How My Art and Fashion Business was Born
Thank you for visiting my art gallery and blog. The purpose of my first post is to mostly introduce myself and give you a sense of what kinds of topics I’ll be blogging about in future posts.
My name is Shireen Jamehdor, but I go by my first and middle name (Renée) because it’s just easier for people to pronounce and spell. My last name is a combination of Persian and French meaning dress/garment (Jameh) of gold (d’or), which is very befitting for someone who ended up choosing a career in fashion and art! I’ve been making art since I was old enough to hold a pencil, but the fashion part didn’t come until much later when I was in college trying to decide what my major would be. I ended up graduating with a BFA in fashion design from Columbia College in Chicago and have been working in fashion ever since.
Over the last 16 years working in the apparel industry for many different brands in Los Angeles, I’ve been making a gradual transition back into art. This transition was actually accelerated because of the pandemic. I spent a lot more time painting during the lockdown and being in that element of pure creativity made me reevaluate my career and ultimately my purpose in life.
Just before the pandemic in the summer of 2019, I had started an apparel brand called Art Of Uniformity®, a line of sustainable and versatile medical uniforms that were artfully designed to be styled as streetwear. The idea and designs were great, but the pandemic made it nearly impossible to make any progress. It seemed like whenever I took one step forward, something would happen to push me 3 steps back. I was running out of momentum, but even more so, I was running out of money. I really wanted to make this work, but things were starting to feel hopeless.
While creating the AOU uniform collection, I often frequented army surplus stores for inspiration because I love vintage designs and military silhouettes. So, while I was working on the AOU brand and my paintings simultaneously, I finally had this “Ah-ha” moment. What if I combined the apparel and the art? After another trip to an army surplus store to buy a couple of camo jackets, the artwear idea was born. I could use these garments as canvases for my art without having to front the cost of manufacturing them, and the concept fit perfectly into the Art Of Uniformity® name. And as someone who is a strong advocate for sustainability, this was the best of all worlds for me: fashion, art and sustainability. It was a completely authentic representation of everything I love and believe in, and now my art had a new outlet as an interactive part of someone’s wardrobe.
In future posts, I will be giving more insights into my process of creating visual art and wearable art as well as other topics surrounding art and fashion. This blog is meant to be informative as well as entertaining for artists, art collectors and fashion enthusiasts. If there is anything you’d be interested in hearing more about or a particular topic you’d like me to address, please send me a message through the Contact page. Also, make sure to sign up for my mailing list to be the first to know when I add new art and artwear to my collections in addition to any promotions I may be running. In the meantime, enjoy the gallery!