Gamma Player Chicago

This weekend I had the pleasure of visiting Gamma Player, one of my new favorite stores here in Chicago, to take some photographs of the lovely accessories they carry to share with you. The store is owned and run by a couple, Yoko Uozumi and Jeff Mills, who are originally from the music industry. Interestingly, Gamma Player is a side project that grew out of their exposure to the rich, complex culture that exists between fashion, design, music and fine art as they pursued their careers running a record label.

First and foremost, it seems to me that Gamma Player is a place to explore ideas. I love that the store comes from a desire for conceptual investigation and ends up providing a physical space with tactile objects where the public can interact and share in the investigation. Each season, the store presents a new overarching concept with which to present the various designers they carry. In the past, artists have been commissioned to create in-store installations. The name Gamma Player comes from a song that Mills composed. According to Mills "Gamma Player means one who travels beyond boundaries. A participant in the Game of Chance who manages to the risk involved in hopes of achieving more than just a satisfactory outcome."

Gamma player is a place "where lines between fashion, art and music are blurred into a common thread in which to support new ideas that are so desperately needed." As you can see from the photographs, they carry beautiful jewelry, men's accessories, music, books, as well as men and women's fashion.

Here is just a sprinkling of designers you'll find at Gamma Player:

24/7 Suits (Milan)
Anne Valerie Hash
Chalayan
Firma (Berlin)
flos ad florem
Jogema
Julius (Japan)
Tatsuya Shida
Tre Shida