When I was 12 years old, I can’t remember what I was doing other than playing with friends at the park and hoping my mom would let me stay up past 8 p.m. Well, this 12-year-old has made a t-shirt line, enough to impress those at Vogue.
Born in Nottingham, England, Melissa Jade “Missy X” Aiello moved to New York in 2010, where she caught a teacher’s eye with her artwork. The teacher gave her a sketchbook to record and keep her drawings, and she found inspiration from her mother’s job as a model booker, drawing models and icons from the pages of her mom’s fashion magazines. Now, at just 12 years old, she has her own company and t-shirt line called Tees by Missy X. Her tees are characterized by hand-drawn sketches of famous figures such as Karl Lagerfeld, Anna Wintour and Donatella Versace, and her clientele includes big names like rapper Wiz Khalifa.
When asked who she likes to draw, the mini fashion prodigy spared no words in an interview with Vogue UK: “I said no to Justin Bieber because they’re cheesy. There are too many boys like Bieber — there’s also The Wanted and One Direction. I draw people I like and think are interesting. I really liked drawing Donatella, she has a really interesting face.”
Though she works on a commission-only basis right now, there’s talk about expanding the label. The young fashion diva has no plans of stopping; she wants to expand into making totes, notebooks, and key chains in the future. We can’t wait to see where this young fashionista goes to next with her designs. We’re also waiting for these shirts to start being sold somewhere, because we know we’ll definitely be getting one when they do.
Photos via Tees by Missy X
