In August 2024, Otto Resource and the Copenhagen-based concept store Grocery unveiled “Function Complex”, their first-ever collaborative exhibition. Held in Grocery’s new activation space in Nørrebro, the exhibition focused on the possibilities (and necessity) of improved research, accessible tools, and community infrastructure across today’s fashion landscape.

Among others, the exhibition references the work and philosophies of Austrian-born American designer and educator

Victor Josef Papanek was an Austrian-born American designer and educator who became — and remains — one of contemporary culture’s strongest advocates for socially and ecologically responsible design in products, tools, and community infrastructures.

Function Complex

Given the continued relevance of Papanek’s theory, Otto Resource and Grocery set out to develop a case study that applied it to the sociological and ecological problems affecting the fashion industry today. With said industry having become increasingly definable in recent years — resulting largely by “copycat culture” — the exhibition pushed beyond such assessments to embrace and revel in the beauty of process and deeper consideration.

Otto Resource is a digital archive, research facility, and ecosystem committed to future-proof design. It analyzes fashion products from the past half-century, offering unparalleled technical insights, socio-cultural context, and practical lessons for designers and producers to apply across today’s fashion landscape.

At its core, Otto Resource seeks to raise the standard of accessible product knowledge, providing readers with tools to engage deeply with fashion and see beyond the surface. True to its name, Otto offers a “Resource” that inspires individuals to shape their physical creations while fostering their own assumptions, juxtapositions, discoveries, and experimental ideas.

Recognizing that the industry’s relentless rush towards profit often leaves little time for research and due diligence, the “Function Complex” exhibition format aimed to demonstrate how this issue can be alleviated through better access to information.

Papanek’s original “Function Complex” emerged when ecological issues, though significant, were largely overlooked. With changing public perceptions and increasing responsibility, Otto Resource aimed to develop a modern design system rooted in Papanek’s values. The newly named “Otto Complex” builds on the original eight-point diagram from Otto Resource, which includes Innovation, Association, Values, Method, Foundation, Use, Needs, and Aesthetics. This system was launched at the advent of Otto Resource to help users grasp a product’s values more clearly.

By adapting Papanek’s pioneering system to contemporary needs, the “Otto Complex” offers designers conceptual and strategic support for making informed, meaningful decisions. The modern system encourages reflection, strengthens consumer connections, maintains brand identity, and promotes sustainable product creation. Using the “Function Complex” exhibition as its first case study, the Otto Complex maps each variation of the OR-PL04.24 Research Series Jacket, providing a visual representation of key aspects for product evaluation.

Grocery is an independent retail and concept space located on Elmegade in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. In a bid to capture the diversity and creativity of its surroundings, it is developing a distinct curatorial expression at the intersection of work, formal, and functional clothing. By offering its customers a platform to discover new local talent and international designers, Grocery aims to highlight design’s role beyond aesthetics and efficiency.

Grocery recently expanded its physical footprint to include an activation space on the same corner as its store. Conceived as a means of creating more meaningful connections with its customers, the new space encourages discovery and celebrates the multiplicity of (sub)culture. When describing Grocery’s view on design, creative director Nicolai Vig Clausen states, “It is important to always learn and be open to change, even if the information published contradicts your own beliefs or approach to work.”

To inaugurate its new activation space, Grocery worked in close collaboration with Otto Resource and

Archival Studies is a Copenhagen-based design practice that explores interior architecture for transformation and care of the existing. It actively engage its network of partners, collaborating with private, public, and commercial clients, to apply regenerative concepts, flexible building systems, and sensory-rich environments.

For “Function Complex”, the activation space was outfitted with a POS, two podium displays, and a full-length lighting system. The stainless steel POS in particular was designed to function like a moveable display cabinet for the brooches, T-shirt, spatial scent, and

In addition to these components, Adam Barnard worked together with architect Ottavio Paponetti to design a

Lilly Reich was a German designer of textiles, furniture, interiors, and exhibition spaces. She was a close collaborator with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for more than ten years during the Weimar period from 1925 until his emigration to the U.S. in 1938.

