Today we’d like to introduce you to Melanie Machin.
Hi Melanie, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My passion for fashion began at the youngest age I can remember. Looking presentable plus confident has always been a huge importance to me by color coordinating. Especially with a twist being plus size in this now stereotypical world. Matching outfits to street murals started naturally as a creative extension of my love for vibrant color, bold patterns, and public art. I’ve always viewed fashion as a visual language, and one day I realized how impactful it is when an outfit seamlessly converses with the environment around it. What began as a fun visual experiment quickly turned into a dedicated craft, analyzing color palettes, geometric structures, and artistic tones in my city to build cohesive, high-impact looks.
More importantly, bringing this concept to life within the plus-size community is the core of why I do it. Plus-size fashion has historically been treated as an afterthought, often restricted to muted colors or basic cuts. By placing bold, high-fashion, thoughtfully coordinated plus-size looks in front of larger-than-life street art, I want to show that our style deserves to take up space, celebrate color, and be seen as fine art. It’s about merging street culture, body positivity, and visual storytelling into something empowering.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Finding a mural in the wild doesn’t mean you instantly have an outfit to match it. Sourcing or styling precise colorways, patterns, or scale-appropriate garments in specific sizing takes time, during which the mural itself might change or disappear. That’s why when looking back at my posts, you see a gap within dates of posts. Public street art is rarely permanent. Murals get painted over, tagged, weathered by rain and sun, or blocked by unexpected construction, high-parked vehicles, or scaffolding without warning. Lastly, outdoor lighting shifts rapidly throughout the day. Direct sunlight can wash out specific color shades or change how fabric colors render on camera compared to the mural’s pigments.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I believe my core talent lies at the intersection of color curation, spatial awareness, and visual storytelling. I don’t just put clothes on, I treat an entire urban environment as my canvas. I elevate plus-size street style by taking up visual space, rejecting muted or conservative dressing norms, and framing extended-size fashion as fine art. I utilize color theory, paint swatches, and structural scale to echo the hues, geometric shapes, and graphic lines of a backdrop within your wardrobe or by sourcing at local thrift stores.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
As stated earlier, I have always loved fashion. Growing up, I was always playing dress up in my room. I was always into shapes, unique architecture all around me living in Europe. We had castles! ( who can honestly say they lived near a castle, or had their prom in one!?) color, shapes and patterns were always my go-to trying to beat the stereotypes of “fat girls can’t wear that!” I enjoyed the challenge, I enjoyed the thrill of proving people wrong.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/germarican_/
