Detroit artist’s neckties grace pages of the NYTimes

The New York Times drops in on Bethany Shorb, a Detroit designer that created a line of ties inspired by paranoia.

Excerpt:

“Terminal Illness” is the name of one of the most recent designs from
Bethany Shorb, a Detroit artist, and the fact that it has a title is a
good indicator that it is not a traditional tie. What at first glance
resembles an abstract pattern well within the vernacular of the necktie
aesthetic is, rather, a repeated image of the swine-flu virus connected
by shapes based on international-airport-terminal diagrams. A tie
called “Snoutbreak!” features a simpler graphic that clearly suggests a
pig’s nose; if you order this tie, you get a matching surgical mask
free. These offerings from Shorb’s Cyberoptix Tie Lab were made
available in early May, when the swine-flu freakout was at its height
and the director general of the World Health Organization had recently
warned that a pandemic had the potential to threaten “all of humanity.”

Read the entire article here.