For Mo Dart, tie dye isn’t just his go-to fashion choice, it’s a lifestyle.
“My mother used to make fun of me because I would never let her throw trash away, because I always needed to use it to create something new,” Dart said. “That evolved throughout my life, very specifically, on the tie dye journey.”
Mo Dart Art specializes in custom tie dye and crochet clothing for sizes XL and up (the largest size currently available is 6X). They officially launched their art page earlier this summer, but Dart says tie dye has always been in the mix.
Growing up, tie dye was on sight at his birthday parties, and they incorporated that into their work. Dart spent 10 years in youth development through Boys and Girls Club of America, and each year on their birthday, they would run a program teaching kids how to make their own tie dye creation.
“I ended up working at a t-shirt company that was local to where I’m from on Hilton Head Island, so then my job became to help other people tie dye,” Dart said. “They would buy the shirts, and they could come down and all summer we would just be outside in the 100 degree heat, tie-dying all day, and it was just the most fun you could ever have.”
All of Mo Dart Art’s tie dye pieces are secondhand, with the ultimate goal of cutting down on consumption. Dart initially began thrifting shirts with friend and fellow creative Arleigh Wetland of Them Processed Goods, who also lives on Lower Tanana Dené Land.
“Bleach dye has become more of a newer activity, but arguably one of my favorites because it opens up the horizons when you’re thrifting,” Dart said. “The amount of tie dye that you can do — you’re not just looking for white or grey.”
Dart began crocheting about a year and a half ago and has maintained their “very intense obsession,” even making their Halloween costume entirely out of crochet.
“As an autistic person, it is probably the best fidget I have in my life,” Dart said. “It’s fairly easy to bring it wherever I’m going, whatever I’m doing. It also is something that benefits me in my work life. It is something that can keep my hands busy but my mind [is] able to be engaged.”
Dart says the community around them has shaped their art, whether it was making a crocheted earring holder to accommodate their friends’ growing collection, or having a friend of theirs develop their business logo for them.
“I would have never made the jump from just creating for myself if I didn’t have the community support, those people that questioned me and pushed me, to wear my own tie dye, my friends Marilyn and Liv, or those that literally sat around a fire and made a business plan with me,” he said.
Dart is currently accepting custom orders through their Instagram DMs.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.
