Chay Costello on MoMA Design Store’s Pop-Up ‘Design Innovations for Women’

In September 2020, MoMA Design Store presented a Pop-Up featuring a suite of products representing the best new designs for women in the areas of sexuality, activity and reproduction. The Pop-Up explored the evolution of everyday products conceived to improve and enrich the lives of women and de-stigmatize the female body through innovative design. The remarkable selection of brands made mostly for women by women is available at MoMA Design Store, Soho and online. 

From the wildly popular—and environmentally friendly— Diva menstrual cup, silent, wearable breast pumps for new moms, and an innovative “robotic massager” that mimics human touch, the Pop-Up explores how brilliant minds and good design have made women’s lives easier and more enjoyable. 

Womanly is pleased to interview Chay Costello, the Associate Director of Merchandising for MoMA Design Store and the pioneer behind Design Innovations for Women. Over the last 21 years, Chay has been a conduit between the contemporary design world and the museum's collections and exhibitions. She oversees a team of buyers and researches design movements and products that start a conversation. 

Can you tell me about the connection between the MoMA Design Store and this suite of design?

Our research started with our documenting a number of seemingly unrelated projects -- from a hackathon for the breast pump, to a woman diagnosed with uterine cancer in her 20s that started a sex accessories company, to a group of middle school girls in the Bronx who launched their own podcast on periods, to Nike's recent launch of modern swimwear. All of these stories are different but we started to see this important through line -- a connection to women's bodies, not as a stigmatized topic, but in a real world way to improve everyone's lives.

We looked into so many different products with so many different focuses and we landed on three central areas to organize around: reproduction (menstruation, motherhood, and menopause), sexuality, and activity. We felt like they all support each other in a meaningful way. 

I'm really interested in the activity part of the Pop-Up. Can you speak to some of the work you're doing with the innovation of women's activewear? 

We looked at activewear design along a timeline. We started with the sports bra. The sports bra was not invented until 1977. I don't know what we were doing before then but, in 1977, two women actually sewed together jockstraps to make the first sports bra. Then we looked at a 1985 design by this fascinating woman named Georgena Terry. She was an engineer and avid cyclist who kept adapting her bikes to fit her body. Then she realized that other women didn’t have this option. So she created this amazing bike seat, the Liberator, that was designed for women's anatomy. Then we see in a design from 2001 that is in MoMA's collection -- the Capster, athletic headwear for odservant Muslim women. 

“For me, good design needs to be fluid, dynamic, and inclusive to remain relevant. That’s why I’m so excited to see designers taking on topics related to [reproduction, sexuality, and activity].”

In the past, product research has revolved around advertising and shoving products down our throats. It's really refreshing to see an institution as large and as impactful as MoMA doing this work to start conversations and influence the direction of product research and design. This is creating a pathway for women to understand that there are extensive product options. 

Design is a really interesting discipline, and MoMA has always treated it as an important part of our cultural heritage. For me, good design needs to be fluid, dynamic, and inclusive to remain relevant. That's why I'm so excited to see designers taking on topics related to [reproduction, sexuality, and activity]. We've been working on this project for a long time and were hoping to launch it in May with NYCxDESIGN and many other brands. But then we had a moment where we had to ask if this story represented what was happening in the world. Was this story still meaningful? We decided on its importance and relevance because even during a global pandemic people still menstruate. It's also happening in a system where women of color and other marginalized groups are already being underserved. So the problem is compounded. This is a critical part of the dialogue we're hoping to spur. 

“Good design solves a problem. Good design should improve our everyday life.”

Women have been underrepresented in this world for so long at every turn. I'd love to hear more about what this work means to you in terms of representation for women in the art design space, especially over your 20 year career.

It's interesting when you're thinking about the way our society has looked at and treated the bodies of women. On the one hand, they objectified us to sell everything, from beer to fragrances; and on the other hand, there was this long standing taboo when talking about menstruation or women's sexuality. I'm heartened and inspired by these designers who are looking at these areas of need. Good design solves a problem. Good design should improve our everyday life. 

The idea behind Design Innovations for Women initiative was instigated by Alexandra Glaser who is one of the buyers at MoMA Design Store. We also looked to a number of other colleagues for support as we needed more women's voices in the conversation so we also held some informal focus groups with our colleagues at MoMA. We had women of all ages and all backgrounds in a room to talk. It was amazing to sit down and really debate these things within a design context. We also needed to consult a doctor, Dr. Veronica Ades, because a lot of these products came with studies and statistics that I could read, but I couldn't understand in a meaningful way.  

At Womanly, we focus on what women, especially women of color and trans women feel they’re missing from media and medicine. We’re interested in sharing and creating work that is mindful and features body diversity. I love that you feature products that can be used in different kinds of relationships and spark conversation around identity. 

Gender fluidity is definitely something we talked about a lot, and it's something that I've been doing a lot of research on as a design movement. We’re launching with a new brand by Lunapads called ‘Aisle’ that alludes to liberating yourself from the menstrual aisle in the drugstore. And we’re carrying a boyshort, which is gender neutral design, and if you menstruate and don't identify as being a woman, these are a great option for menstrual underwear. A variety of the different sex accessory brands are also fluid or encourage fluidity in your sexual experience which we think is an important part of the discussion. 

In your career and with MoMA, how have you seen the modern art world and design spaces shift in culture? Especially as we continue to progress in reproductive rights and women's health. 

We pride ourselves in having good design for everyone and every price point, which usually includes things like vases and tableware. So when I went to these brands and companies, I had to convince them that they would make sense in a design context. If you look at the packaging that Dame or Billie have, they both look luxurious; like something you'd find in a boutique and not in that secret aisle of a Duane Reade. It makes them desirable. They’re something that you want to incorporate in your life, something you want to talk about, something you want to share with people, and not something to hide away and be ashamed of. So I can't think of another group of products that has come out more relevant in the design world.

After the launch, where would you like to take this idea and this work? 

It will be something that we continue to follow. It was challenging for us to find a home for it because, for example if I bring in sustainable tableware I could just merchandise it next to other tableware. But in order to tell the story for this product suite we had to do it all together. We're going to see how people respond to it and if people are purchasing the products. I don't know that people will continue to want to buy tampons at the MoMA Design Store. If they do, I'm happy to sell them. I definitely will not stop my research and will carry the best new designs in this area, but maybe not as exhaustive an assortment as we're currently offering unless it's a huge hit.