Originally produced to coincide with the 1973 Arsham Carrera RSA release, the Daniel Arsham RSA Racing Jackets were previously limited to friends and family until now. The cropped, chocolate-brown corduroy jacket leans into ’70s New York City styling that the car took inspiration from. Each jacket features a bespoke chenille back patch along with hand-chain stitched detailing throughout on both the front and back. The design and details are every bit as exacting as you would expect from Arsham.
Like so much of Arsham’s work, his personal and professional interest in themes of time, eras, and epochs overlapping and intruding in our present moment is very much at the core of the design for the 1973 Arsham Carrera RSA and the RSA Racing Jacket. We talked with Austin Snyder, Head Designer of Daniel Arsham Studio, and Assistant Creative Director of the Cleveland Cavaliers, about the conceptual and production history of the racing jacket and its place in the larger Arsham universe.
This DropX™️ exclusive results from StockX’s multi-year partnership with Arsham and proceeds from the sale of the RSA racing jacket, and future exclusive drops will be donated to the Next Gen Fund – for more information.
Beginning January 28 at 12 pm EST, you can place your Bid for the DropX™️ Daniel Arsham RSA Racing Jacket.
Describe the design details, motifs, and techniques involved in producing the Daniel Arsham RSA Racing Jacket?
I think the logical place to start is Arsham’s relationship with cars and Porsche, in general. It all started in 2019. Porsche had approached us to work on the upcoming 2020 911 called the 992, and the idea there was to do it in Arsham’s signature style – eroded with the crystals and all of that – but keep it functioning. We retained all of the functional elements of the car from the engine to the drive train, everything to make the car run, but still inserted the crystals into the body to really make this a functional, sculptural moment. The 992 was exhibited in London at Selfridges during Christmas for an Arsham takeover. That really kicked off our longer-term relationship with Porsche. It also kicked off Daniel’s collection of vintage Porsches and inspired his deep dive into Porsche Motorsport heritage.
What was the inspiration for the 1972 Arsham Carrera RSA?
Before the ’73 Carrera, we did another functional sculpture for the Porsche 930, which we changed to the 930A. The 930A didn’t feature erosions but blended the Arsham universe with the Porsche racing heritage. The 1973 Carrera RS, where the jacket comes in, was our next project, and it became the ’73 Carrera RSA. The ’73 Carrera RS is really interesting. It was pretty much a supercar meant for the street. They only made a really limited run – around 1,700. Daniel had acquired an RS, and we wanted to do something kind of custom to it and create a concept for this car, an identity.
Is this identity where you lean into the 1970s?
Yeah, the idea there was to really lean into the 1970s heritage and imagine that this car – that you lived in New York City in the ’70s and just bought this bright yellow car. So, what are you wearing? What is the interior like? What are you listening to? What movies are you seeing? That is the idea that pushed us towards the car’s design, and that’s where this jacket comes into play.
? Daniel Arsham Studio
What’s the connection between the jacket and the car?
You think of the leisure suits of the ’70s, you think of flare pants, you think of brown chocolate corduroy – that is the inspiration behind it. We did a chocolate brown corduroy interior with a cappuccino leather vinyl on the outside. Then for the jacket component, it is a cropped style with the same chocolate brown corduroy that we used on the interior and then brought in a lot of ’70s execution on the embroidery techniques all around.
Describe the details, motifs, and techniques involved in producing the jacket?
Starting with the back, it has a chenille patch in a custom colorway for the RSA project. A lot of that neon yellow – from the car’s exterior – comes through, some little golden tones, and then you get the cappuccino and the chocolate brown – again from the car’s interior – in there as well. This is similar to what you would see in a lot of letterman jackets of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the chenille patch style. Then throughout the jacket, it’s all hand chain stitched. You have the Carrera graphic on the front, and because we only did these for friends and family, we did everyone’s name embroidered on the other side. The jacket is a super-specialized execution.
? Daniel Arsham Studio
Where does this jacket, something wearable, fit into Arsham’s passion for cars and car culture?
Since the first project, the 992, we’ve crafted some wearable accessories to go with the cars – something to flesh out that idea and build the universe around these individual concepts.
Early 1970s New York continues to be a very seductive moment in American pop culture. Was the era of the ’73 Carrera RS a selling point that made this project special?
Yeah, one hundred percent. We created a zine alongside the jacket that we just shipped out to friends and family as almost a seeding package. We shot the car in New York City early one Sunday morning on the Upper East Side in front of the Met, Park Avenue with the boulevard down the middle with tulips, and other iconic NYC locations. It was a very springtime vibe. We also developed some Polaroids of that shoot that we did to further that concept. And alongside the zine, we created a playlist of only ’70s soul and ’70s funk, what you’d be listening to driving around the city in the car. We also included a movie list with movies like Klute, like Panic at Needle Park, these gritty movies of New York City in the ’70s.
? Daniel Arsham Studio
Check out the official landing page to learn more about StockX’s ongoing partnership with Daniel Arsham and the RSA Racing Jacket.
