DESTINATION // The Keys to the Kingdom

RQ2-4_WebsiteImages_KeysToTheKingdom.png

by Doris Zheku

EXCERPT //

As I entered the mall at 9th and Market streets in the Fashion District of Philadelphia, I was greeted by an eerie quiet: no bustling lunch scene at noon on a Thursday, no shoppers holding bags of fresh accoutrements. In fact, not a soul was in sight save a security guard. I rode the escalator to the second floor and was surprised by a shuttered Century 21. Even more surprising was the warm glow of neon lights coming from next door, a storefront that’s not a storefront. 

At an ever-so-mysterious door with the words “Members Only” above it, I’m welcomed by REC Philly Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer Will Toms. He pulls out an ID card with “Creator” written on it and taps it to the door reader. “The keys to the kingdom,” he says, and leads me inside.

For full text and images, consider reading RQ in print, on a Sunday afternoon, sun streaming through your window, coffee in hand, and nary a phone alert within sight or in earshot… just fine words, fine design, and the opportunity to make a stitch in time. // Subscribe or buy a single issue today. // Print is dead. Long live print. //

2.4, Destination, StreetviewHeather BlakesleeDoris Zheku