Maya Luz Molina-Araujo, studied at Massachusetts College of Art & Design, graduating with distinction. Soon after, Maya competed in the Emmy award winning design challenge series, Project Runway on Lifetime Television. Nearly making it to the finals, she made the bold decision to leave the show, to hone her skills as a designer, away from the camera's watchful eye.
Maya's work spans not only in design, but also as a visual artist, illustrator, multi media collage, podcast production, writing, and Dj’ing. Her fashion design experience includes numerous private commissions, as well as working with luxury fashion brands and art institutions in NYC & abroad including, Hannah Marshall, Proenza Schouler, Coach, Ohne Titel, Calvin Klein Collection, and most recently the Guggenheim Museum Store, in which she designed a capsule collection inspired by the work of artist Hilma af Klint, in alignment with the artist’s debut exhibition. Maya has been recognized by such organizations as PVH-Phillips Van Heusen, Scholastic Publishing, GenArt, Core 77, Vogue, Architectural Digest and was nominated as an Outstanding Alumni by Massachusetts College of Art & Design in 2012.
In 2018, Maya was commissioned by the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, to create a one of a kind capsule collection of handmade sculptural handbags, some pieces in collaboration with visual artists and sculptors of her peers, for exclusive purchase at the Museum Store. The designs were specially created to align with the exhibition, Rare Bird of Fashion: A Tribute to Iris Apfel, in celebration of the Museum’s newly constructed fashion design wing.
Maya continues to design fashion, and create art, in New York City.
