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Artistic Expression with
Mira Musank
Mira Musank (she/her) is an interdisciplinary textile upcycling artist who transforms textile waste into custom garments. She focuses on the intersection of slow fashion practices, sustainability solutions, and climate activism in her learning journey. A community-taught artist, she transforms discarded textiles and second-hand clothes into one-of-a-kind pieces. Circularity as a counter act of overconsumption and waste is central in both her artistic expression and her community engagements.
To date, her brand Fafafoom Studio has recirculated 300+ pounds of textiles back into local communities. She has showcased her works in Climate Week events in SF, LA, and NYC. Her signature Gathered Cloths project, made out of 100% sewing remnants, has started to gain recognition in the Bay Area and global stage. Fafafoom Studio aims to inspire people to rethink their relationship with textiles, embrace a ‘waste not, wear more’ mindset, while also raising awareness of the global threat of textile waste.
Photo by Jason Martineau / Martineau Arts.
The gown at the forefront is a 15-pound Modular Gathered Cloths Dress assembled from 85+ ruffled cloth pieces, 100% made by upcycling sewing remnants and fabric cutoffs. They’re assembled together using safety pins. Most of the remnants and fabric cutoffs are of blended fibers, many of them 100% polyester and previously destined for landfills. Gathered Cloths is Mira’s vanguard climate textile art project, and it will continue expanding as she gets more discarded textile donations.
Photo by Lisa Beth Anderson
This photo exhibits the dress (shown in the background of the first photo) when it was worn by renowned Bay Area flamenco artist Clara Rodriguez during Mira’s interactive art showcase at Oakland in October 2023. She performed a passionate 12-minute Soleá solo performance, and her intensity broke the garment’s hemline seam which has since been repaired.Titled Godet Goddess, the dress was created from discarded embellished high-end womenswear cutoffs (front facing) and cotton prints (back facing, not shown). The front facing’s cutoffs are 100% polyester, and the lining is of synthetic blend. The materials were donated from a designer in New York to rescue them from going to landfills.
To learn more about Mira’s work, explore the links below:
