Micheline Pitt considers her next big story.
How do you tell cathartic and deeply compelling stories based on your own life?
Following the eclectic and fascinating path of Micheline Pitt has been incredibly interesting, and it is notable that she has found a very unique voice in the often muddy waters of Hollywood. Micheline Pitt is a multi-disciplinary artist renowned for her work as a fashion designer, artist, animator, and advocate for sexual assault survivors as a member of RAINN National Leadership Council.
“Micheline is a true renaissance artist, skilled in everything from drawing and painting to textiles and film, with all of her work showcasing her unique voice - bittersweet yet hopeful, dark yet romantic, grounded yet fantastical." offers Paula Haifley, Animation Executive at A24.
Pitt was recognized as an LA Weekly Person of the Year in 2020, and named Allure Magazine's top 10 Gothic Beauty Icons. Her breakout directorial and writing debut is her short film Grummy made alongside her creative partner and husband R.H. Norman. The Normans' short films have screened in Academy Award-qualifying film festivals and their feature scripts have placed in the finals of high profile competitions including Final Draft's Big Break Contest, Shore Scripts, Screencraft, and others. Forbes sat down with Micheline Pitt to talk career, new projects and the future horizon of creativity.
Goldie Chan: Thank you for joining us, Micheline. What has your general career path in Hollywood been?
Micheline Pitt: I think like most people out there that are creative we find ourselves lost looking for what we should be doing, and who we should be doing it with. It’s been a journey. I started out as an animator, then a professional industry makeup artist, and finally a fashion designer.
I have always been an artist my whole life, so all these careers I’ve had were all just pieces of a bigger puzzle waiting to come together. I learned skills at each of these careers that I think were preparing me for the path that I am on now. Not one single thing that I have done has been able to use all of my abilities and all of my skills as an artist until I started running my own fashion brand. I was finally able to tell my own stories with these photoshoots, and clothing collections I would create. I realized that that’s what I really enjoyed doing, I enjoyed telling stories.
I enjoyed creating these characters with these models, building worlds for them to exist in which ultimately led me to work in film. I met my husband RH Norman over seven years ago, he was already a filmmaker and writer at that time, and his work was beautiful. Meeting him really helped get me on this new path, he pushed me to start my own brand and businesses immediately. Eventually I would learn how to produce, write and direct alongside him. We have been a creative team for over 5 years now, and it is so exciting that we are a professional writing and directing team. I feel extremely lucky to get to work with my best friend every single day.
Chan: What has been your favorite project that you’ve worked on so far?
Pitt: I think creatively the most interesting projects I have worked on in the licensing world would have to be our Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice collections. Tim Burton is one of my favorite filmmakers and someone who inspires me so much creatively. I started out as an animator like Tim did, so I get to use all of my artistic abilities in my creative process as a designer. There is so much creativity with his characters, costumes and world building, how could a designer not enjoy creating things from the worlds he builds.
But I think I’m just starting to really flex all of my creative muscles, and I think that the film that we’re working on is going to be my best creative work as an artist yet. We are working with such incredibly creative and talented people that the world we are building is something truly spectacular.
Chan: Who do you focus on and how do you build your community?
Pitt: I don’t think I’ve built any sort of community myself. I think that the community exists because of social media creating a space where people could collectively come together with similar interests and bond over them. I think it’s always about discovery, and that the community itself is constantly evolving and changing because we’re constantly evolving and changing ourselves. I always try to listen to feedback from my customers and see what they love about something, I don’t think any design is truly ever done, you continue to shape it and evolve it into something better each time. I just try to deliver ethically well-made products that will last my customers a lifetime, and through that I think large groups of femme identifying women from all around the world have formed their own community. I am just here to provide the things they bond over, and find joy in.
Chan: Why did you focus on creating within the horror space?
Pitt: I focused on creating in the horror space because I am a huge horror fan and I have been my whole life. Ever since my grandfather showed me my first horror movie when I was three years old, I haven’t looked back. I think it began from those fond memories and bonding with the closest thing that I would ever have to a father figure that made me truly love horror. We would hang out on his couch in his doublewide trailer watching those classic universal horror movies on VHS. I was such an outcast growing up, I always related more to the monsters in those old classic films, and stories than I did to the human characters. Because of that personal connection, and those fond memories as a little kid, horror became a space for me to find comfort.
I think that women have always been drawn to horror, we have been some of the biggest consumers of horror content out there for so long. I just knew that there had to be so many other women out there like me that loved horror and wanted to enjoy things crafted for them by a fellow female fan.
Chan: How would you describe your personal brand?
Pitt: If I had to describe my personal brand Vixen by Micheline Pitt, I would say that Vixen is an edgy hyper feminine line that celebrates the uniqueness of creative expression in sizes XS - 4X. It takes inspiration from 1950’s bad girls, with a bit of an 1980’s flair thrown in for fun, and of course fandom. I think the brand itself is cinematic, I take so much inspiration from film, and art to create looks that will hopefully give every wearer main character energy.
Chan: What are you currently working on?
Pitt: I am currently working on creating several new and original product collections for our two companies as well as some really exciting licensing collaborations. My business partner Lynh Haaga and I are the first clothing company to ever do a licensed clothing collection for Francis Ford Coppola’s ionic film Bram Stoker’s Dracula. That collection will be coming out in the fall of 2023 for our brand La Femme En Noir in collaboration with Sony Pictures. Then I have an official licensed clothing collection with Jim Henson’s studios for their wonderful film Labyrinth, coming out later this summer with Vixen by Micheline Pitt. I’m a huge fan of the Labyrinth film as well as all of Henson’s work. This film specifically had a huge impact on me creatively, my short film that I made with my creative partner and husband RH Norman called Grummy was very much a love letter to Henson’s style of filmmaking and world building. So it feels like coming full circle to get to work with such an iconic studio as Jim Henson to create this collection.
The project I would say, I’m most excited about is our studio feature film COSMETIC that we are currently in development on with our amazingly creative and talented Producers James Wan and Ingrid Bisu. We couldn’t be with better company collaborating with Atomic Monster and Sony Screen Gems for this upcoming feature horror film. It collides the world of glamour and body horror in a supernatural tale of one girl’s deadly pursuit of perfection.
Chan: What is exciting to you in the world of fashion or fandom?
Pitt: I think the most exciting thing about the world of fashion and fandom is having items that you get to wear to show your love and passion, for things that bring you joy. It is no different than someone wearing a sports jersey and showing their love and passion for their favorite sports team. I think that there’s something in all of us that wants to show the world that we love something, that this thing that I am wearing is my favorite thing that brings me joy. Fandom is infectious.
Chan: Would you like to share any branding or career advice for this new year?
Pitt: The best branding or career advice that I could give in this new year is to know your customer. This goes across the board on anything and everything as far as products go.
You can take big chances and make bold moves but if you do not know who your product is for then you may be setting yourself up for failure. I also think that everything we create has to have a story. Maybe it’s a dress, maybe it’s a book, maybe it’s a film, all of those things have to have a story or theme or a message that you're trying to convey to those that are going to use it, to see it, or to wear it. That is how people will connect to your brand, your product or your creation and truly appreciate it.
