When Simon Met Ralph: A Retrospective
October 1, 2026, to January 7, 2027
Marin County Civic Center 1st and 3rd floor Galleries
Marin's iconic Frank Lloyd Wright Civic Center becomes home to the work of Marin-based designers Simon Ungless and Jody Niederkohr, founders of sustainable luxury brand When Simon Met Ralph (WSMR).
Known for their "rehabbed" luxury wear and one-of-a-kind home accessories, this exhibit gathers WSMR's expansive creative vision under one roof. Selected by the artists in collaboration with Marin Cultural Association, the works span signature feather-print suit jackets, lace dresses treated with a rubberized overlay, felted wall-hangings, and never-before-seen graphic prints. Archival pieces beloved by fans around the globe sit alongside entirely new work, because, as Niederkohr puts it, the brand is always moving forward creatively.
The exhibit also debuts a collaboration with ceramicist Susan McKinney, who worked with WSMR to source glass beads from vintage 1920s dresses and embed them into clay. Fired at Cone 5 heat, the beads melt into the stone, leaving softly variegated color woven through geometric forms inspired by the Civic Center building itself.
Ungless's print work, created with early collaborator Alexander McQueen, is part of the permanent collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Filling the Civic Center galleries on the first and third floors, this is a rare chance to see the full range of WSMR's vision up close.
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Gallery Location and Hours
Marin Civic Center
1st and 3rd Floor Galleries
3501 Civic Center Drive
San Rafael, CA 94903
Hours:
- 9am to 6pm
- Monday through Friday
The Civic Center Gallery is closed on the following holidays:
- January 1
- January 20
- February 17
- March 31
- May 26
- June 19
- July 4
- September 1
- November 11
- November 27
- November 28
- December 25