Michael and Hushi

Self-taught and driven by an obsession for popular culture, glamour, and subversion, Michael and Hushi merge contradictory realities into singular creations. Michael Sears, a Las Vegas native and Iranian-born Hushi Mortezaie use the opposing facets of their cultures and surroundings as the base for their artistic medium, fashion. The tapestries of ancient Iranian miniatures, the neon lights of the Vegas strip, the suburban pop of California malls, and the art-house posturings of Manhattan culminate into each piece they make. Michael Sears, during and after high school, worked in sewing factories in Las Vegas where he learned pattern making, sewing, and cutting. He made highly structured showgirl costumes while basking in the gritty glitz of Las Vegas amidst neon-lit strip malls, punk skate-rats, and archaic casinos.

Hushi Mortezaie left Iran at the age of three with his family to escape a corrupt monarchy, settling in the bohemian suburbs of Marin County, California. Growing up in the revolutionary bookstores of Berkeley and the pretentious boutiques of San Francisco, Hushi always drew inspiration from the unrelenting grace and glamour of the Iranian women in his reality and television states. He attended UC Berkeley as a fine arts major concentrating on painting and illustration. He received several accolades from the San Francisco chronicles for his art installations and visual displays in those same boutique windows he visited in his youth. Meeting in the Bay Area and realizing their shared aesthetic vision, they moved to Manhattan in 1994.They worked as buyers at Patricia Field in NYC.

An instrumental part in opening of Hotel Venus, a boutique in Soho, Hushi's artistic direction and merchandising led to the Japanese pop phenomenon experienced in the United States. This fueled the duo to open their own boutique in the east village called Sears and Robot. The influential shop quickly became a magnet for fashion stylists, designers, and artists, prompting them to refocus their direction to their first collection Michael and Hushi. Their work was continually featured in W, Vogue, I.D. and Elle. Their work has been photographed by Steven Meisel, Mario  Testino, Steven Klein, and David La Chappelle. Michael and Hushi's designs graced many celebrities such as Brad Pitt in Fightclub, Madonna, and the cast of Sex in the City. Now residing in the numerous cities of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, and Tehran, Michael and Hushi broadened their environments to expand and concentrate on their future collections.

In the pieces called Persian Pioneer, Michael and Hushi take hand-painted leather wall-hangings from Iran seen as kitsch and fashioned them into a luxe tailored western-styled leather jacket and curl-toed high heeled boots reminiscent of a cowboy boot. The new Iranian angenue takes a brave step into the Wild West.