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.
Photo by Ryan Smith
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 totally indulged my pursuit and took me to a seamstress at the local mall. I showed the seamstress my designs and she sewed them up for my dolls. It was so credible of my mom, but I had no idea at the time that I would be designer– I actually wanted to be an actress.
When I was seven years old, I visited India for the first time and met my namesake, Mehera Irani. She wanted to give my mother and I a gift so she gave us money to go shopping at the local bazaar. We bought several beautiful fabrics and again designed dresses at the tailor. The dresses are some of my most treasured possesions because Mehera was a really inspirational person in my life.
Photo courtesy of Mehera Blum
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 one day I visited a handbag shop. It’s kind of a fated thing– I made a few and I brought them back to LA.
Then, one of my friends was in a show with Jessica Alba and Eva Mendes. They were hosting a party and asked if they could wear the bags that night. I said “Of course!” and one of the magazines ended up photographing my bags. Next thing I knew, I was getting orders! I barely had a website, and I would still tell people I was an actress not a designer. It took time for me to embrace it and realize how much fun I was having. Over time I just kept getting more and more into it and then really started to design pieces from scratch. I guess it was just one of those things that was just meant to be.
What are some guiding principles behind your company and your designs?
I know it sounds trite, but it’s completely the truth; Everything is made with love. I say my designs come to me from the other realm because I believe I get a lot of help from my late mother and my spiritual practices. Our products are inspired pieces. My artisans make it with love, so love is the prevailing force throughout the process. The customers often tell me how they feel the love in the creation that they’ve purchased.
Photo courtesy of Mehera Blum
POPPIES!, 2004. By Laurie Blum.
Conference of the Birds Large Ushape and Rose and the Nightingale Clutch hand-carved and hand-painted in lacquered blue.
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 for what they’ve done for their ancient crafts. Mostly recently I visited Japan, and the mindfulness, simplicity, but also the perfection that they approach design with is really interesting.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. 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.
Photo by Ryan Smith
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 amount of greens in leaves is breathtaking. 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, I don’t think to put bright blue and red together, but when I see it on a majestic bird it’s perfection. That’s how I know it’ll work in a design.
Photo courtesy of Blumera
You mention sustainability on your website, what kind of practices do you implement to ensure that your brand is sustainable?
I really try to work with resources that are in harmony with the earth as best as possible. I don’t use any plastics or synthetics; I use natural materials. We have a great supplier for used wood, and that’s really important to me because I don’t want to be cutting down trees to make our product. Being authentic to myself is what guides my sustainability practices. I believe in creating a happy environment so the artisans feel comfortable and very well compensated for their work. I feel like 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. It’s not going to become trash.
Photo courtesy of Mehera Blum
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. It’s interesting because I hear it reflected back from my customers that they feel so much love in their bags or whatever furnishing or light 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. One time we were at a store, and we got into a fight over who saw this emerald doorknob first. Later we discovered that we saw it at the same time… but we both had to come to terms with the fact that we just see things the same way. Over the years I started to realize how similar our vision was. I painted my store magenta on the walls and a seafoam color on the floors. Later, we put up her Conference of the Birds painting in my shop and realized it was the exact same color that I had painted the floors and walls. We didn’t plan that. That’s when we understood how similarly we see the world. 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.
POPPIES!, 2004. By Laurie Blum.
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.
Photo by Paul Costello
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 paintings move the energy in a space. And I believe that these pieces do that too. The globe chandelier has its own lifeforce, and it’s pretty incredible to witness.
The Conference of Birds chandelier hangs from a hand-painted mural by Connie Harris In Arianne Bellizaire's Ivy Showhouse Dressing Room. The chandelier acts as a moon symbol within the space with a backdrop of start in the floral mural. Photo by Paul Costello.
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?
I’m not going to lie– when I see Beyoncé or Lady Gaga carry one of my pieces it’s pretty great. It’s humbling because they can have whatever they want, and I know that people pay them a lot of money to use their product, so for them to commission and purchase my work is really special.
What’s your process for staying creative and trying something new?
I don’t have a process! I just dive in. I find once I start everything rushes to meet me.
Photo courtesy of Blumera
This brass carved vase was the starting point for Mehera's light fixtures.
