Before Angeli Studios came Misuma, a bespoke couture brand, started on return from India in 2007.
I would design dresses, trousers, jackets and coats – paying close attention to how my clients would react to weave, shades, lines and shapes. Beyond the style, colour and texture of fabric to suit each complexion, I would focus on what brought my clients alive, and most comfortable with those parts of themselves which often, in a male dominated environment, they would not have the space to connect with, or to express.
Sometimes, as part of a designing session, we would sit cross-legged on a rug and meditate, to explore how their inner world might manifest through the second skin that I was about to create for them.
I reached the conclusion that beauty was about balancing all the parts of ourselves, about self-knowledge: the more we know ourselves, the happier we are to share; the more we share, the more confident we appear to ourselves and to others.
Over the years, I became more and more interested in creating a bespoke service, especially as I had started to notice how closely each person’s scent interacted with their style choices, and with what they wanted to project about themselves.
I started studying the balancing effect of plants and essential oils, and how their scents can influence and even transform emotional states and self-perception. I became certified in natural cosmetic making, so I could make balancing and soothing body and hair-care products, specially formulated for each individual.
It was during one of my design workshops, creating a mood board with paints, fabrics and scents, that I realised I needed a more layered “container” for all that creativity, and as a way of reflecting the uniqueness of each person. As the mother of three daughters, I wanted to help more girls and women build a lasting and positive self-image. I also wanted to develop my practice, and make it more accessible to people beyond the sphere of design and tailored clothing!
They say once you’re ready, the thing you next need will appear, and soon I came across Body Mapping for the first time. As a painter, I've always loved the directness of indigenous art, going back to the oldest cave paintings, so I found the idea of mapping out emotions onto an outline of my own body immediately intriguing. That one weekend became a certification course, then an extended professional mentorship, and I have never looked back.
I now use Body Mapping as the basis for every type of workshop I offer. It’s my favourite tool for gently guiding people into the richness of their undiscovered inner tapestry and, together, shining a light on wherever that journey leads.
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