In June, I had the opportunity to chat with Mary Katlyn O’Malley, the innovative designer and owner of DAMES New York. She opened up about her intense personal experiences that fueled the creation of her unique fashion brand.
The following dialogue sheds some light on the crucial intersection between fashion, mental health, and personal safety while revealing the profound impact of community and resilience.
As a content warning to readers, we discuss murder, sexual assault, and mental health.
Jesse:
What led you to start DAMES? Did your personal experience influence the brand?
What led you to start DAMES? Did your personal experience influence the brand?
Mary:
It was during COVID. Someone was killed near me in Chinatown. A young woman, Christina Lee. It was kind of scary, and in my own personal experience, I come from domestic violence, and I have PTSD. I went to therapy in that experience as it was all happening.
It was during COVID. Someone was killed near me in Chinatown. A young woman, Christina Lee. It was kind of scary, and in my own personal experience, I come from domestic violence, and I have PTSD. I went to therapy in that experience as it was all happening.
I guess I didn’t feel safe within myself or outside myself, and so I think that was the biggest inspiration to me, which comes from being able, aware, and present.
It really came down to what I wore, how I felt about myself, and if I was present and aware to protect myself. I think that’s the biggest inspiration–feeling good about yourself, feeling in your power, and feeling safe, so that you’re able and aware to protect yourself. I think I saw it in everyone that it was a commonality. Everyone was dealing with mental health and safety, and I think it’s honestly the most important thing. It matters to everyone in every moment of everyone’s life. I saw a lot of people kill themselves during COVID, and it was a really hard experience. During that time, a friend of mine went to prison.
Jesse:
It’s interesting when we think or talk about COVID, and we realize we all went through the same thing. Maybe not in the same way as others or as bad as others, but we can relate to one another because of it. Did You know Christina?
It’s interesting when we think or talk about COVID, and we realize we all went through the same thing. Maybe not in the same way as others or as bad as others, but we can relate to one another because of it. Did You know Christina?
Mary:
I didn’t know Christina, but a bunch of girls knew her. She was smart. She was a good person, and she didn’t do anything wrong. She got out of her taxi, and she was 20 seconds from the fucking door. This man followed her into her apartment, and she wasn’t aware.
I didn’t know Christina, but a bunch of girls knew her. She was smart. She was a good person, and she didn’t do anything wrong. She got out of her taxi, and she was 20 seconds from the fucking door. This man followed her into her apartment, and she wasn’t aware.
After that, we started groups. We would walk each other home and give each other pepper spray, and that’s where the safety aspect came into my brand. My whole brand is trademarked to have safety accessories attached to the clothing. And then, through that process, I think it affected me, and I thought, “Damn, what if she would’ve had a fucking thing in her hand?” He locked her in her apartment, stabbed her [40] times, and the cops heard her die. So that’s where the safety and the presence come into play, and seeing her story really affected me. But we’ve helped so many girls and not even just girls, but trans women also.
During COVID, I dressed the girls for Kokomo City because Dominique Silver has always been so supportive of DAMES. It’s a movie about Black trans women, and it went to Cannes and all this stuff. When they went to Sundance, I made them dresses, and one of the girls from the movie was killed right after.
So what I’m doing is so real and so important, but in the fashion industry, they don’t talk about all these things.
What you wear is so important. It’s who you are. It’s your avatar. This is who you’re showing the world you are. [It’s] the way you hold yourself, the way you present yourself. And that comes with inside and outside aspects. Clothing, to me, isn't just a shirt I put on; it’s intentional and should make you feel good and better about yourself. In a way, I turned my pain into purpose.
I always think, “I want to help the collective, the whole world.” So what can I do that can have an echo effect? And that’s what I try to do. I do meditations, and Chinatown Fight Club lets me do a self-defense club. At the first event I did, I got all the women from the shelter and gave them safety accessories at a cool store in SoHo.
Jesse:
How do you incorporate these safety features into your designs?
How do you incorporate these safety features into your designs?
Mary:
I think just making clothing that is tactical in a way where sleeves could come off. It could be worn in different ways. It’s the way things are easily attachable, the way I incorporate chains or zippers, and I do a lot of reflective pieces, which really helps with visibility.
