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Women Making History: Mitra Khayyam


Mitra Khayyam (above with artist Patrick Jilbert), owner of Blood is the New Black, always wanted to be an artist but unfortunately she never really had the skill, even so much as to draw a straight line. Well aware of her limitations, she chose to delve into the fashion industry, focusing on the business end versus the creative.

After several years of working in “the industry”, she went from being told she’d “never work in this town again” by one of the most prominent fashion photographers to being named one of V Magazine’s “Seventeen Most Industrious” in NYC. In 2004, Mitra finally decided to launch Blood is the New Black based on her thesis written a few years earlier. Her intention is use the company to open up talented artists to wider audiences and to allow their art to become available to many in this wearable form.

More on Mitra & Blood is the New Black after the jump!

Mitra and Blood is the New Black operate out of L.A.

Blood Mission: Since 2004, Blood is the New Black has sought to:

1. Showcase emerging artists in order to aid their careers in the arts.

2. Introduce you to artists you may not have had the opportunity to know about otherwise.

In her own words:

Our line encourages the public to explore current art and design trends by prominently featuring the artists’ work on our products. Blood is the New Black designs explore topics that are relevant to those who create them for us. Ranging from love to death, sex, money, social status, nature, God, even the extinction of the Dinosaurs, our shirts are truely walking canvases. In other words, we make art available to all to view and wear. From the shirt design, to the hangtag and neck label on each shirt, we give credit where it’s due, instead of obscuring the talent behind our brand name. And we guess if you really want to get technical, Blood is the New Black serves a third purpose too…To create shirts that look and feel good to wear, we hope you enjoy the result.

Below are a few recent artist shirts Mitra & Blood is the New Black have put out:

Run Forever by Josh Slater

My Memory by Jesse Spears

Monster Mash by Hannah Stouffer

Gift Shop by Dan Monick

Gang by Dylan Haley

To support Mitra and the Blood is the New Black artists or to buy your own “walking canvases,” check the sites below!

Main Site: BloodIsTheNewBlack.com

Blog: Blood is the New Black on FormatMag.com

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