By Vanessa Lantos Daly (Spicy Melon)
June 1, 2025 – I was running late.
Sitting in unexpected traffic, dealing with the brightest of Savannah’s drivers, per usual. But more importantly, I had no sense of urgency or anticipation.
Maybe that was a blessing.
If I had known, I might have built some expectations about meeting someone so significant.
Not only was I late, but I wasn’t even properly informed. I had browsed her Instagram, saw a chic and very fashionable Spanish woman. A kind smile, lots of color.
Beautiful fashion illustrations…
Wow, I thought to myself and said it out loud without thinking. I scrolled for a few more minutes.
Nestled behind an unmarked door at 106 West Broughton Street — a door I had never noticed before — her studio and residence now sit. Just steps away from The Paris Market.
I never expected to meet someone like Marisu Miranda. Her place is an explosion of beauty, textiles, and color. Upon meeting her, she was constantly walking around, moving, doing things. Her energy electric, her flow seamless.
I was not ready for it at all.
“I’ve been in Savannah eight months. I’m still unpacking,” she says with a dazzling smile. “We just got married four years ago,” she adds, referring to her husband. “And our wedding song was Blue Savannah by Erasure. This is our favorite song. I had never even visited Savannah. We were in Colombia for 14 months before, and flew over to look at it. I found this place last April, we shook hands, and we were here in July. That was it. It was meant to be.”
Illustrations, paintings, and the most beautiful handmade fabrics adorn the place. It looks like something out of a Gabriel García Márquez novel, dripping with magical realism.
At first, Marisu treated me the way I imagine she treats most of the journalists who have interviewed her, telling me fantastic details and names. I had never heard of her until that week… but I have definitely heard of Givenchy, Prada, Ralph Lauren, etc. She has worked with all of them and studied hundreds of techniques.
But then, I caught a glimpse of her warmth. Meeting the hands behind the scenes making it all happen in the glamorous world of couture hits differently.
“Always underground. A lot of people ask me, ‘With everything that I do, how come I’m not famous?’ Well, to be famous you have to work for one house exclusively. And my goal was never fame, just to be the best in my career. I worked with the biggest houses to learn from all of them, and I don’t think I’m missing anything.”
Just listening to her, it was impossible not to be in constant awe: An endless carousel of stardom and accomplishments.
I was sheepishly sitting in her living room, surrounded by paintings and one-of-a-kind fabrics.
Colors bursting out of every corner. Creative complexity unfolding at the seams.
The kind of woman who puts a painting on the wall, then paints a piece of the wall to continue the painting with unrestricted creativity.
She hands me an herbal tea and homemade sugar cookies, all in random shapes. She is extremely down to earth and approachable, which is unique, because I get the feeling she’s like this with everyone. Famous or not.
Writing this article was difficult for me because it felt like I would need to write a hundred articles to do her justice. A thousand even. One on each year, each event, each accomplishment, each burst of light.
It felt like stepping into a world I’ve always admired from the outside and meeting one of the architects. Which is interesting, because having her in Savannah is so unique.
She is a third-generation fashion designer from Spain. Both her parents were creative entrepreneurs: her father was a painter and carpenter, and her mother a dressmaker and businesswoman. Their family atelier opened in 1952 in Galicia, Spain. Her parents met in Paris in 1958, like many post-war children seeking work abroad.
Her mother worked for Robert Debré, father of France’s first Prime Minister, Michel Debré. She was trained by a Dior seamstress, while her father created wood sculptures.
Marisu graduated from fashion school in Barcelona in 1989. That same year she moved to New York City to launch her career.
After working with the biggest names in the industry for seven years, Marisu opened an atelier and fabric boutique in Tampa. This gave her the opportunity to design and create her own fabrics.
It’s an interesting concept, designing the textiles and inventing her own techniques to achieve dresses that haven’t been made before.
