Michael Smith
Asheville, NC | Exhibiting Since 2014
Begins in the early 1980s, when I would take time off art school and follow the Grateful Dead on Tour, selling my signature T-shirts out of my ’62 Volkswagen sunroof bug. People really liked what I was making, including some well known musicians of the day. I went back for my final semester of design school with an interest in learning everything I could about dyeing fabric to create something totally unique.
After experimenting with dye techniques from around the world, I arrived at my own unique variation of the Japanese Shibori Technique. I also added a number of festival-inspired silk styles and teamed up with my son to re-launch the brand as Manifest Color in 2016. Today, our work can be found in select boutiques from Asheville, NC to Beverly Hills, CA.