Mehera Blum is the founder and creative director of Blumera, a luxury brand that began with handbags, but has expanded into include clothing, jewelry, and now decorative home fixtures. Mehera’s (pronounced MAIR-uh) entrance into the fashion world was unexpected, even to her. But she’s made a name for herself through her bold creations, known for their bright colors and intricate design. Her pieces have been found on the red carpet with the likes of Lady Gaga and Beyoncé. Most recently, two of FLOWER magazine’s Baton Rouge Showhouse designers, Kara Cox and Arianne Bellizaire, used Blumera pieces to create statements in their respective rooms. For Mehera, designing is in her blood. It comes to her second nature largely from her deep bond that she shared with her mom. Her mother, Laurie Blum, was a painter known for her vibrant works that used nature to touch on spiritual musings about the world beyond. Laurie passed in 2015, but her spirit still lives with Mehera in everything she creates. We caught up with Mehera to discuss her journey to being a designer, where she finds inspiration, and what the future of Blumera looks like.
When did you first start designing?
I started designing as a little girl when I would make clothes for my Barbies and dolls. My mother indulged my pursuit and took me to a seamstress at the local mall. I showed the seamstress my designs, and she sewed them for my dolls. It was so sweet of my mom, but I had no idea at the time that I would be designer– I was set on being an actress.
When I was seven years old, I visited India for the first time and met my namesake, Mehera Irani. She wanted to gift my mom and I some special things. One of these gifts was to pick out fabric and design dresses as a gift from her. And so, the very first clothing design that I did was a gift from Mehera. This memory is extremely precious to me as I hold her in extremely high regard and believe she in essence planted the seed for the business I now have today. I still have these dresses and treasure them. Mehera was a really inspirational person in my life.
When did you start Blumera and what was that process like?
It was completely by happenstance, and it sort of fell into my lap. Around 2005, I was acting professionally, and I got mercury poisoning. I lost my short term memory temporarily. When my memory returned, I started looking for a project to do until I was well enough to act again. I went on a trip to Bali with the intention of buying jewelry and bringing it back to sell. Clothing had crossed my mind as well but I was concerned about sizes. One day I visited a handbag store and that gave me the idea because one size fits all. Its a long story, a great story, but a long story— I made a few and would carry one or another with me in LA. I would get stopped on the street wherever I went, asking where I got my bag. It was kind of a fated thing.
Then, one of my friends was in a show with Jessica Alba and Eva Mendes. They were hosting a party and asked if Jessica and Eva could wear the bags that night. I said “Sure.” The next thing I knew there was a full page in one of the magazines with Eva Mendes and a blurb about my bag! I started getting orders even though I barely had a website. People would exclaim, “Wow! I love your bags. You’re such an amazing designer!” And I would say, “No, I am not a designer. I am an actress!” It took me time to finally accept that I was in fact a designer. However, once I did, I really got into it and would design every element of the bag from scratch. I see now it was one of those things that was just meant to be.
What are some guiding principles behind your company and your designs?
I know this sounds trite, but it’s the truth; everything is made with love. I feel the inspiration for my designs come to me from the other realm, and I feel I get a lot of help from my late mother and my inner spiritual life. The creations are inspired pieces. I design with love, create with love, and so love is the prevailing presence and force throughout the process. Its amazing for me to observe this flow from the beginning to the end. When the client remarks that they can feel the love in the piece they now own, I am a little in awe to witness their experience. It’s truly magical to see that what I infuse into my creations resonates so deeply and on such a profound level with my clients.
In terms of design, I don’t really look at what other designers are doing or what’s trending. My designs are often unusual and unique because my thought process is really pure and independent from the trends.
What cultures from around the world have inspired your designs?
Definitely India because I was so captivated by all the colors there at such a young age. Bali has also been an influence because of their incredible carving skills and their ancient crafts. Mostly recently I visited Japan, and I was inspired and impressed by their mindfulness, simplicity, striving for perfection, and love and appreciation of beauty.
Your designs are bursting with color, can you tell me what attracts you to your palette and what inspires you to use them?
I love bright saturated colors because they’re tactile and alive. Color gives me a visceral experience. The brand color is a bright fuchsia/magenta. It’s sometimes hard to capture, but I can see it in my mind’s eye. I love playing with colors and bringing different colors together. My mother and I both shared a unique “sight” for color.
Can you tell us how florals and nature inspire your work?
Nature to me is the most perfect art– the most incredible art. Just looking at the infinite shades of greens in leaves is awe-inspiring. Looking at flower petals or a butterfly or a bird and seeing the way colors are brought together with textures is very inspiring. For instance, someone may not think to put a bright blue and red together, but when you see it on a majestic bird it’s perfection. Putting colors together in a harmonious way is almost symphonic. Its a really important element to my designs.