Safety Whistle Keychain
I think just making clothing that is tactical in a way where sleeves could come off. It could be worn in different ways. It’s the way things are easily attachable, the way I incorporate chains or zippers, and I do a lot of reflective pieces, which really helps with visibility.
The woman who owns Chinatown Fight Club, Gail, who’s been so inspirational and nice throughout this process for me, was like, “If carrying a knife makes you feel better after being raped, carry that fucking knife.” I know carrying these things is illegal, but so is raping and killing. So if I have to do something to make myself feel better, then that’s something I think all women should do because most women have had terrible experiences at some point in their life, and they carry it with them, and you can’t let things hinder you, so you have to make sure you’re okay on the inside.
Jesse:
How do you envision building a stronger community with DAMES?
How do you envision building a stronger community with DAMES?
Mary:
I think through my experience, during COVID, I met someone with fame and clout, and they really told me they were going to help me grow my brand, but they did not. They really made it a lot harder, and I learned a lot.
I think through my experience, during COVID, I met someone with fame and clout, and they really told me they were going to help me grow my brand, but they did not. They really made it a lot harder, and I learned a lot.
I learned that organically, and doing exactly what I say I’m going to do is how I’m going to do it. I know that it will grow, but every fashion business opportunity someone has presented me with has not done anything for me. I’ve also learned that the industry is just a lot of clout and fake talk of people doing things.
It was really interesting to see someone I’ve looked up to my whole life and think, “This is so cool. I’m going to be working with this woman who’s so inspirational,” and she was horrid. Then I realized that’s basically the whole industry, so I think you just have to stay driven, and do what you do with the magazine, and just create what you want to create. It’s like Rick Rubin says, “The audience comes last.”
That’s definitely something I live by and something I’ll never forget. The audience comes last, and you have to perfect your art. Keep doing it for yourself, and don’t give up.
I also want to keep doing my events. I just got booked at Gospel, which is my favorite club in New York City, and we’re doing a mass meditation. I would like to continue doing the self-defense classes with Chinatown Fight Club and all my other events that are mental health-focused, community-focused, and anything to help others move forward.
I would obviously like to expand overseas and get in stores all over and be able to expand my community in that way as well. It’s like I said, picking your avatar is what everyone is doing in the land of fashion and the internet. I just try to stay present and not compare myself to anyone else. Everything I want will eventually come, and I don’t know what comes next until I create it.
Jesse:
It’s nice, isn't it? Creating your own rules?
It’s nice, isn't it? Creating your own rules?
Mary:
For sure. Like I said, the first year I worked with [an industry insider], and it was horrible. All I did was watch someone say they would help me, and they just didn’t. Then a year in, I still had nothing, so I had to figure out how to do what I said I’d do. I didn’t know what I was doing when I started, but I knew I had to keep going to figure it out.
For sure. Like I said, the first year I worked with [an industry insider], and it was horrible. All I did was watch someone say they would help me, and they just didn’t. Then a year in, I still had nothing, so I had to figure out how to do what I said I’d do. I didn’t know what I was doing when I started, but I knew I had to keep going to figure it out.
Jesse:
How do you see your role in addressing these issues in the fashion industry?
How do you see your role in addressing these issues in the fashion industry?
Mary:
I trademarked my clothing to have self-defense items attached. During COVID, I did “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” by Joe Dispenza, and that was a huge part of my healing journey, my brand, and my lifestyle.
I trademarked my clothing to have self-defense items attached. During COVID, I did “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself” by Joe Dispenza, and that was a huge part of my healing journey, my brand, and my lifestyle.
I want to show people that all this stuff is cool, make badass clothes, and make people feel powerful. All this stuff is cool, but it is definitely not in the industry. I’ve never seen anyone do a meditation before at a fashion show, and here I am, trying to do mass meditations at the coolest club in NYC because we can have both. We can meditate, and we can party. But we have to make sure everything’s good so that we feel good.
Jasmine Halter
Jesse:
To finish, what are your future goals for DAMES?
