The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
the b-side
Thursday, February 2, 2017 — 3B

I had no idea what I was in 

for upon reaching the prominent 
pillared, 
white 
house 
on 

Tappan, but after talking to 
Art & Design seniors Madisen 
Bathish and Francesca Kielb, 
I was happy to learn about the 
exciting yet relatively secret 
new brand they’d created. After 
only a few minutes of sitting in 
their kitchen and talking about 
fashion, their latest project and 
their hopes for the future, it was 
clear they had done something 
extraordinary with an inspiring 
purpose.

As two extremely talented Art 

& Design students, the prospect 
of graduating college with only 
an Art & Design major poses 
both incredible opportunity and, 
all-too-real, vulnerability. As 
members of the next generation 
of young artists, Bathish and 
Kielb possess exciting potential 
with 
their 
brilliant 
work, 

impressive résumés and bold 
femininity. Kielb was a former 
Managing 
Design 
Editor 
of 

the Daily. However, becoming 
a female entrepreneur with a 
major in Art & Design presents 
a daunting amount of pressure 
to overcome in the next four 
years. 
Even 
as 
progressive 

strides are made in regard 
to unbalanced aspects of the 
world, like the gender wage gap, 
women still face disadvantage, 
a dynamic brought to light 
constantly in the wake of the 
recent election. Graduating as an 

Art & Design student presents 
its own challenges, including 
a known lack of employment 
opportunities many majors are 
said to ensure. 

In 
an 
effort 
to 
reduce 

federal spending, the Trump 
administration plans to defund 
the 
National 
Endowment 

for the Arts, which provides 
essential funding in grants to 
the exhibition and cultivation of 
the arts. Despite taking up less 
than .003 percent of the nation’s 
yearly 
budget, 
cuts 
would 

have a drastic effect on the 

artistic community nationwide, 
especially for upcoming artists 
such as Bathish, who is hoping to 
pursue fashion merchandising, 
and Kielb, who is pursuing 
curation after graduation. Faced 
with this pressure and a passion 
to support like-minded women 
in the arts, the two came up 
with a trend-setting idea to 
take thrown-away clothing and 
transform it into something more 
fabulous. Their brand is called 
OVRKLL, and its resurrection 
of forgotten clothing makes 
an exclusive, sought-after look 
possible for any maximalist-
conscious woman.

Over Winter Break, Kielb 

approached Bathish, remarking 
on the girls’ uncanny ability to 
sort through racks and piles 
of 
old, 
unwanted 
clothing. 

They realized they both loved 
the vintage look best found at 
thrift stores, and realized their 
ability to find the hidden gems 
could help others find the same 
exciting look every girl wants, 
but decides she doesn’t have the 
time, money or effort for.

After 
rooting 
through 

Salvation Army racks on any 
given 
day, 
the 
two 
would 

pool their findings: a tank 
from Dior, vintage tees, brand 
name jeans, a silk robe and 
faux fur accessories. Mostly 
designer, all chic and obviously 
opulent. Their hunts yielded 
a surprising amount of brand-
name merchandise with the 
potential to form an iconic look. 
With an eye for potential and 
detail, the pair repurposed their 
findings with embellishments 
and alterations. The two showed 
me some of the latest treasures 
from their collection. Holding 
up their latest treasures, Bathish 
donned a pink bomber jacket, 
sporting a lip patch she’d crafted 
herself, while Kielb pulled out 
a black satin robe, complete 
with an Alexander McQueen 
label. While Bathish works with 
more of a fashion background, 
interested in the design and 
creation of clothing, Kielb is 
especially 
interested 
in 
the 

curative, 
marketing 
process. 

Kielb put it jokingly: “We both 
want to do what the other 
doesn’t” — making them the 
perfect team for the continuation 
of the brand.

When describing their own 

style and the look of OVRKLL, 
the two used one word over 
and over again: maximalism. 
It’s 
most 
easily 
described 

as an aesthetic rejection of 
minimalism, a difficult concept 
to execute in the world of art 
and fashion. For them, however, 

the idea is simple. Maximalism, 
as Bathish said, consists of 
“things you wouldn’t usually 
put together being put together 
to look fucking epic.” Seen in 
collections by the likes of Gucci 
and Prada, maximalist clothing 
is 
elaborate 
and 
luxurious, 

but 
lacking 
responsibility 

and 
accessibility. 
OVRKLL 

intends to take on a perspective 
that challenges the value we 
hold in our clothing, proving 

maximalism is possible without 
the price tag and excessive use 
of new materials. As they put it, 
“Through our own vision, we 
make something fabulous out of 
recycled means.”

