Gallery Talk

Mimi Prober is an artist and designer, as well as founder and creative director of MIMI PROBER, her namesake textile and clothing label. Since the label’s debut in 2014, she has focused on searching for forgotten textiles with documented stories to tell. Ms. Prober’s work integrates the artistry of the past and has received acclaim for its holistic and sustainable approach to design. She has dedicated herself to natural dyeing practices and designing with a focus on textile narratives, preservation, and process — honoring those involved in the creation, both past and present, from farm to fiber. Ms. Prober’s collection has been worn by industry icons Chloë Sevigny, Misty Copeland, Erykah Badu, and Rihanna, to name a few. Her work is on view through September 5, 2022, at New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art as part of the Costume Institute’s “In America: A Lexicon Of Fashion” exhibition.

Tasha Lewis, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design at Cornell University, where she teaches fashion design management. Her research encompasses the consumer-driven aspects of the fashion industry as it contends with advances in technology, shortened product life cycles, and demands for more social responsibility and transparency. Dr. Lewis’s primary research explores how to assess the value that environmentally sustainable fashion products and supporting manufacturing processes bring to today’s fashion supply chain. Most recently, she has been focused on the post-consumer stage of the textile and clothing recycling process.