Lilly Reich

In 2023, Otto Resource approached designer

Francesco Moggi is a clothing designer from Tuscany, Italy, who operates under the moniker of “FM”. With his practice rooted in a deep respect for traditional menswear, Moggi consistently strives to place a contemporary frame around the lessons of the past.

When first discussing the project, FM noticed that his approach to research and general curiosity was shared (and facilitated) by Otto Resource, going on to say, “A mutual dedication to innovation drove us to explore new methodologies and embrace unconventional techniques.” The project was later discovered by Grocery’s creative director Nicolai Vig Clausen, who saw it as a means of communicating the store’s own values, interests, and references; it was here that the earliest concept for a wholly democratic exhibition format was put into action.

Inspired by the heyday of Italian sportswear, the OR-PL04.24 Research Series Jacket nods towards the decontextualization of utilitarian design that was pioneered by the likes of Giorgio Armani and Massimo Osti throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Through the observation of inner-city demands, such designers discovered, explored, and stressed the aesthetic capabilities of functional materials and designs. And since (sub)cultures continued to rebel against elitist dress codes, prompting the (luxury) fashion market to turn towards new concepts, references, and audiences, the eventual success and future impact of their visions were a logical conclusion.

Considering the necessity of such initiatives, FM comments, “We must support the general public in understanding a product’s value by presenting designs that require close observation, tactile engagement, and practical trial.” He continues, “Despite having been conditioned to consume products quickly and superficially, it is essential to show the importance of research and development; there are fundamental steps that need to be followed before a product can be considered meaningful or even final.”

Otto Resource and Grocery are proud to be launching an exclusive collaboration with Diemme as part of the “Function Complex” exhibition. Marking the fifth physical production for Otto Resource Purple Label, the capsule collection features three unique colorways of the brand’s Movida silhouette. Forming part of Diemme’s Recupero line, the collaboration seeks to advance the line’s mandate through an inspired reapplication of deadstock materials. As with the exhibition itself, the collaboration is a testament to the importance of research in contemporary design and illustrates a more dynamic (and aspirational) use for short-run sample productions. Utilizing the “Otto Complex” system to demonstrate the framework’s application, the three iterations explore unconventional texture and color compositions that result from setting up limitations in material access.

Diemme is an Italian footwear brand and factory founded in 1992 by brothers Dennis and Maico Signor near Asolo, Italy. Since 2010, the Oslo-based showroom Blender has co-developed the Diemme brand and company, filtering its competencies through an undeniably contemporary lens. “Our products rely on our production facility and the traditional bootmaking know-how that made the Montebelluna commune a dominating force in early ski and mountaineering footwear,” says brand director Mats Alver, continuing to emphasize that Diemme “always starts with a respect for the craft, understanding that this will bring a well-made and long-lasting product to fruition.”

When talking to Mats about the importance of initiatives like "Function Complex," he states, "In today's accelerated world of fashion, it is great to have initiatives that focus as much on process as they do on outcome,” echoing Otto’s belief that only through due process a qualitative outcome can be created. Mats goes on to say: “many brands and designers hide their process, research, and exploration, whereas projects like this celebrate transparency. This is something we appreciate, even if we don't have enough time to dive into such topics ourselves." Otto Resource, and subsequently Purple Label, functions as a service that can allow brands to engage with their products and audience in transparent and intelligent ways and develop contemporary products that communicate the brand’s values in a lasting and meaningful way.

