CoCo Ree Lemery

CoCo Ree Lemery is a designer, educator, researcher, and creative force whose practice explores the relationship between everyday objects and the systems that shape their life cycles. Lemery is the founder of Studio Kloak, an award-winning Chicago-based incubator focused on sustainable function and material experimentation. Named Interior Design Magazine's Best Independent Designer of the Year, Lemery and Studio Kloak challenge conventional ideas of waste, planned obsolescence, and value through both design and development. After graduating from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2019, she received a SCAD Alumni Atelier ambassadorship to launch Studio Kloak's material research program. This research has since led to the development of new biodegradable components made from unexpected waste streams, including a polymer derived from onion skins, the world's most common kitchen refuse. Lemery's designs using this material continuously evolve and eventually return to the earth, exploring how waste can become a resource for new forms of purpose, beauty, and cultural import.

Studio Kloak's material research has been featured in special exhibitions with Materially and Stecca3 during Milan Design Week 2026 and with Blackdot Gallery during London Design Festival 2026. Upcoming workshops at the Chicago Public Library and Danville Correctional Center extend this research into educational initiatives, making sustainability knowledge more accessible to broader communities. Lemery teaches, lectures, and leads workshops internationally. Her expertise in design, furniture, manufacturing, and sustainability has also led to frequent appearances as an industry expert for Business Insider, CNBC, Fast Company, and The Washington Post. Her work has been recognized with NYCxDESIGN Awards, A' Design Awards, and Pinnacle Awards.