Mark Thomas (that's him on the left) started the company, with the help of his partner Johannes Mager, in 1999.

Mark deals with the design and construction of the garments, while Johannes (who is also a professional musician) deals with the business aspects.
Johannes also designed and constructed this website.

Mark began his formal training in apparel arts at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles, later transferring to Los Angeles Trade Tech, where he learned all phases of design through production.

Directly out of school he began working as a design assistant for Hollywood costume designer Jean-Pierre Dorleac, best known for his costumes for "Barbarella", and "Blue Lagoon". The experience of working on costumes for "Bladerunner" had a profound effect, inspiring him to think of clothing as functional art, and forever changing his approach to apparel.

Through various jobs, he has gained professional experience in production / contract sewing, sample making, cutting, pattern making, grading and designing.

In 1982 he moved to San Francisco and began a small company designing and producing hand crafted high-end women's apparel, selling to such stores as Obiko in San Francisco, and Bergdorf Goodman in New York.

In 1984 he began teaching himself to hand-dye and paint textiles to incorporate into apparel, selling work to private clients, specialty stores and later, designing and producing textiles for local designers.

Mark constructs all patterns and sews all samples / one of a kinds, with some assistance in the area of production sewing.

Mark has been featured in "The Fiberarts Book of Wearable Art" by Katherine Duncan Aimone, and "Memory on Cloth...Shibori Now", by Yoshiko Wada. His work has also been featured in Ornament Magazine (Summer 2002). In November of 2002 and 2004, Mark was invited to China to be a featured designer in the Humen International Fashion Festival.

All of the runway shots throughout this Website are from those two shows in China.