Mia Vesper
Design by Rachel Liu
Brand Overview
Mia Vesper, an independent New York-based designer who ingeniously blends new with vintage and the upcycled with the artisan. Being the artist that she is, designer Mia Humber takes her aesthetic inspiration from the most opulent patterns and detailed tapestries, all with their own unique meaning. She pairs European and Middle Eastern patterns with the richest and most vibrant jewel colours that denote her pieces as eccentric and individualistic statements. Her beautifully intricate and bold collections are not just about reimagining fashion with the old as abstract, concept art, her styles take up the eco-mantle through their ethical production. Vesper states: “my sustainability concept relies on American made or fair trade labor and focuses on small quantity, design integrity, special-ness, and longevity”. Beautiful and precious designs are what you make them, by how you make them, and Vesper is certainly defining her fashion in this way.
Mia Humber by Curtis Xin Pan
Designer Bio
Mia Humber, originally from Milwaukee moved to Brooklyn to open up her own design label back in 2016. Humber admitted in an interview with Vogue that her startup business was “accidental” when she first ventured into an old shoe repair shop. The designer exclaimed: “I kept going back, week by week, with more creative projects until I became friends with the guys there, and they were telling me how to make shoes…that really got me thinking about what else I could make”. Inspired by the beauty in the made and unmade, the broken and the upcycled, Humber took to the “reimagination” of the old and new within fashion. Taking a tapestry found at a flea market, Humber observed that it “was begging to be worn as a jacket”, and since then, Humber took inspiration from all over the world and collected tapestries and laceworks dated between the ’40s and ’70s and mixed the obscure colours and textures with classic, sporty silhouettes. What makes Mia Vesper’s brand so special is that she is a self-taught artist, ahead of the curve but always, always dedicated; each of her pieces takes 20-30 hours of work.
Mia Vesper’s brand took off with the release of Beyoncé’s visual album “Black Is King”, where the singer modeled Vesper’s custom-made metallic plissé dress that stunned the fashion world. However, Mia admitted that “I was kind of ready to throw in the towel at the time,” with the weight of COVID bearing down on her and persistent lockdowns always looming. The brand was certainly in trouble as it was the variety of colours, the uniqueness, and the tactility of Vesper’s collection that drew the eye - people who love the tangibility of her line wanted to try the garments on. With lockdown, this wasn’t possible so rejuvenating her online presence was key. With the release of Beyoncé’s album, Vesper has since garnered a cult following and more celebrity showcasing including Paris Hilton, Billie Eilish, Lena Waithe, and Machine Gun Kelly just to name a few.
Vesper has continued using her signature plissé fabric in her spring 2022 RTW collection, titled “See Me”. Complementing the metallic plissé is an embellished collection all about the whimsical, playing on notions of conspicuous identity through its strapline: “finding your place in the world through dress”. This collection traverses the world through its blend of hand-woven Mexican serape, vintage Italian wedding blankets, and of course, beautifully original Turkish tapestries.
Even at her young age, Mia Humber has certainly moved mountains with her innovative outlook on fashion. But Humber’s aesthetic is never simply discovered, her art is carefully crafted and meticulously sought out through her endless curiosity to play with new concepts and mix them with tradition through a sustainable lens. Mia Vesper is the ultimate trend the fashion industry needs.
Inside Look
“Sustainability is a buzzword and fashion, in my opinion, is inherently unsustainable...I do think that there is a huge value in artistry and intentional craft and making clothes that are really special, which is what I think I do. I don’t make anything that already exists and that’s a little bit of a different bent on sustainability.”
Collection/Designer Career Highlights
A garment from Mia Vesper’s first full ready-to-wear collection. Her faux leather all-green look traverses the decades, where the fun and whimsical revival of the Y2K trend meets the flashy, retro age of the 80s. Yet Mia Vesper never fails to deliver on classic silhouettes where timeless sophistication is balanced with edginess.
Mia Vesper’s flagship tapestry-esque jacket. Humber’s designs are iconic through the weaving of real, tangible history into a tactile garment oozing sophistication and individuality.
The Mia Vesper Fall 2017 lookbook. Showcasing unique and stunningly intricate designs, Mia Vesper’s staple, tapestry collection was an unmissable spectacle staged outside the 2017 Marc Jacobs fashion presentation. It was gorgeously guerrilla.
Beyoncé stunned in a Mia Vesper custom-gown in her “Black Is King” release. Featuring an effortlessly draped, Grecian-style gown, fingerless gloves, and oversized headpiece, all rendered from Vesper’s signature plissé fabric. Vesper states: “
Beyoncé creates entire worlds for us; she transports and invites us into her unique world that melds her music with her ethos, politics, experiences, and style”. Vesper created a look to epitomize this.
Mia Vesper’s Tiger Shirt was a hit on New Year’s Eve. Both Pete Davidson and top fashion influencer Tina Leung saw in 2022 in the “strikingly artisanal” velvet shirt made from unique, Ikat fabrics.
The Tiger Shirt is a part of Vesper's tapestry collection.
An upcycled favourite coveted by Queen Bee herself showcasing the vibrancy and originality of the Mia Vesper line.
One of the latest ventures, is the faux “Croc Top”. Mia Vesper takes on more versatile and playful textures in her works whilst never relinquishing the bold and vivid colours her brand is defined by.
Edited by Kieryn Alexander