We met Tamara at a vibrant Melbourne market over the summer and noticed that the clothes hanging on the rack were dynamic in shape and style, crafted with beautifully dyed textiles. Tamara’s R E M U S E label garments are designed and manufactured locally, and certified by Ethical Clothing Australia. Naturally, we had to share.
Tamara is a designer and stylist who works with recycled materials, artisan techniques, and Afro-futurist aesthetics. As a designer, she integrates natural and recycled materials into shapes that are androgynous, often free size, and a fluid exploration of natural colour and mood. Tamara has since relocated to Narrm (Melbourne) to launch her label in connection with the lands she now calls home.
Scroll down to learn more about Tamara’s creative practice and find out details of her upcoming Melbourne Fashion Festival event.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and your art practice.
I am a fashion designer and textile artist inspired by and informed by shapes, silhouettes and colours of the natural world.
How did you start your creative practice and why?
I started my practice as a way to bridge the gap between ethical fashion and land guided aesthetics. I felt there was a gap within how ethical fashion looked at the time – boxy mass manufactured shapes in pastel colours- and felt more amorphic shapes that paid reference and reverence to the diverse shapes and curves in nature was missing.
Where did you grow up and has it influenced what you create?
I grew up in New York City which through my work and training in commercial fashion has informed the contemporary silhouettes I chose for my designs and the curation of my editorials and runway events.
Tell us about your past creative projects. What has been a career highlight?
In the past we have created multi sensorial fashion productions each year as part of Melbourne Fashion Festival, designed and styled performance pieces for artists such as Sampa the Great, Bumpy and ELAURA, and participated as a featured designer in Melbourne Fashion Week. One career highlight has been having our fabrics featured as a backdrop for the official Melbourne Fashion Week campaign, photographed and modeled by multi disciplinary artist Atong Atem and styled by Cecile Huynh. A second has been our long standing stockist relationship with The Social Studio where we have had a great opportunity to provide a full size range of select pieces ready to wear (while we are normally a made to order label).
What do you hope audiences take away from your work?
I hope they feel a sense of reconnection with the unpredictable yet formed flow of the natural world around us, a reconnection with the present moment, and an inspired feeling of elevation, joy and inner musedom.
Who or what was inspires your art?
Natural formations in nature. Artists Wangechi Mutu. McQueen. Carlota Guerrero. Sun Ra.
Where do you feel most creative?
On a hike.
What gets you through challenging creative/ industry times?
I’ve created a meditation, yoga, and art direction room in my apartment. Having a central place to meditation, download, and create new visions has been such a gamechanger for me.
Whose work are you digging at the moment?
Rui Zhou, Chunky Move, Bianca Sanders, Jacquemus
What future projects are you looking forward to?
Our upcoming production for Melbourne Fashion Festival – it’s going to be a great one! Connect with us on our socials for a very special invitation.
MICO.22 is an immersive presentation paying homage to the funghi kingdom as its role as nature’s recyclers. Taking place on Friday March 4 , 2022 at 7:00pm within the theatre space of Next Wave Brunswick Mechanics Institute, MICO.22 returns as a durational, multisensory performance exploring circularity in kinetic ways.
As a continuation of this series, this year’s production will focus on zero-waste fabric techniques including quilted scrap meterage and recycled fibre textiles with design lines, cuts and shapes informed by the mushroom kingdom. These fabric pieces were created in part during Moreland City Council supported residency Making Space at SiteWorks.
Performances will include a durational soundscape show created and performed by Noongar artist Bumpy and band, improvisational movement by independent dance artists, a central installation created with musician and biodiversity prop creator, Abbey Howlett, and immersive runway movement from models moving throughout the band and installation, featuring REMUSE’s Autumnal Equinox collection and immersive visuals and production curated by Simbiotic.Vision. The complete collection will then be available for purchase via our retail partner The Social Studio at their Collingwood Yards boutique.
Through textile, sonic, and projection biomimicry of the mushroom kingdom, we aim to submerge a select live audience into the world of funghi, reuse, endings and new life.
Tickets available here.
Where can we find and follow you online?
Images provided by the artist.