Tammy Craftsow, with designer Tanya Marie, and Trisha Unaclarke model Gatsby inspired de Moura wedding party gownsTechnically this is not your classic art review, but I had such a pleasant time visiting Miami clothing designer Tanya Maria in the northern, and to me more interesting, section of the Design District, that we need to discuss this architect of thread and fabric. Not only is Tanya a lovely person inside and out (quite noticeably on the outside) but is a natural artist in the art-to-wear field. Tanya Marie has amassed a crew around her that is upbeat, excited and exciting. You want to hang out with them and let the creative juices spew forth. Being around people that are in the zone resonates outward like ripples from a stone tossed into a pond.

Quite by accident I popped into their studio/shop in the midst of a photo shoot documenting Tanya’s Gatsby-inspired dresses slated for the May 17th wedding of Real Miami Housewives star Adriana de Moura, I was treated to the full visuals. Tanya Marie is a tall and straw-thin drink of cool, draped in a gorgeous wafty color field of what I can only describe as bell bottoms. Tanya and her models were so spectacular, that in my simple iPhone photos, one would swear they were manikins had I not heard them speak and move in person. Gotta give credit to the make-up artist Karrie Ann London for that. She was on hand dabbing and patting their skin into translucence. I wondered, briefly, if anyone would notice if I stuck my visage under her poofy artist’s brush.

Enough of gushing over the visuals, my point is to delve into the mind of a successful Miami artist. Tanya is the real deal. As a child, without formal knowledge of even how a sewing machine worked or how to sketch out what her minds eye conjured up, Tanya could cut directly into the fabric and let thoughts flow freely. Is anyone else visualizing Edward Scissorhands as he zips through a suburban hedge? Well, it’s the same concept of putting your mind and soul into a germ of an idea suggested by the material and letting it rip, so to speak. She still uses this fearless method of designing.