The name and concept of my brand started long before it was a brand.
I have always been a maker, since childhood - art, clothes, cards, decorations, jewelry. I would often receive art supplies for presents, and would be thrilled to get a stack of construction paper and a package of gel pens for my birthday. Over time, I accumulated boxes of art supplies that I carried from place to place as I moved throughout my life. They felt so valuable to me, and I always wanted to add to my collection.
The boxes made their way to New York when I moved there in 2003, but during my first six years there, I rarely used anything in them. When I left the corporate world, I knew I needed to focus on creating, but didn't know what exactly to create. So, I started with what I had in those boxes. I made little bags from some velvet and feathers, rings from wire, and transformed old clothes into new clothes.
And it was from these boxes that I also found material to make costumes for Burning Man parties. I used a lot of tape, paper, spandex, and wire to construct outfits I would wear for a night. They often involved origami-like shapes that I formed and attached to myself. After some makeup and often a wig, I felt like an incredible new person. I transformed materials into an outfit, and that outfit transformed me. Perhaps it was the sharp angles and lines of the geometric shapes that made me feel confident and direct. It was like stepping into a new personality.
One day while I was working on an outfit, the word "misassembled" popped into my head. There was something satisfying about rearranging what already existed into something different, and through this, realizing that I had everything I needed to create a different version of myself.
This was really fun, so I just kept making things. It went from party outfits, to paper headpieces, to wood jewelry, to vinyl body sculptures - all in geometric shapes. Over time, I acquired new skills, materials, and ideas, and my focus went from making things for myself, to making things for other people. But my purpose with the concept remained the same - to transform one mood into another when you wear something that alters how you feel about yourself.
I developed this vision into a smaller format more suitable for people who are looking to better express their individuality in a refined way. The sculptural jewelry was born out of this concept, with the intention that for the time you are wearing a piece, you feel whatever you set out to feel.