Mikaila Brown

12/04/19 • 46 min

Talking to a Fashion Anthropologist

Mikaila Brown created her own businessmodel combining her PhD in anthroplogy and her love for fashion: Mikaila Brown is a fashion anthroplogist. In other words, in my words: For Mikailas work with fashion "why" comes before "wow". She is also the creator of "Sidewalk Safaris", a city tour which she describes intriguingly: "We are going to disco deep dive into Harlem, using fashion as ur lense." This walk is to get to know Harlem as the starting point of black fashion in America as much as today`s Harlem and the importance of community in keeping small and diverse businesses. When I met Michala, she was in the middle of launching similar tours in Atlanta and LA. By the end of next year she wants to have them in ten american cities. This talk is recorded in a café in Harlem. We are sitting outside, next to a busy street. It ́s the last stop of our preceding "Sidewalk Safari" and we still are surprisingly energized. Mikailas power is contagius! I decided to publish this conversation, even if the background sounds try to overtake. Meeting Mikaila was an encounter I will never forget, but listen to her nuanced and vibrant speech yourself!

Talking to a Fashion Anthropologist

Previous Episode

Otto von Busch

Fashion & Risks

Otto von Busch is full time faculty at Integrated Design, School of Design Strategies and point person for the minor in Alternative Fashion Strategies at "Parsons The New School in New York City". I got to know Otto first through reading "The Fashion Condition". It is written by "The Fashion Praxis Collective" of which he is a part. Otto wrote countless texts and books around fashion using different lenses to deep dive into fashions many powerful relations. The majority of his texts can be open sourced on his website, which I highly recommend to do. Otto enthusiasticelly spreads ideas on how to engange in your own clothing in many creative ways and with the same passion he promotes other people ́s approaches. As with the most interviews I did so far, Otto didn ́t know what the topics of our talk would be, and I am likewise open to go on a ride - daring to move into the yet unknown is something I am commited to establish in my dialogues.

Next Episode

Martina Cox

From art to fashion and vice versa

Martina Cox took a break from art university and opened a second-hand-shop out of her apartment. That`s when she also began to alter garments. Half a year later, she took her new and beloved approach in fashion and went back with it to art school. Her senior thesis exhibition was seen by many and the right people: only one year later she works independently as a fashion maker with a clear artistic touch. I loved Martina ́s honesty and the laugther we shared throughout the whole conversation. We talked about partying in Berlin and her italian grandmother - both sources of her passion for fashion - moreover about the first time she presented fashion in art school (surprising) and her love for detail (inspiring).