Audrey Gelman is fascinated by immersive, experimental environments that transport people to another time and place. That passion led her to open Six Bells, what she calls a “new-old country store,” in Brooklyn in 2022, and, earlier this year, the Six Bells Countryside Inn in New York’s Hudson Valley.

Gelman first made a name for herself when she co-founded the Wing, a social club and co-working space for women, in 2016, with outposts around the country and in London. Only recently, however, has her entrepreneurial spirit engaged her heritage.

“I’m the grandchild of Holocaust survivors,” she said. “Their stories of survival were a major influence on me.”

Before she launched the inn, Gelman researched historical prints and patterns for fabrics and wall coverings in what could be described as dollhouse-cottage chic. She quickly discovered the work of the Wallach House, a Munich-based fashion and textile house run by the Jewish Wallach family and known for popularizing German folk-inspired designs—dirndls, lederhosen and whimsical Bavarian costumes and housewares—in the early 20th century.

Many Wallach relatives were killed in the Holocaust, but some escaped and immigrated to Greece, Brazil and the United States. Moritz Wallach, one of the brothers who had established the fashion house, settled in Lime Rock, Conn., where he continued printmaking and textile work.

Decades later, drawn to the folk aesthetics of Wallach designs and the family’s story, Gelman connected with Wallach descendants. Together, they spent six months developing a collection of housewares, including curtains, throw pillows and oven mitts as well as a work dress with deep utilitarian pockets that is inspired by a dirndl and available in two patterns: herzerlmuster (“little heart pattern”) and zwölfermuster (“twelve pattern,” a clover design). The Six Bells Wallach Project collection debuted at the Jewish Museum Shop in New York in June and is now also sold at Gelman’s store.

“Before this collaboration, the designs and original woodblocks mostly existed as static objects,” said Josh Relin, the great-grandson of Moritz Wallach. “Audrey’s partnership gave us the opportunity to see the designs worn again and incorporated into daily life.”

With the rise of Nazism, many of the Wallach House aesthetics were appropriated by the Third Reich, and the designs became disconnected from the Jewish artisans who had helped popularize them.

“One of our goals was to reclaim the creativity and memory of the design house and share it with a new audience,” Gelman said. “This project was especially meaningful because it also allowed us to engage with Holocaust memory through a contemporary lens that honors the past but is also constructive and hopeful.” 

Kyle Desrosiers-Levine is a New York-based freelance journalist covering religion and arts and culture. His writing has appeared in Religion News Service, the Associated Press Morocco Bureau, the Times of Israel, the Forward, the Texas Tribune, America Magazine and others.