Mary:
I would really like to continue designing stuff that’s really safety-focused. I just recently added jackets to the collection, and I just want to continue doing everything I already am. I would love to expand on my events and get big sponsors. Safety is so relevant in everything. Unfortunately, all this comes with paying a lot of people a lot of money, so I have to just sit and do what I can with my own resources and hope for the best.
I would really like to continue designing stuff that’s really safety-focused. I just recently added jackets to the collection, and I just want to continue doing everything I already am. I would love to expand on my events and get big sponsors. Safety is so relevant in everything. Unfortunately, all this comes with paying a lot of people a lot of money, so I have to just sit and do what I can with my own resources and hope for the best.
For Mental Health Resources and Support, visit damesnewyork.com
IN CONVERSATION:
JOSE CAMACHO & ALEXIS RIVIERRE
In this interview, Alexis Rivierre shares her artistic journey, exploring her inspirations, her process, and her profound vision for cultural transformation.
Documentation of This, That, & The Third Installation at Wayfarers Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, 2020
Alexis: I came to this planet with a pencil in my hand, or at least that’s what my aunt once told me in reference to how I’ve always had the natural capacity to draw from observation. Fast forward to college, although I had the desire to become a storyboard artist for Pixar, I opted to study painting. As an undergraduate, I made sure to take a range of electives, including photography, printmaking, and ceramics. Having at least a basic understanding in these media has made me quite comfortable with exploration using an eclectic, artistic toolbox. As a graduate student, I spent much time playing and exploring, and the works often concluded with highly conceptual pieces. Painting and drawing fell to the side, as I started to try performance, and rather late in my studies, started sewing the masked character/personas that would form my thesis. In hindsight, making masks would happen throughout the journey, as at one point in graduate school, I was even making plaster sculpture masks for my paintings. Ultimately, regardless of my media, I’ve always been drawn to telling some sort of story. So since I’m not working at an animation studio, I figure I can tell my own stories, often stemming from personal narrative, using all the aforementioned modes. I often tell people, while I may be operating in masked performance, portraiture or even illustrating elements of narratives, my goal is simply to tell a compelling story.
Jose: Your artist statement touches on the impact of visual media on societal perceptions. How do you incorporate this idea into your artwork, and what messages do you aim to convey?
Alexis: First, I should say it’s probably time for a revision of my artist statement, but at least that’s where the work had previous roots. Particularly in my thesis work, “This, That, & The Third,” I was creating character/personas based in tropes that have historically been projected onto Black women. The Jezebel, Mammy, and Sapphire are a few archetypal classifications that body of work touches on, so I took the opportunity to interrogate them through masked performance and gesture. Many of these are central to how Black women have been portrayed in film and television, and since many of us are socialized through television and media, there is a direct correlation between these stereotypes leashing to assumptions about Black women, which in turn influences how different ethnicities relate to one another–even leading to othering in many cases. As a grad student, I was noticing at the time how the perceptions and expectations of me and my ways of being were seemingly tied to stereotypes, so it seemed best to create from an interrogative space. In addition to masking, I curate associated appropriated images from various media sources and sound that reflect said theme to juxtapose with the masked character/persona and their respective performance. Since 2020, those archetypes and stereotypes aren’t so central. Now, I’m more interested in developing new beings who mirror my journey, investigations, and inquisitions–hence why I should take some time to update my statement.
Jose: You mention a focus on portraying Black womanhood in your work. Could you elaborate on the historical context and your approach to challenging prevailing stereotypes in your visual narratives?
Alexis: Personal narrative is at the center of my storytelling, and since I get the privilege of having this human experience as a Black woman, that makes the stories inherently about the Black female experiences. I liken the way I weave stories as a spiral though. Black women and I are centered, and that results in lots of layered codified artistic expressions that people who aren’t of that experience or near it may miss. However, as the work continues to spiral, there are general themes that are simply human, resulting in something that most people can connect to. I’ve established that my statement could use some evolution. As I contemplate this today, it feels a bit exhausting to continue to build stories with the goal of challenging stereotypes; Black experiences aren’t monolithic. Simply put, I long for the day where my practice as an artist can just be about telling a compelling narrative, period. Due to the nature of American–even global–culture, the work will always be political, so simply daring to continue to make my work and have interesting and relevant themes is what makes it about challenging stereotypes and stigma.
