the verdant countryside of the Berkshires, Kaminski synthesizes these various influences and marries them with her own unfettered, modern sensibility creating an aesthetic both time-honored and completely of the moment. Spurred by a passion for experimentation and exploration in hand-dyeing techniques the Upstate ethos embraces singularity, kineticism, and exuberance in both design and life.
In addition to our evolving line of wares, Upstate is actively engaged in collaborative projects and produces unique event series, workshops, installations, and pop-ups, along with singular site-specific works and custom commissions. With the same devotion to handmade artistry and celebration of whimsy, entropy, and vivaciousness we bring to our goods this facet of Upstate allows us to dynamically engage in the nexus of fashion, art, food, assemblage, and most importantly communion with our community.
We love to collaborate on custom projects. They are handmade by us in NYC. Consider it a special piece of art where you won’t always know how to expect the outcome. Each piece is one of a kind with imperfections that show the story of our process.