Mitra Khayyam // Blood is the new Black - Mitra Khayyam always wanted to be an artist but unfortunately she never really had the skill, even so much as to draw a straight line. Well aware of her limitations, she chose to delve into the fashion industry, focusing on the business end versus the creative. After several years of working in “the industry”, she went from being told she’d “never work in this town again” by one of the most prominent fashion photographers to being named one of V Magazine’s “Seventeen Most Industrious” in NYC. In 2004, Mitra finally decided to launch Blood is the New Black based on her thesis written a few years earlier. Her intention is use the company to open up talented artists to wider audiences and to allow their art to become available to many in this wearable form. Mitra and Blood is the New Black operate out of sunny Los Angeles, California, USA. About Blood Is The New Black In 2004 designer and line curator Mitra Khayyam set out to accomplish three goals with the start of her T-shirt line Blood is the New Black: 1. Display the works of emerging artists, designers and photographers in order to propel their careers and support the underground art movement, through design collaborations 2. Introduce fans of both fashion and the arts to new designers, photographers and illustrators, to whom otherwise consumers may have not been exposed 3. Create a line that is wearable, comfortable and stylish, yet has an opinion BITNB encourages the public to explore current art and design trends by prominently featuring the work of underground artists, photographers and illustrators on the company’s soft, well-fitted T-shirts and products. The line provides collaborating artists with an avenue to explore social topics of his/her choice, while also bringing attention to issues, which may not be part of the mainstream discourse. Themes explored during the line’s 5-year run range from love and death, sex and money to social status, politics, nature, God, and even the extinction of the Dinosaurs. Those daring enough to wear BITNB products, instantly become a walking canvas and conversation piece. From the company’s genesis, the focus has always giving artists and collaborators a place to express not only their designs, but also their points of view on a range of topics. Every part of the production and the unique pieces that are seen each season along metropolitan streets and urban clusters around the world, celebrate one person, and that’s the artist.