Skinship (Kente Portrait III) Acrylic, 2019
Alexis: Personal items contain the essence of lived experiences baked into them, and I rather enjoy bopping around in my day to day knowing that once articles of my clothing wear out, they get re-imagined into these masks and now garments for these beings. As these beings are extensions of myself, it’s only right that they start from me, and there's a bit of an intimacy there–a knowing. So when selections are taking place for fabrics, I intuitively know what I have that can be re-imagined, what it means to me, and how it might tie into the characters story. Sometimes, the fabric is donated from family and friends; for example, I’m working on a warrior character that includes an old distressed pleather jacket from my grandmother. Its color, its faux leather texture, and the distressed nature are appropriate for being essentially a warrior's armor.
Jose: How do you integrate online language and imagery into your work to create alternative narratives that redefine our collective identity?
Alexis: One strategy working in favor of how I interrogate [online language] is intentional juxtapositions. I’m often asking what happens when this and that are brought into relation to one another–do they contradict? Compliment? Make space for newness? There is a dance happening in the works between starting from scratch, sampling, and remixing appropriated bits. Whenever things are being brought into proximity, there will be opportunities for alternative narrative. The best part is I get to bring things together, and it’s you, the viewer, who brings the story together, formed with the components I’ve presented. Your own personal experiences and perceptions will ultimately influence your interpretations.
EXHALE | one who breathes | TAKE CARE Chatacter Gloves detail, 2021
"X" Clearer (tool) 2020
Jose: Your art encourages viewers to question inherited narratives and shed preconceptions. How do you hope your work influences the audience and sparks conversations around societal stories and collective identity?
Alexis: In terms of such hopes, if the audience does not take time to look and participate in the story in a way where they can contribute then nothing can be sparked. Typically engagement is an element. I’m only giving you fragments, so what do you see when you put the fragments together? Stop and look–think. Now, if dialogue happens around that question, what do you see, it's often found that there are varied interpretations, varied outcomes, and experiences with the work. It’s only from that place can any sparks occur.
Jose: Besides your artistic practice, you collaborate with arts organizations, museums, and universities to develop educational resources. How do you see the intersection of your creative and academic work impacting the communities you engage with?
Alexis: Storytelling and masking are simply human ways of communicating and liberating for every culture on this planet in one way or another. So, I hope to influence personal and collective transformation, liberty, and the capacity to engage with each other.
Jose: Can you discuss a specific project or artwork that mainly embodies the essence of your artistic vision and the messages you aim to convey?
Alexis: I recently resolved a body of work entitled, TAKE CARE. This story has two beings (fiber elements include masks and garments) and an illustrated third character (cardinal). It’s more so the formats than the themes that are most aligned with my goal and artistic vision, which is simply to tell stories. This body of work exists in multiple formats, such as a book, full of photographs, collages, poems, and illustrations. Practically, the components of the book can also be put on display to arrange the narrative in real space through exhibition. That’s the true goal–having the capacity to contract and expand, so to speak, so there are multiple formats of delivery, online, book form, animation, and as installations via exhibition.
Jose: What upcoming projects or collaborations are you excited about, and how do you envision your work evolving?
Alexis: I’m currently working on a namesake project, which is rooted in the meanings of my first and middle name, Alexis Rivierre. Alexis means warrior, helper, defender, and Rivierre means river or string of diamonds. So I’m currently developing a narrative around four river warriors. These four beings are in varied stages of resolve as sewing is concerned, and each will be performed and illustrated. Ultimately, I envision my stories unfolding in books, exhibitions, and animations. At the moment, I have 13 characters/beings, so in the long run I’d love to perpetuate the story through them and in the long term, develop evolving narratives respectively.
Photos: Alexis Rivierre
alexisrivierre.com
Magnus wears a FINE CHAOS t-shirt
Yejin wears a KIMHEKIM coat, and vintage pants
Magnus wears a vintage top by DOLCE & GABBANA
Hoodie and pants, FINE CHAOS. Corset, CENGIZ GUDUCU
On Magnus, vintage top by DOLCE & GABBANA
On Yejin, vintage coat by BALENCIAGA