6A — Monday, April 16, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

Making 
art 
— 
with 
all 

its 
intentions, 
elements 
of 

unpredictability and rewards 
— should be meaningful from 
start to finish. Or, at least, so is 
the case for Ohio native Allison 
Hylant. Hylant, who graduated 
from the University with a BFA 
in Fine Art in 2012, decided to 
dedicate her professional self 
to creating textile products 
that are eco-friendly, hand-
crafted and entirely inimitable.

“I come from a long line 

(of artists, and) ... although 
none 
have 
pursued 
art 

professionally, being creative 
was something that was always 
encouraged 
in 
my 
family,” 

Hylant wrote in an email 
interview with The Daily. “My 
father has a minor in ceramics 
and my grandmother was a 
painter. I started taking art 
classes at age three. I always 
thought I would probably study 
Art History in college, but I had 
some amazing teachers and 
advisors in high school (that) 
really encouraged me (to) apply 
to studio art programs.”

Dale & Blue, her Detroit-

based 
business 
and 
design 

studio, 
launched 
in 
2016. 

Currently, Dale & Blue offers 
a 
selection 
of 
indigo-dyed 

pillows and home goods; all of 
which, of course, are handmade 

in small batches. Though a few 
years out of art school, Hylant 
still finds joy in her process.

“The first time I learned 

about shibori dyeing, I was a 
freshman in college. Almost 
10 years ago,” she wrote. “I 
can’t even tell you how many 
hundreds of yards of fabric 

I have dyed in that time, but 
there is a magic to it every time. 
No matter how many times you 
prepare fabric, fold it, bind it, 
wrap it, block it into place, you 
never really know what the 
piece will look like until you 
pull it from the dye bath.”

Hylant was living in Boston 

working 
as 
the 
in-house 

seamstress 
for 
Marimekko 

after pursuing an additional 
degree, a post-baccalaureate 
year at the School of the 
Museum of Fine Arts, when she 
founded the LLC.

“(Marimekko) proved to be 

the perfect training ground 
to launch a business,” Hylant 
wrote. “After several years 
of working, I realized I had 
gone as far as I could with 
the company. I wanted a new 
challenge, to be working with 
my own designs, making my 
own decisions. I kept working 
at Marimekko, while I was 
figuring out the particulars of 
the company.”

One such particular was 

the company’s name — Hylant 
wanted something personal, 
but something versatile enough 
to work as the company grew 
and 
changed. 
Eventually 

settling on Dale & Blue, Hylant 
opted 
for 
family 
names. 

Ironically enough, she didn’t 
know she would be working 
with Indigo when settling on 
the name.

“Dale & Blue were the names 

of my two grandfathers,” she 
wrote. “Neither are still alive 
today, so I thought it was a great 
tribute to them. I was very 
close with my Grandpa Dale; 
he lost his battle with cancer 
when I was a senior in high 
school. And (my) Grandpa Blue 
passed away a year before I was 
born. His real name is Robert, 
but he was such a big Michigan 

Alum Allison Hylant on 
her company Dale & Blue

CARLY SNIDER
Daily Arts Writer

COURTESY OF ALLISON HYLANT

LOCAL SPOTLIGHT

fan everyone called him Blue. 
(I guess I was destined to be 
a Wolverine.) The company 
name actually has nothing 
to do with the color blue, the 
signature color of the brand … 
But the name has proved to be 
extremely serendipitous.”

Behind the name is a strong 

philosophy. Having worked in 
a more traditional, high-end 
environment as well as having 
spent time interning with a 
fair trade company, Hylant is 
committed to bringing those 
two worlds, though often at 
odds, together. Simply put: 
people over things.

“We love things; it’s why we 

make them, and buy them,” 
she wrote. “But that should 
never come at the expense of 
the people who make them 
or the environment … At the 
forefront of my practice is 
the belief that where the raw 
materials are sourced from is 
just as important as the life the 
products have once they leave 
the studio.”

To do this, Hylant chooses 

U.S.-based 
manufacturers 

whenever possible — both to 
promote national employment 

and to reduce Dale & Blue’s 
carbon footprint. She wants her 
customers to be proud to own 
her products, because of their 
beauty and their backstory. 
Knowing that the standards 
she sets for herself are high and 
often cumbersome, Hylant sees 
the benefit to society as more 
important than her potential 
personal gain.