The United States offers limited options for hand labor for such unique pieces, so she has traveled all over the world in search of people to train to create the fabrics. Sometimes traveling to three different countries with the same dress to complete it for a client. Not trusting anyone’s shipping, she would produce and deliver the pieces herself.
Marisu speaks nonchalantly about working as an expert tailor for Fashion Week at the Met Gala every year since 2007. Going to dress the likes of Sofia Vergara and Tina Fey.
This is why I felt intimidated and wowed. It made me think of the years I was a bartender at The Pink House and we got visited by Johnny Depp, Robert De Niro, and Will Smith. All separate times.
They’re all just people: they came in to have a nice meal and left, just like every other guest who visited that house.
I wasn’t starstruck then, but I was definitely starstruck now. The more she spoke, the more I marveled. After 20 minutes, I was fully committed and immersed, incredulous and a bit dazed listening to her.
She was introduced to me by local artist Jerome Meadows. He obviously saw the greatness in her — a treasure in plain sight.
Marisu is warm and approachable, but she speaks with a melancholic tone upon a world that turns to fast fashion at every turn. Nobody wants to pay for couture. Even if they want a couture dress, they don’t want to pay for it… even if they can.
“Fashion illustrations are being replaced by computers, gown techniques are deemed impractical, and the art of couture risks vanishing. I believe its future may lie not only on runways, but also in galleries—where storytelling, heritage, and craftsmanship live on in art.”
This is why Marisu became a full-time fashion artist. While still perfectly able to work, be a fabric creator, and make gowns and pieces, her creative outlets have expanded.
For example, she will make a painting and add a scarf to it — or fabric to make it a skirt.
Marisu was initially attracted to Savannah because of the fashion program at SCAD and the vibrant local art community.
“Between sketching, teaching, and creating unique gowns, I’m finding new ways to preserve my trade. I now create hybrid fashion-art pieces—sewing parts of dresses into canvases, merging illustration with draped textiles. These are dresses that live on walls, not in closets — art murals stitched with vintage and modern fabrics.”
The resulting pieces are incredible.
It is such a unique way of making one-of-a-kind art pieces, and such a beautiful way of displaying the marvel of the textiles and gowns.
Marisu shares: “As I stitch, I feel each fabric’s personality. I see the full outfit in my mind — complete with accessories — so I include a full fashion illustration alongside the canvas.”
I asked Marisu what her message is for Savannah, now that she is here.
“I can be reached by appointment for a studio visit. Being a business owner when I had my atelier in Tampa was a great experience, but all the logistics affected my creativity. I lost myself in all the work of running a business, and I don’t want that anymore. Now, I’m still creating daily, with or without a client. I give classes on fashion illustration which I advertise on Instagram before the date.”
She points out and brings light to the lack of fashion illustrations as a main piece of artwork in galleries and art shows:
“After a whole life of working with fashion, I’m focusing on being a fashion artist, which means turning fashion into pieces of art. Mixed media murals. It always surprised me how people don’t use fashion illustration as art, but as a tool. They don’t display it in their homes. Even in SCAD, when you go to the museum, there are paintings, but no fashion illustrations. I also keep dresses in glass cases in my living room, to display them properly and keep them alive within my space.”
Marisu can be contacted for commissioned fashion illustrations, murals, and fashion art. She is also an amazing consultant for starting a clothing line, construction issues, sourcing, and production.
She was a teacher for many years on the subjects of Fashion Design, Fashion Sketching, Portfolio, Flat Sketching, Photoshop for Fashion, and Trends.
She is a public speaker and mentor at schools and community centers.
In August, she will host an open house for people to view her art and gowns. Following her is the best way to see the final date of this upcoming event.
She enchanted me in less than an hour and taking advantage of the opportunity to see her beautiful studio during this upcoming open house is a must. She loves Savannah, but Savannah hasn’t fully met her yet.
This city has received a gem to add to its artistic tapestry. I hope you get the chance to see what I saw.
Love always,
Vanessa
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