You mention sustainability on your website, what kind of practices do you implement to ensure that your brand is sustainable?
Its important to me to be in harmony with the earth as closely as possible. I don’t use any plastics or synthetics; I use natural materials. We have a great supplier for our wood. We found him after a lot of research, and he has wood that has already been cut a long time ago (many pieces are nearly 100 years old)! That’s really important to me because I don’t want to cut down trees to make our collections.
Being authentic to myself is what guides my sustainability practices. I believe in creating a happy environment for the entire Blumera team and especially our artisans. I want them to feel happy, comfortable, and be well compensated for their work. I feel that’s really important. When the environment is nurturing, that’s when people feel like they can put their heart into something and create a treasure. That same feeling carries on because those pieces will be treasured by the person who owns it. They’re going to keep it. And they’re going to take care of it and pass it on to their children. Knowing that a piece we are creating will have a very long life and perhaps even outlive us and become an heirloom. Never becoming trash is a major component to being sustainable.
There’s a lot of intent behind your designs, what message are you hoping to send behind your different products and designs?
I hope to spread love and beauty. It’s not a superficial beauty. It’s the inner beauty and quality of the heart. That inner beauty is within the pieces that I create. Its remarkable because I hear that reflected back from my customers; they feel so much love in their bags or the furniture, or the chandeliers they’ve bought. They can feel it, and that is amazing.
How did your mom’s approach to creativity shape your own?
My mother really inspired me deeply in my creative process. It’s almost like something passed down genetically. I don’t think about it because it’s just who I am. We realized one day that we see the same way. This is kind of a funny story and so mother/daughter. One time we were at a store buying a doorknob for my first store in LA. We wound up getting into a fight over who saw this doorknob first. It was a gorgeous emerald crystal knob. Later we discovered that we saw it at the same time, and it was in this moment that we recognized that we saw things the same way. We had the same “sight,” the same creative vision. Another example of this is when I painted my store magenta on the walls and a sea foam color on the floors. Later, we put up her Conference of the Birds painting in my store and realized it was the exact same colors that I had painted the floors and walls. We hadn’t plan it. We were really so similar.
My mom would also paint in really vivid colors. I think that’s part of why I’m so drawn to color, texture, and lushness. She was also deeply inspired by Iran so that is an indirect cultural influence on me from her.
Your Conference of the Birds line is intricate, bold and deeply personal. Can you speak to your inspiration behind this line and the role that your mother played in it?
The original painting is about the birds’ spiritual journey to the Simurgh. The Simurgh represents the mythical bird of God. It’s the story of the birds returning to their true inner self. A year or two after my mother passed away I took that painting and made it into wood-carved bags. A few months later, I made a brass vase. Then a client and her interior designer asked me if I could make lighting, basically a big version of one of the bags that I had made. I said “Sure!” And that’s what launched the globe chandelier. They’re in natural wood, brass, hand-painted wood, and lacquered wood.
Several designers chose to incorporate your work in the FLOWER Baton Rouge Showhouse. Why do interior designers feel so drawn to your work, and why do you feel like the designers chose it for this house?
I think what I’m doing is really unique. I believe they also feel the energy in the pieces like my customers do. My mother used to say that her paintings move the energy in a space, and I believe that these pieces do that too. The globe chandelier has its own life-force, and it’s pretty incredible to witness.
You’ve had several different celebrities over the years support your work. Your bags have made it onto the MET Gala red carpet and your lights into celebrity homes. Does that still get you tickled every time you see that?
Yes! The bags are often on the red carpet, and that makes me happy. When I learned that Beyoncé wanted to purchase some of my pieces and Lady Gaga commissioned me to make pieces for their home, I was really humbled. These women are great artists in their own right, and they can have whatever they want (and be paid for it). To have them commission me and purchase from me is really special and humbling.
What’s your process for staying creative and trying something new?
I can’t say that I have a specific process, but when I get inspired I just dive in and begin creating. I find that once I start everything rushes to meet me. I am bursting with ideas, and there is so much I want to create.
What’s next for Blumera?
I’m working on what I call Sanctuary Blumera, which will be the creation of beautiful living spaces that are nourishing, rejuvenating, and healing to the spirit. I will create everything for the home from rugs to wallpapers, lights to doorknobs, sofas to beds, everything! I would like to actually do full homes, the whole buildout, even boutique hotels. I’m really excited about creating these living spaces that will be healing in their beauty and lushness.