As part of the “Function Complex” exhibition, Otto Resource and Grocery are thrilled to have brought together Danish jewelry designer wette mille and contemporary artist Huey Ruckus, an alias of Alex Anyaegbunam. wette mille — an anagram of the founder’s name, Mette Wille — was conceived in 2022 as a creative vent, a “form of expression and distraction from what was going on in [her] head at the time.” Admittedly unplanned and sporadic in her approach, Mette found familiarity in Alex’s paintings, which “focus on working super quick, but cautiously;” he remarks, “I love what people’s minds are capable of conjugating.” Well-aligned with the broader concept and thinking of “Function Complex”, both wette mille and Huey Ruckus revel in (and trust) the process of their respective crafts.

When talking to Mette about her process, she says, “I don’t focus on what the final product ‘should’ look like, but try enjoy the process,” continuing to highlight that despite this unplanned approach, “craftsmanship will always be my first priority.” Mette’s connection to Grocery was also a decisive factor for this project, noting that “The store was my first retailer, which still makes me blush with excitement. For me, Grocery is a concept that wants to evolve, and so when they asked me to be a part of this project, later introducing me to Otto Resource, it seemed like the perfect match for us all.”

The OR-PL04.24 exhibition offered an ideal platform for them to collaborate through and create this physical expression of process and shared ideas and values. The sterling silver pins, embellished with gems, are directly inspired by Huey Ruckus’s paintings, a process in which wette mille channeled her view of his work through her craft.

Craftsmanship is a key element in every part of the exhibition. From the carefully supervised prototyping process of the jacket to Diemme’s long lasting tradition of craft and Mette’s dedication to it, none of the resulting products would fulfill their full potential without it. Mette's connection to Grocery was also a decisive factor for this project, noting that "Grocery was my first retailer, which still makes me blush with excitement.” For me, Grocery is a concept that wants to evolve, and so when they asked me to be a part of this project later introducing me to Otto Resource, it seemed like the perfect match” When discussing the collaboration's concept, Mette clarifies "Alex's paintings seem to be reaching for something past, present, and future," This deeply connects with Otto’s approach, continuously being mindful of the context of every project, what came before it, where it currently is and where it needs to go.

Jewelry was one of the very first ways humans expressed and embellished themselves, often a way to express oneself through symbolism, whether to signify belief, class or subculture. The pins reference subculture’s DIY instincts, functioning as transferable signifiers to embellish any garment. Purposefully designed to engage with a garment and not to be worn directly on the body, building a direct relationship between the wearer and garment through the pin, encouraging experimentation with different placements and ways of framing the broach, but also the garment it is placed on.

The “Function Complex” exhibition – perceived as a whole experience – is the most singular expression of the Otto Resource philosophy to date. By engaging with like-minded individuals, dedicated to thorough process and collaboration, the partnership of Otto Resource, Grocery, Diemme, Alex Anyaegbunam and Mette Wille portrays the power of openly sharing knowledge, resources and ideas. Symbolising the importance of value-based collaboration in the industry, the twelve variations of the OR-PL04.24 Research Series Jacket, alongside the pins and in-store installation, showcase the breadth of Otto Resource’s vision and capability in an open, intelligent and educational way. The open display of knowledge is seen as the best way to adapt to and assess the fast changing environmental and socio-economic factors that affect not just fashion, but every industry.

Having not only showcased a meaningful set of products and experiences, but also having encapsulated the conceptual bandwidth and benefit of the “Otto Complex” system, the exhibition  has demonstrated the agency’s most fundamental ideals on a variety of ideas, products and experiences. Harnessing genuine ideas and ideals through a system to lead to thoughtful, appropriate, and aspirational outcomes, we believe in sharing our process and values, to encourage a more collaborative and open environment in the future.

OR-PL04.24 proves the scope of operation that Otto Resource has, going beyond white papers to offer an organised and fruitful approach to building consumer connection. In the end, everything comes back to love for culture and expression. Otto strives to create, and serve, contemporary culture in all its facets; from reminiscing subcultural stories and expressions to crafts honed over centuries, it’s by being able to observe and assess the broader landscape of culture through time that one can start making meaningful additions, helping to expand the great cultural foundation from which we are all operating.