Today we’d like to introduce you to Dan Miga.
Dan, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I got started with my love of design through my interests in costumes about 20 years ago, I wanted to build an Imperial Officer uniform from Star Wars, and knowing my mom could sew, asked her for help drafting a pattern and building the costume. Her response was to point to the living room and say “the sewing machine is over there.”
So I did what I could, and it turned out well enough, and I decided to keep going by fooling with some of my existing clothing, adjusting the fit and adding elements here and there to make them fit my style.
At some point, I’m not sure quite when, I discovered the look of studded leather and found out where to get the raw materials to make my own, and began on a small scale to make cuffs and belts for myself and a few friends.
Up until around 2012, I stuck with designing primarily my twists on movie and video game character costumes for myself, until I met a coworker who was planning to make a burlesque debut – and I joked to her I could make her some steel pasties, and she thought it was a great idea.
So I made the pasties, and other performers caught wind of them and ordered some, and I began to build a business out of pasties and other clothing items and accessories. At one point, an event coordinator at my favorite local club needed a pair of leather bunny ears for a photoshoot, and I was able to provide them. That eventually turned into meeting the producer of Haute Noir, a regular fashion show event at the Lizard Lounge, and me building entire lines of clothing to run down the catwalk.
As my experience grows, so have my capabilities and my client list, and eventually, I hope to make this a full-time thing where I can completely support myself with my art.
Has it been a smooth road?
2016 was a rough year. Having ended a long-term relationship, most of my tools and materials were in a storage unit for almost a year. I lived in my friends’ gym for most of that year and had a very limited amount of space available to me, but I still managed to build what turned out to be one very important harness and set of bunny ears for an Alice in Wonderland event at the Lizard Lounge. That lead to my participation in the Haute Noir fashion shows and significant growth as a designer.
Tell us more about the business.
My company, Dan Miga Designs, specializes in (mostly) leather clothing and accessories, and typically caters more to the fetish crowd. This includes your typical fetish accessories like cuffs, collars, harnesses, and larger items like pants, skirts, and shirts. I also work non-animal products like neoprene rubber and clear PVC.
I’m most known for my custom leather pieces, I have several performing artist clients who come to me with a concept, and I work with them to create a unique look for their act. There’s also my tendency to engrave hexagons on everything.
I’m proud of my attention to detail – my pieces are intended to stand up to heavy use, long-term wear, and close examination. I like to tell my clients that my pieces will last longer than any of us will, and it’s not unlikely.
And as far as what sets me apart, I buck the trend in the fetish fashion industry of focusing entirely on women’s clothing. Because I felt left behind in the fashion market, I devote half of my collection to men’s clothing in each of my shows. I’ve also designed women’s clothing with functional pockets.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see the rise of the independent self-employed designer becoming more likely, as more maker tools become available and accessible to the general public. As long as we are careful to watch out for each other and keep large corporate entities from stealing our designs, I think we’ll all do well.
Contact Info:
- Website: danmigadesigns.etsy.com
- Email: tk_0384@yahoo.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danmigadesigns/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dan-Miga-Designs-339076592793176/
Image Credit:
Photos by Tony Morales, @BeagleOne and @MeCantName
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