Irina Mozyleva Siegel. Photo Credit: Irina Mozyleva Siegel.
Irina Mozyleva Siegel first came to Tin Shingle when a friend recommended her, when she created and opened ClothFactor. She was looking for confidence in speaking in social media, to get the word out about what she was making in her studio in The Lofts At Beacon, in Beacon, NY. Irina was from Miory, in the Vitebsk Region of Belarus, then part of the Soviet Union. She passed on May 27, 2020 from a rare cancer that she sought to “outwit,” in part with her business, ClothFactor. She was 51.
Irina started sewing at a young age, learning from her sister Tamara, a professional seamstress, but grew into her voice when she was “plucked by State talent scouts and placed in a dedicated musical boarding school where students worked at their instruments and voices for hours every day,” according to her obituary. She pursued a singing career which eventually won her an all expenses paid trip to America to Julliard, when she sent the school a cassette of her singing.
According to her obituary in the Beacon Free Press dated June 17, 2020, Irina “transferred to the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, having won a full scholarship there. After graduation, she went on to join the Merola Opera Program, which traveled the country performing fully staged operas. She moved to New York, where in 1997, after a magical, musical, and international courtship, she married Aryeh Siegel - twice. She gave birth to their daughter, Leah, on New Year’s Eve 1999 a few days after they moved to Beacon, NY.”
Irina continued to pursue her singing career locally in Beacon, and tapped into her Russian Orthodox Church roots to keep her sound going. She developed a very rare cancer for which there was no cure, and her body began a battle between the cancer and pain caused by medication. Irina lost the ability to sing like she used to.
The ClothFactor’s storefront at the Lofts at Beacon complex. Photo Credit: Irina Mozyleva Siegel.
To cope with the pain, Irina tapped back into her stitching roots. Her sewing skills had became proficient while she was an opera student at Moscow Conservatory and made both her costumes and her own clothes, according to her About Us page on her website. Irina continued doing alterations for clothing, including those for her petite height. Her daughter, Leah, inherited her singing voice, and was quite active in the high school drama department. Irina started creating costumes for her daughter and the theater department, and her passion for the cloth was strengthened.
Irina came to Tin Shingle when she wanted to get the word out about the ClothFactor. I spoke to her about her desires to use social media, and her hesitation with writing. Irina was an eager learner, and would play TuneUp replays when in her studio. I learned of her cancer later from a friend. Irina did not mention it to me. After a couple years of membership, I reached out to her friend to inquire for Irina’s health. If Irina had kept it to herself, I didn’t want to intrude. I learned that her cancer was not improving, and that she was battling hard.
ClothFactor was what she started to help her fight past her physical pain. “In 2016, after losing the ability to sing due to radical surgery, Irina immediately redirected her creativity to clothing design, opening ClothFactor, a retail sewing studio that she ran next door to her home at the Lofts at Beacon. She grew the business successfully for a couple of years, which made her even happier than singing and satisfied her deep creative urge. It also gave her time and a place to be alone with her illness. Irina never liked to see herself in a “battle;” she viewed her rare cancer more as a sly opponent to outwit.
Creating costumes for drama students at her daughter, Leah’s, school, Beacon High School, reignited her desire to design new clothes. She worked with two talented women in her studio. From the ClothFactor website, we lift up these women to recognize them as Irina did her her words:
Irina (right) working with her team, Teresa Murray (left) and Debbie Roberts (middle).
Deborah (Debbie) Roberts, “a professional seamstress with extensive sewing machine knowledge and expertise. She is a sought-after machine embroidery professional and is invited to do classes and demonstrations at many workshops and markets throughout the year. Her resume includes work for Calvin Klein and behind the scenes on TV’s “Extreme Home Makeovers.” Debbie has studied with both Sandra Betzina and Sue Hausmann, two leading sewing experts. For the last fifteen years she has been a salesperson and educator at Sew & Vac in Poughkeepsie, NY.”
“Teresa Murray is a highly experienced seamstress with unparalleled skills, Teresa is an integral part of the ClothFactor team. Her thoughtful attention to detail results in gorgeous, precise tailoring. She is a patient, thorough, and gifted craftswoman who can handle complex patterns and techniques. Her warmth and enthusiasm paired with her expertise and top-notch skills make her an ideal person to work with on these very personal projects.”
Those who are loving and missing her are her husband and architect, Aryeh Siegel, and their daughter Leah Siegel. Her father Nicolai Petrovich Mozyleva residing in Belarus, her sister Tamara also in Belarus, and her many friends around the world. Irina joins her mother, Lia Mozyleva, who passed in 2009.
Irina was also a music teacher, teaching in local schools and giving private lessons in piano and voice. Her family asks that you consider donating to the Solaris Voices Scholarship Fund for Musical Education, which benefits students in Beacon, NY. Checks can b e made to Solaris Voices, with Irina Mozyleva Siegel in the memo section, and mailed to 42 Mason Circle, Beacon, NY 12508.