Better yet, OVRKLL is part 

of a collaborative effort that 
goes beyond its own magnificent 
clothing 
and 
accessories. 

Kielb and Bathish have also 
created a pop-up shop for 
“women makers,” in which to 
sell OVRKLL the creations of 
numerous other female artists 
in the School of Art & Design. 
Other artists and designers can 
sell their works and take home 
full profit with no cuts required 
for a place in the pop-up shop. 
The overarching hope is for the 
effort to take on a life of its own 
with more and more student 
artists taking part over time.

The first pop-up shop is 

scheduled for Feb. 4 at Amer’s 
on Church Street. The two hope 
to transform the back of the deli 
into a fresh venue complete with 
drapes, screens, decorations and 
clothing racks for a boutique-y 
vibe. However, supporting the 
space for themselves and other 
artists costs money — more than 
one would think — which has 
encouraged the two to apply 
for an ADC Grant from the 
Art & Design School. They 
hope the space can grow into 
a 
unique 
opportunity 
for 

female entrepreneurs. Their 
newest collection can be seen 
on Facebook and Instagram at 
@SHOPOVRKLL.

SARAH AGNONE

Daily Arts Writer

Emily Malan — a freelance 

photographer 
whose 
client 

list stretches from Vogue to 
Airbnb — believes her work is 
“more interesting than just a 
pretty girl and a pretty street.”

Malan’s 
grandparents 

were the first Chinese family 
to settle in Cupertino, the 
northern 
California 
city 

that now hosts Apple Inc.’s 
headquarters.

“My grandparents owned 

a flower farm so there were 
chrysanthemums and a flower 
stand that they sold them 
at — that whole area was 
just orchards” Malan said. 
A few generations later, the 
demographics 
shifted, 
the 

photographer’s high school 
was “70 percent Asian and 30 
percent white.”

Raised 
in 
a 
creative 

household, Malan first picked 
up 
her 
mulit-media 
artist 

mother’s camera at the age of 
12.

“Having a family with an 

artistic 
background 
is 
an 

advantage,” she said, but her 
mother warned she’d “rather 
have me not be an artist 
because she knows how hard 
it is.”

Malan looked challenge in 

the eye, though, enrolling in 
photography classes at a local 
community college as a high-
schooler to “get a level up” in 
the field.

She went on to earn her BFA 

in photography from the Art 
Center College of Design in 
Pasadena, Calif. in 2010.

“I definitely didn’t have a 

lot of work when I was first 
starting out” she said. But 
after spending five years in LA 
after graduation building her 
professional network, Emily 
Malan is in demand. This 
season, her travel schedule 
buzzes with jobs in New York, 
Paris, 
Hong 
Kong, 
Tokyo 

and Southern California for 
the Coachella music festival. 
When I spoke to her, she had 

just returned from Couture 
Week in Paris — before that, 
she attended Men’s Week in 
Milan.

“You kind of turn into a 

local,” 
Malan 
continued, 

“immersed in culture, meeting 
people — you’re on your own 
most of the time.” 

Over years of traveling, 

the photographer has grown 
comfortable with the “idea 
of being a city-dweller.” This 
notion shines through in her 
work; some of Malan’s most 
striking and vibrant photos 
are her “street style” shots. 
“I’m 
really 
influenced 
by 

cities,” she said, noting how 
some photographers “use the 
street as a background and the 
cool person wearing the cool 
clothing but there’s no story 
being told with it — I’m more 
interested in telling a kind-of 
narrative.”

At November’s Pitti Uomo 

men’s trade show in Florence, 
Malan was hired by Barney’s 
to shoot behind the scenes 
of the Tim Coppens runway 
show.

“They wanted to tell a story 

with it, the runway, the getting 
ready, the makeup and the 
hair,” she explained. “I was 
like: ‘okay I can do this pretty 
easy, pretty straightforward.’”

