By: Shiaira Bradley, Alexis Watkins
As the crowd awaited the premiere of Sami Miro’s documentary, the growing excitement in the screening room became palpable. When Miro stepped out on the stage to announce her film, wearing a chic gray blazer fashioned out of trousers over her cutting-edge black bodysuit, the audience immediately seemed entranced by this woman who seemed to be able to fashion anything out of scissors — a skill many of her admirers have noticed and likened to that of a “modern-day, more stylish Edward Scissorhands.”
Titled “Zero Waste,” Miro’s film centered around her brand, Sami Miro Vintage, and the preparation for one of her first and biggest runway shows at one of the largest-scale and most prestigious fashion events in the country: New York Fashion Week.
“Our runway show went really exactly how I wanted it to go,” Miro said. “We were there, we knew what we wanted to accomplish. And we knew we wanted to do something different. And something that truly has never been done on the runway.”
The film followed the preparation leading up to the show. Just hours before the show, the hairstylists and make up artists are all making their final adjustments to the models and their outfits. The tense music perfectly reflected the intensity Miro and her team worked to achieve absolute perfection in the display.
“I’m excited to be able to share this with you all who weren’t at our show, to see everything that goes into the show in just a single day.” Miri stated.
The focus of the film was the performance piece, in which Miro transformed the design on one of her models from jeans into a dress with a long denim tail. Miro narrated over this portion of the film, discussing sustainability and it’s rising importance in the fashion industry.
“I wanted to showcase in real life and in real time how I design and how and what Zero Waste means,” Miro said. “The voiceover and the music were very important to me because I’ve been to too many runway shows and realized was that there’s a missed opportunity in the way these designers tell their story. I wanted people to feel something because that’s what Sami Miro Vintage is all about. We want to educate and we want to do it in a beautiful artistic way.”
Raised in San Francisco, Miro got her start in fashion at just ten years old, the age where she began thrifting, in an attempt to fit in with her peers.
“I went to private schools in San Francisco, and I was there on scholarships,” Miro said. “And I went to school with these wealthy kids who bought the latest brands, and I felt like I couldn’t be cool unless I was wearing those brands.”
Miro’s very first thrifted item was a Lacoste top that she describes as “really ugly mauve-y color with holes and sun damage” that cost her only five dollars.
“I wore it almost every day,” Miro said. “And I quickly realized that I am the only person in the world with this Lacoste Polo. And it’s because it’s vintage, and it’s because there’s wear and tear in it. And then from then on, I didn’t care about any of the brands. And I wanted to just be the only person wearing any particular thing.”
Though Miro was drawn to fashion and thrifting nearly her entire life, 2016 was the year Sami Miro Vintage came to life. Miro designed most of the brands initial pieces from thrifted items as one of a kind pieces, but as the brands success grew, she began to buy fabrics from other brands and invest in new and sustainable to create fabrics.
She is drawn to pieces that speak to her, whether that’s through the stitching, a unique lapel, or a certain type of fabric. The deadstock, which is the unused fabrics from fashion brands, gives Miro a plethora of garments to choose from to reconstruct.
Miro’s future plans include collaborating with bigger brands and stores in order to further the mission and to incorporate sustainability in fashion in a way that is creative and allows people to express themselves.
“I want people to feel special. I want them to feel unique, sexy, cool, and like they are doing something and wearing something that is supporting Mother Earth.”
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