MLMA

MLMA began her artistic career after quitting a design job with MIXXMIX in 2014.[2] Her initial plans were to develop an independent line of socks, owing to a belief that most fashionable socks were either of poor quality or poor design.[2] She began to distribute many of her artistic creations via Instagram, often using simple art supplies sourced from dollar stores.[3] In 2017, MLMA went viral on Instagram after starting the "wavy brows" trend, a style imitated by Instagram influencers and a Snapchat filter.[4]

In music, MLMA is known for songs which, "while rooted in hip-hop, borrow heavily from K-pop and electronic music."[5] Her October 2018 single "Sweetie" was reviewed positively by Paper magazine as "brimming over with disaffected nonchalance...in a laconic, half-rapped tone."[5] In May 2020, MLMA released a new single, "You Can't Kill Me I'm Alive."[6] She has been described as being part of the SoundCloud rap movement.[6]

MLMA is a lead designer at Korean streetwear label Skoot (sometimes stylized SKØØT), of which she is also a co-founder.[3][7] Her involvement with Skoot began after attracting attention at a solo art show in Toronto, Canada.[1] Many promotional images for the brand were taken from house parties, with the clothes modeled by MLMA's personal friends.[2] Skoot's sometimes eccentric style features original artwork by MLMA along with heavily anime-inspired imagery, making reference to prominent franchises like Neon Genesis Evangelion.[7] Billie Eilish was an early supporter of the brand, wearing Skoot apparel in her music video for the song "Therefore I Am" and also during her performance at the American Music Awards of 2020.[7] Since then, artists and groups who have worn Skoot include Rico Nasty, BTS, Rosalía, Blackpink, Grimes, and Jackson Wang.[7]

MLMA has appeared at haute couture events, often with an absurdist or whimsical style. She walked a show at Paris Fashion Week 2018 holding a replica of her own head.[8] In 2020, MLMA was the public face of the "KFC Crocs" campaign, a promotional collaboration between KFC and Crocs. MLMA appeared in a commercial promoting the shoes and personally modeled a platform version of the KFC Crocs at New York Fashion Week.[9] The shoes were distributed to celebrities like Kim Kardashian before becoming available for sale to the general public.[10]

MLMA was raised in a working-class neighborhood of Seoul, South Korea.[8] She spends about half her time in Canada, where she has family.[4]

In August 2020, MLMA posted several photographs of Post Malone to her Instagram account, causing hip-hop news outlets to speculate about the possibility of a romantic attachment between the two.[11]

• Instagram profile