But 
once 
she 
arrived 

backstage, 
Malan 
couldn’t 

help but zoom in on the set’s 
solely-male 
atmosphere. 
“I 

was the only girl photographer 
backstage — literally the only 
one.” She recalled thinking, 

“‘Why am I the only girl here? 
What’s going on?’”

As a female who frequently 

finds herself in a crowd of 
male-dominated 
lenses, 

Malan’s gender has acted as the 
impetus for the minimization 
of her talent, work ethic and 
professionalism.

“One 
of 
the 
guys 
that 

shoots for GQ and Vogue, he 
definitely does not like girls 
around, backstage he would 
walk into my shots,” she said 
of her experience in Florence. 
Yet 
she 
mentioned 
that 

another male colleague put his 
opinion bluntly: “Girls should 
have a place in the field.”

“People have tried to take 

advantage of me because they 
think I’m just some girl,” Malan 
recounted. 
Undoubtedly, 

though, the photographer has 
earned her prominence as a 
strategic player behind the 
runway and in city streets. 
She’s professional, poised and 
confident in her capabilities, 
but 
despite 
her 
success, 

Malan remains eager to push 
her potential and refine her 
artistic eye. “Creativity is 
inherent but also you need 
to learn it by looking” she 
noted. “I try to always say 
yes to experiences, you never 
know what’s going to happen 
— small things do lead to good 
things.”

The 
good 
things 
keep 

coming for Malan: In just 
a 
week, 
the 
photographer 

will be heading to New York 
Fashion Week, and at the end 
of the month, she’ll shoot Paris 
Fashion Week. Even so, the 
artist’s impressive schedule 
doesn’t quench her thirst to 
look and learn. “I’m curious to 
know what else is out there,” 
she remarked. Malan accented 
the value of this curiosity in 
aspiring young artists — as 
well as the virtues of hard 
work and self worth.

“Don’t think that in order to 

get where you want to be that 
you need to sleep with a man,” 
she said, “and make sure you 
get your money.”

AVERY FRIEDMAN

Daily Arts Writer

ARTIST
PROFILE

IN

Why am I the 
only girl here? 
What’s going 

on?

Mostly designer, 

all chic and 
obviously 
opulent

Emily Malan on travel, 
sexism and getting money

Photographer and Cupertino native talks career development 

Stamps seniors launch 
girl-power pop-up shops

Kielb and Bathish add flare to thrift through their brand 
OVRKLL in pop-up shops featuring other Stamps women

When describing 

the look of 

OVRKLL, the two 

used one word 
over and over: 
Maximalism

 
Despite being rela-

tively small and new, Flyte 
have consistently brought 
out some of the most out-
standing singles and EPs 
of the last few years. Now 
building to their debut 
album, “Echoes,” a single 
released on Monday, marks 
their first release since 
“Please Eloise” in 2015.
 
Finding inspira-

tion in nostalgia, both 
lyrically and musically, 
“Echoes” is an ethereal 
walk through bittersweet 
lyrics and punchy synths. 
Although the song just 
about reaches the three-
minute mark, there is 

emotion packed into every 
second, and the hum-
ming bass and synths take 
centre stage. That is in no 
way to say that this isn’t 

just as captivating lyri-
cally, though. Tackling the 
hard truths of forgetting 
and reminiscence, singer 
Will Taylor evokes relat-
able post-break up emo-
tions through the repeated 
refrain, “they remember 

the echoes.” Another tal-
ent that Flyte have honed 
so well is harmonizing, 
perhaps exemplified on a 
cappella videos posted on 
Facebook recently, but here 
it plays a subdued part. It 
suits the sound perfectly.
 
“Echoes” is a true 

short, but sweet song — so 
nostalgic, yet it only toes 
the line of sadness. Flyte 
are experts at emotional 
writing, and their first 
single in two years shows 
that this talent is not going 
anywhere.

— Megan Williams

Flyte

“Echoes”

Island Records

SINGLE REVIEW

COURTESY OF EMILY MALAN

Photographer Emily Malan

COURTESY OF FRANCESCA KIELB AND MADISEN BATHISH

Pieces of Stamp senior’s collection available at the OVRKLL pop-up shop

