Meet MOMO

We had the good fortune of connecting with MOMO and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi MOMO, how does your business help the community?
10 million tons of excess textiles go to landfills in the US each year. When I started building MOMO BAGS, I found a thrill in challenging myself to utilize only materials I could source from my own overflowing closet. As the endless possibilities took shape from outgrown vintage jackets and old school supplies, I realized I had plenty to work with. This was before I knew the term “upcycling”. Unlike recycling, upcycling gives discarded junk a new, fabulous identity and form. Ideally, upcycling becomes the new production standard for brands and artists alike. MOMO’s approach plays a small but important role in this new reality.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My latest work, the MOMO BELTBAG, came out of necessity. On my first gig as a roadie, I needed a solution for carrying my radio and all the various tools of the job. A sort-of utility belt, but cute, and it would have to transform into a shoulder bag for off-the-clock city explorations. Nothing like it existed. After a number of prototypes and tour-bus road-tests, the BELTBAG was born.

I taught myself to sew in 2020 and became obsessed with the logistical and artful craft of making bags. The vintage garments and materials I build with have sentimental or symbolic meaning to me. Bittersweet gifts from ex lovers and friends, and bits of my smashed up car from a hit-and-run are all fair game. I’ll pour a whole heartbreak into a bag, then release it. I’m riveted imagining all the ways that a bag’s story can expand with every swing on a new arm.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
LA is such a sprawling playground. The many pockets of the city have a great variety of experiences to offer. I’d start by taking them to a movie at New Beverly Theater, then for mezcal margaritas at El Carmen. Heading West, Broad Street Oyster Co. has the freshest food in Malibu (try the burger, add pickles), and while we’re over there we’d go for a happy hour Mai Tai at Paradise Cove. The best part of LA is the East Side, so we’d wind up in Atwater grabbing Homestate tacos or Dune for great mediterranean. As for shopping, the vintage in Los Feliz can’t be beat.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Bag-making Professor Giuliana Fortini, of Accademia Riaci. I spent time in 2022 apprenticing one-on-one with her, learning the lauded and centuries-old ways of Florentine leather work, and driving Giuli crazy with my outlandish ideas and insistence on upcycling. These days, I’m floored by my partner, Tony Testa’s dedication and fervor in the pursuit of his own creative path. My first inspiration was my mom, a painter, illustrator, craft-wizard, and accomplished disruptor. She raised my brother and I with a massive emphasis on colorful expression and play. She also nick-named me “Momo”.

Website: https://www.momomomo.co

Instagram: @inmymomobag

Image Credits
Momo