How a radical personal tranformation led me to start a clothing company - part 2 of 3
September 2023. I landed at JFK, a single woman ready to roll up her sleeves and put on a solo month-long gallery show at a weird little space in the gritty garment district. It was crunch time - no distractions allowed. I forbid myself to do anything but gear up for the presentation of a decade of my art.
It felt so right this time - my summer in Oregon, making headpieces in my childhood home, was full of inspired artistic fire from all the changes in my life, alchemizing my pain into beauty. I thought I'd move back to Oregon once this gallery show was done; I wasn't sure how else to afford life in NYC while I became financially independent. It was all so humbling, but I plunged forward, trusting my gut and feeling like this was my path.
It was an amazing opening night. So many dear friends showed up as their most fabulous selves, and at the end of the evening, we all put on headpieces and staged a renegade fashion show catwalk on 37th Street. My friend Sonia Kasparian, an incredible Portland Oregon lace designer, was there and had her gowns paired with my headpieces. The head of the ChaShaMa organization attended and asked me to come back for an extended run, just as soon as their other scheduled programs were clear. I was having a moment!
A tall mysterious man who I'd only met once before also showed up after traveling in the East for a month, but I'll save that story for another post. ;)
I finished my month in the space, had a PR night and a closing party, and then winter of 2023/24 set in. It was such a turbulent year, 2024 - waiting to move back into the gallery space to begin my promised extended run of 9 months, trying to make money and stay sane while separating, managing my mom's life as her early onset dementia worsened (another story), being the best mom I could be to my almost 6 year old. Finally in June of 2024 I moved back into the gallery space on 37th Street.
Right across from me was 265 West 37th Street, a historic garment district building filled with independent makers and creatives in the fashion industry. They'd walk out the front door of 265, see my window display at 266 of headdresses and wearable art (when it wasn't blocked by the trucks of midtown Manhattan), and sometimes they'd come in to meet me. A few designers used my headpieces to elevate their fashion shows. Seeing Alton Mason in a giant white feather cap I created, closing the Theophilio Runway in September 2024, was a highlight. The designers I met introduced me to superintendents in 265, their building. And when my 9 month residency wrapped up, a tiny spot in 265 right across the street opened, on the 21st floor. I negotiated a price I could afford, not much for midtown NYC due to the small size of the space, but it felt like sooo much for a newly independent mom trying to make a living with avant garde headpieces. But I felt destiny calling.
I broke down the gallery on my own; moved things across the street, and set up the new studio on my own. Warrior goddess moves. Held a little studio-warming party, it was great, and - I was exhausted to my soul. But I made some changes in my sleep habits and started to feel a little settled. I kept breathing and told myself to trust that I would be able to afford this and stay there.