Episode 168: Crafting the Iconic with Midnight Rider’s Mitra Khayyam
Named one of Entrepreneur Magazine’s top emerging entrepreneurs in 2011, Mitra Khayyam is a Creative Director and Brand Strategist based and the founder of Midnight Rider.
Mitra wrote a thesis in design school on how the t-shirt can democratize art and from there, the daughter of Iranian immigrants moves from the high fashion world in New York City to Los Angeles to create not just one, but two iconic brands, eventually selling in stores like Urban Outfitters, Nordstrom, and freepeople. Her t-shirts reached cult status, being worn by Little Wayne, Brittany Spears, Paramour, Miranda Lambert, and Tim McGraw, and featuring artwork from emerging artists including Todd Tourso (Beyonce’s Creative Director) and Kanye collaborator Cali DeWitt.
Mitra is one of our special guests speaking at skucon on January 7th, where we’ll talk further about How to Create Merchandise Experiences That Connect and in today’s episode we talk about building iconic brands, licensing, creating high-demand merch experiences and we chat all around this intersection of art and commerce.
Join us for an inspiring story about the tenacity of the entrepreneurial spirit!