Wearable Photos and the Mind Behind Them-Josh Miller

Whether or not you have taken a moment to drink in the wonders of the world around you—be it nature, architecture, even the way light reflects off your surrounding—someone has stopped to look for those things. All the beauty we see in our everyday lives gives us humans purpose. We compile these memories, these photos in our brains for ourselves waiting to free them. 

Josh Miller, the creative mind and designer behind, Josh Miller Ventures has created a collection of garments that represent the way he sees the world through an artistic lens, dubbing them the “Wearable Photos Collection.” From cardigans to dresses and scarves, the wearable photos collection is the world through Miller’s eyes.

Moving from Louisville, Kentucky to Denver, Miller began photographing his daily treks around the state during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic (socially distant, of course). 

“Moving to Colorado encouraged me to focus even more on photos out in nature, with a large focus on the mountains,” Miller says. “They are so awe-inspiring and a challenge in and of themselves.”  

Miller gained inspiration from the photos he would take. “I started doing more and more long-exposure photography, and the images just screamed at me—WE ARE WEARABLE PHOTOS!”

He continues, “I started prototyping with two different companies, printing my first samples on chiffon, which led me to produce the collections I’ve created so far.” 

As an artist. Miller makes sure to visualize how garments will look on bodies. He loves to think about how wearable photos will look when they are wrapped, folded, tied around someone, but not every photo is meant to be worn, and that’s part of the challenge. 

“I tried a few prototypes for this collection that are beautiful images but didn’t translate to being wearable photos once I got them printed,” he says.

For some time back in 2017, Miller began collaborating with fashion designer Gunnar Deatherage (of Project Runway fame). Creating custom pieces for the Kentucky Derby helped him realize his knack for fashion through art, supported his journey as a queer person. He was additionally inspired  to think about the potential for his creations, invoking his love for fashion and design and belief that power comes with clothing and accessories that let people express themselves. As an artist, he says learning new ways to express your artistry through different mediums is valuable. 

To Miller, wearable photos are a transformative way of bringing two-dimensional images into the third dimension through fashion design and artistry. 

“When I’m talking about ‘wearable photos,’ I’m talking about the intersection of fashion design, photography as an artistic practice, and a different way of presenting artwork that would generally be exhibited in a 2-D form,” he says—truly a fashion-forward way of thinking. 

Many designs are myriad prints and monogramming, but Miller seeks to bring reality and memories to life through clothing.

“Beyond fashion as art—which I believe it is—(is) the combination of multiple artistic practices in a form that’s wearable as part of someone’s stylistic expression,” he adds, with fashion and art as the heart of the Wearable Photos Collection. 

This collection is not only dedicated to connoisseurs of photography, but to all fashion lovers and tastefully designed garments, for all types of people. 

“Body shapes differ so much, no matter how you identify. My first collections focused heavily on square prints because they could be worn and draped in so many ways, and that allows people with different bodies to wear them in different ways—and that’s important,” Miller says.

The Wearable Photos Collection is a new way to see the beauty around you and on you. 

Make sure to visit josh-miller-ventures.myshopify.com to snag yourself one of these unique pieces.