Mia Lee for Urban Outfitters
Multidisciplinary artist Mia Lee designed an exclusive eight-piece apparel collection for Urban Outfitters featuring her hand-drawn designs. Photography featuring her art and the collection was shot on Mia and her friends by Sebastian Berlin.
As a contemporary painter andtextile designer, Mia was born and raised in Chicago and focuses on cartoonish figurative paintings that depict familiar human experiences, the delicacies of relationships, and emotional states from a first and third person perspective. The brightness of her work balances out the sometimes heavy themes - allowing the pieces to be easily approachable by their viewers. The patterns she creates within her work are then pulled from the figure’s clothing and translated into wearable textile items, fully immersing the viewer into her unusual world.
Ahead of the collection launch, we sat down with Mia to learn more about her background as an artist and how she feels about her collaboration with UO.
How did you get started as an artist?
I grew up with art all around me because the women I admire the most are artists, so I feel like that was pretty much destined for me as well. My mother paints, my grandmother was a painter and pianist, and my other grandmother was a seamstress. When I was really young, I showed interest in drawing and painting so my parents encouraged and supported me and it fully allowed me to explore that world organically.
What was it like growing up in Chicago – how does your upbringing inform your art?
Growing up in Chicago showed me what it meant to just be true to myself and how important that is. I never wanted to be anything else other than an artist and I knew I was going to have to work super hard to get there. I would do things like go around and wheatpaste my illustrations over the city. Very grateful that I developed a really strong sense of self. I loved the art I was making so I was never afraid to put it out into the world. I definitely owe that resilience to growing up on the southside.
How would you define your artistic style and has your style developed over time?
The beauty of being a contemporary artist is that I’ve always been able to experiment with my approach and style to art and design. I use a cartoonish approach for storytelling personal narratives in my paintings rooted in my love for animation. I enjoy dark humor in cartoons which has shown through my work with its moody thematic undertones and bright colors. I love this duality because it immerses the viewer into my own little world.
Describe your mission to represent black girls and how your art informs and that mission.
It’s really easy to second guess yourself and wonder if you’re dreaming too big, especially when you constantly feel like you’re being overlooked in this industry - and just in general. That’s why my goal is to always make Black girls feel seen, especially the ones who are where I’m from. I want them to go into museums and see my work or see these collaborations and know the possibilities are endless - and if they need a resource for anything I’ll always be available.
You’ve collaborated with major brands and celebrities such as Chance The Rapper with your collaboration currently featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. How does it feel to gain public exposure and what do you want people to take away from your work?
Everything feels so surreal. This is really the first opportunity I’ve gotten to sit and take in how drastically my career has changed in 2022. I’m super proud of myself and extremely grateful for the many people involved in getting me to this point. I want people to know you don’t have to do things alone and being an independent artist doesn’t mean complete solitude. Working with friends, having a team, and just people that you trust has been a game-changer for me.
Can you tell us about how the collaboration with Urban Outfitters came to be?
I love how random this collaboration came about because it was so organic. A friend of my best friend, who is now my good friend, bought one of the silk scarves I sell with my designs on them. He ended up wearing that scarf to a wedding, where a wedding guest noticed it. That wonderful guest reached out to me to invite me on to design my own genderless capsule collection. From there I got to work with Urban Outfitters' amazing apparel team.
What was the design process like?
The process felt so seamless and was also a huge learning experience, and I mean that in the best way. I started off with a moodboard of images of people like Prince, Jimi Hendrix, Zoe Kravitz, and many more who really inspired the silhouettes that I chose. I’m really big on mixing textiles so I picked out which materials I wanted to use - my favorite ones used are corduroy, satin, and brushed mohair. Next I sketched out my designs - I ended up creating over a hundred different designs. I really wanted to put an emphasis on creating bold patterns and using the characters I use in my paintings to tie everything together. Learning how to create patterns and scale them on the garment for production was the biggest learning experience. But the UO team helped with every single step along the way!
What are some of your favorite pieces from the collection?
My goal was to really push what people consider genderless apparel. Usually people think of hoodies, sweatshirts, and tees so the UO team and I really wanted to think outside of those lines. This entire collection is super cozy and just makes you feel good all around. The pieces that really get me most excited are the green satin blouse and matching pants with my sketches on there. I don’t think the photos do the vibrancy of that green any justice, it's so beautiful. But of course I love every single piece because they're my babies. When I received the samples I cried as soon as I took them out of the package, I mean I’m still crying because I’m so overwhelmed with happiness.
One album you couldn’t live without?
Anti - Rihanna. My soul feels completely listening to her music.
What are some of your creative inspirations or a person who inspires you?
Outside of my grandmothers and my mama, I’m inspired by the friends around me who are killing it in their industry including art. This journey has brought a lot of wonderful people into my life and has created life-long friendships. Every day I’m inspired by their work-ethic and whatever it is that they create - it's just pure admiration that I have that inspires and pushes me to go even further.
Where can people go to learn more about you and your work?
My work can be found on hotfunmia.com but I also plan on having my first solo show this year so look out for that too cause it’s going to be something special.
*Photography shot by Sebastian Berlin