It’s a question we’re often asked – does the handle we apply to our brand have a particular origin story or meaning – what do the words Day True mean to us, and why were they chosen?
Like the CIA, we can neither confirm nor deny any rumour that Tony (brand co-founder) favours a certain Spandau Ballet ballad as his karaoke performance of choice, or that this may have had any influence. There are alternative – and more serious – explanations, including our favourite among them: the desire to express, in short form, an idea of clarity and sincerity as integral to the purpose of the brand. The full etymological history is, of course, for Tony and Hayley (co-founders in full) to share and tell, as they remember it, as it happened, or as they see fit.
The rest of us can free-style our own interpretations: I currently favour Day, as in ‘clear as…’, and True, as in ‘I know this much is …‘
The question came up again recently when Kismet brought to our attention the name of a plausibly subliminal influence in the person of one Van Day Truex – the man who, according to his biographer, “defined twentieth century taste and style”. He may be the most important design name many of us have either never heard of, or perhaps – as a result of his own legendary humility – just forgotten to remember.
Born in Kansas, in the dim and distant past of 1904, Van spent his peripatetic childhood growing up in the contrasting landscapes of beige, swing-door-saloon era Wild-West Wyoming and the lush dramatic vistas of Snake River Idaho, and his early adult years studying and working in New York and Paris, to become a well-connected, well-travelled and well-regarded New York man of great style and influence.
He directed both the Parson’s School, as it pioneered the inclusion of design in arts education, and Tiffany & Co during its breakout ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’ era that cemented in perpetuity its iconic status and star-dusted appeal.
The late, celebrated decorator, and fabulous gossip, Billy Baldwin put it succinctly that when Van came to Tiffany “out went the stuffiness of bygone days, in came the fresh innovative designs of the best contemporary artists in the world”.
Day Truex was one of the most important guiding forces for a generation of gilded names engaged in designing the homes in which those who swam in NY ‘tony’ society (see what we did there) in and around the era of Truman Capote and his Swans lived their glamorously storied lives.
As with all great design professionals, his main focus when re-visiting the past was to mine it and refine it for contemporary relevance – no pastiche, no copying, no clichés. “Control, edit and distil” were his watchwords, “good design is forever” his most often quoted maxim.
Van was interested in and entertained by fashion but revered quality, simplicity, and objectivity above trends. He valued beauty, clarity and sincerity and he lived true to those values.
Day Truex and Day True may have met by co-incidence, but what a happy accident to find that we are so aligned in foundational belief and practice. We can find nothing not to love about the man and take a certain full-circle pride in finding that we share a good part not only of both our good names, but also in the values we hold dear.
And as to the question of what’s in our name …?
… the answer may just be that those two simple words contain a world of possible connections.
“Good Design is Forever”
Van Day True x
