I haven’t written about any art lately on TLD, but with something like this, I felt like I had to! Apart from completely fooling me for a 10 minutes, these real live art pieces are amazing. Artist Alexa Meade does these real live paintings with real live people, in style of acrylic paintings.

Alexa Meade is an installation artist based in the Washington, DC area. Her background in the world of political communications has fueled her intellectual interest in the tensions between perception and reality.Alexa Meade’s innovative use of paint on the three dimensional surfaces of found objects, live models, and architectural spaces has been incorporated into a series of installations that create a perceptual shift in how we experience and interpret spatial relationships.

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In 2004 designer and line curator Mitra Khayyam launched Blood is the New Black with the intention to display  the works of emerging artists, designers and photographers through T-shirts that can be stylish, yet express an opinion.

BITNB has been featured on Nylon,  Teen Vogue, YRB Magazine, and more.  Celebrities such as Cassie Ventura, Keri Hilson, Lil Wayne have been spotted wearing Blood is the New Black. Check out the pics here.

TLD had the opportunity to conduct an interview with Mitra. She shares personal experiences and much more!

Name: Mitra Khayyam

Hometown: New York

TLD: Can you tell our readers about your background?

I was born in Upstate, New York and moved to L.A when I was a Junior in Highschool. I knew I wanted to move to New York and work in the fashion industry. It was actually something I wanted to do since I was 9 or 10 years old. As soon as I finished Highschool, I moved to New York and lived there for about 4 years. I’ve been living here ever since I was offered a job.

TLD: What inspired you to start BITNB?

The whole idea started when I was in college and written a paper about how artists can use t-shirts to reach to a wider audience. So it was all a mixed of what I learned from my work experience, education and knowing what I was good at it. I always knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry. I also realized I wasn’t a fashion designer or an artist. If I pretended to be, I would of been found to be a fraud pretty quickly. But, I really like art and design and I’m great at business. After working in the fashion industry for 5 or 6 years, I decided to start BITNB.

TLD: Blood is the new Black is interesting. What is the origin of the name?

Blood is an idea of a family or community, a blood bound to someone. It doesn’t come from something dark or negative. As they say in the fashion industry, “brown is the new black… navy is the new black, ” so the name was basically a take off from that. Also thinking about the idea that our family and close friends should influence us the most versus whats dictated to us by fashion.

TLD: Every piece looks amazing! What are your favorite pieces from the line?

This season I would say I love our tank top bodies. They are great for Spring/Summer and a fun way to integrate graphics into your wardrobe.

TLD: There are so many great brands out there. What are your favorite brands, besides yours, of course!

[laughs] APC is one of my favorite brands. I’m definitely a fan of a plain white t-shirt and a good pair of jeans. I like to keep it simple. Despite doing graphic tees, classic beautiful stuff is always going to last a long time.

TLD: BITNB has brought great things so far. What else can we expect this year?

Well, the second issue of Blood is the new Black Zine is out. It’s a 16 page magazine and it highlights our artists,  friends and people we respect and admire. It comes out every six months. Also, our summer line is around the corner. We worked with 35 different artists. Were introducing new bodies for men and women. We thought of new ways people can integrate their clothing into their wardrobe. We will continue different developments on our website. Were definitely having monthly events and more art shows.

TLD: Anyone in the industry you would like to work with in the future?

I’m a huge fan of an artist named  Tauba Auerbach and a girl named Aurel Schmidt.  Also, an artist in Brooklyn named Maya Hayuk. I love having girls in the mix. I like to support the ladies.

TLD: What are some of the experiences you’ve encountered as a woman in the fashion industry?

Lots of things, both good and bad. I think it’s a lot easier to bond with the people you work with as a woman. There’s a sense of family I’ve developed with our artists and vendors that is intrinsic to the nuturing-female aspect of my personality. I mean if you want to play into the stereotype of everything a woman is supposed to be, that is. On the flip-side, because of that stereotype, if you do end up in a confrontation in the workplace, its very easy to be pegged as a bitch instead of a self-assured business person. Personally I’ll take it either way.

TLD: Any words for The Lipstick Diaries?

I love the The Lipstickdiaries; I think its so cool. It’s awesome to have a site that supports creative women. I always get in trouble for reading it at work. “Were working, why are you visiting blogs?.” But that’s what I get to do because I’m the boss! [laughs].

It was truly a pleasure meeting and interviewing Mitra. BITNB has more great things coming for us, so let’s continue supporting these amazing people by staying connected!

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Check out more BITNB Summer ‘10 line pics after the jump!

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Seriously, how crazy would you go if you got a pair of shoes with REAL candy!? Well Arajevo designer Belma Arnautović has created a collection of shoes including these candy-filled heels. To die for!

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Long Live McQueen!

Well folks, the wait is over. Your eyes are in for a visual feast. I’m usually never a lost for word in stating my opinion about something, anything, until now. It is obvious now that we have truly lost a true artist, visionary, and fashion leader. I feel incredibly lucky to have just been alive to have seen all that is Alexander McQueen. We can go in do depth about his inspirations, faults, and triumphs regarding his newest masterpiece, but I think its in better taste to let the art speak for itself. Bravo McQueen, may you live in our hearts forever.

(The entire collection after the cut)

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I seriously think that you can pretty much put anything on a shoe that’s semi-interesting, and it can be a hit. For example, through on some kind of weird futuristic boat on the bottom, and someone will wear it.  Designer Tea Petrovic,  graduated from  the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo, Bosnia & Herzegovina.

“I have created a shoe collection, as my graduating project, that is centered around the idea that each shoe is an sculptural-architectural structured form.Each model is an experiment with the high heel, because they determine the whole form of a shoe. The heels are columns, constructive elements on which the whole creative process is based with an aim to create a new concept of high heels.” (via)

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Pharrell loves furniture, and there’s nothing wrong with that! Just wish he would come with the chair if I were to purchase it Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin will be showcasing Pharrell Williams’ latest artistic creation which addresses the theme of war, The Tank Chair, at Colette for a limited time only- on March 22nd through 28th. After the limited Colette sale, it will be shown at  the Emmanuel Perrotin gallery on March 30th to April 24th. The Tank Chair consists of 4 models, baby pink, white transparent, baby blue and black, which are made of Plexiglass and foal or calf. 8 limited edition pieces of each Tank Chair model have been created.So, basically- I will never have one! BOO!

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No matter what all the tabloids, and everyone else says, Lindsay Lohan is doing it right! Here she is, looking dolled up (and those shoes!) for Purple Magazine, shot by the famous Terry Richardson. PS, a couple of these are not NSFW.

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Barbie is an iconic figure for pretty much anything fashion, culture, music and even fine art now. With collaboration’s in every genre, I think this has to be my favorite. The everyday Barbie has been transformed into works of famous fine art, from Picasso, to Andy Warhol, to the Venus de Milo. Check them out! More info here.

Helmut Newton & Nefertiti

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Back when I once had a Myspace days Kesh was one of those intriguing adds because of her style and work ethic. I don’t know her, never met her, nor do I own any of her designs BUT I like my idea of who I think she is and what she does. Where was I going with this?? Oh yeah… her photos! Now that Kesh is on tumblr I have a chance to catch up on some her photography and I’d just like to share some of the work she has done because it’s freakin’ beautiful.

More after the cut…

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Ooooh this is exciting! Here is a view at Aldo’s Spring/Summer 2010 ad campaign, shot by famous photographer Terry Richardson. The campaign features model Jessica Stam. The ad features shoes and accessories all from Aldo. I love every single shot!

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