This 
kind 
of 
personal 

dedication to her artistic and 
economic output is inspiring 
and entirely at home in Detroit’s 
growing entrepreneurial spirit. 
Hylant is part of Ponyride 
studios, a nonprofit with a large 
studio space on Vermont Street. 
Ponyride, like Dale & Blue, is 
invested in promoting positive 
social output and growth.

“In Detroit you have this 

great sense of all things being 
possible, people here aren’t 
afraid to try new things (or 
re-invent old ones) and some 
of them are really working!” 
Hylant wrote. “It is an exciting 
time in Detroit … Ponyride has 
provided me with a network of 
other like-minded businesses 
and resources to help navigate 
what can be a very stressful 

process.”

Despite the trials of getting 

a business off the ground — 
especially one that holds so 
tightly to its goals of changing 
an often problematic industry 
— Hylant is hopeful and excited 
for the future of Dale & Blue. 
She hopes to launch print-
screened fabrics by the yard, 
and to collaborate with another 
artist to create fine art prints 
and original paintings. Behind 
all the social goals, there is 
still the art. The two elements 
play off each other, challenging 
Hylant to create in a way that is 
sustainable and allowing eco-
friendly practices to be integral 
to her work.

“I would love to see Dale & 

Blue expand to be a cohesive 
lifestyle brand,” she wrote. 
“But really at the end of the day, 
it is less about what we make 
and more about how we make 
these products and the impact 
we have on the people who 
make them … As a company 
and a businesswoman I am still 
finding my footing, it’s a long 
process, but I am really excited 
for all the things that could be 
next.”

On 
the 
afternoon 
of 

Saturday, Apr. 21, a diverse 
variety 
of 
student 
models 

will take to the sidewalks of 
downtown Ann Arbor as part 
of a Guerrilla Fashion Show 
hosted by fashion publication 
ROGUE and Ann Arbor-based 
organization Radfun.

“(The goal of the show is) 

to celebrate and center bodies 
of color, big bodies, queer 
bodies, trans bodies — bodies 
that are not often given a place 
within fashion — and advocate 
for the issues that come with 
those 
communities,” 
wrote 

Kai Mason, LSA junior and 
founder 
of 
ROGUE. 
“My 

favorite description of the 
fashion show as yet has been 
‘at once a protest, a party and a 
celebration.’”

According to LSA senior and 

Radfun co-organizer Darian 
Razdar, 
onlookers 
should 

expect to see plenty of flashy 
costumes, along with models 
in self-styled outfits. Some 
garments will be designed 
specifically for the show. They 
should also expect the chants 
and noise levels characteristic 
of social demonstrations.

“I’m really excited because 

this Guerrilla Fashion Show is 
going to be a way of blending 
art and activism, and allowing 
people who aren’t centered 
in our pop culture. We’re 
centering them in this fashion 
show,” Razdar said. “We’re 
focused on giving marginalized 
people space, and the idea of a 
guerrilla fashion show is to 

command space in a way that 
isn’t sanctioned by institutions 
or by politics.”

In 
Mason’s 
eyes, 
the 

Guerrilla Fashion Show will 
bring a new dimension to both 
fashion and activism in Ann 
Arbor.

“It’s something I’ve never 

seen done before at Michigan,” 
she wrote, “and I’m so excited 
to have a chance to question 
the status quo, the unspoken 
pressures of conformity and 
complacency that are imposed 
on us in both this institution 
and beyond, through fashion.”

To get involved, contact 

Mason 
and 
Razdar 
at 

kaimason@umich.edu 
and 
drazdar@umich.edu, 

respectively. Students are also 

encouraged to visit ROGUE 
and Radfun’s upcoming mass 
meeting, which will be hosted 
on Wednesday, Apr. 18 in room 
1405 of East Quad.

ROGUE & Radfun to host 
Guerrilla Fashion Show

TESS GARCIA
Daily Style Editor

EVENT PREVIEW

Guerilla 

Fashion Show 

Apr. 21

Free

COURTESY OF ALLISON HYLANT

“In Detroit you 
have this great 

sense of all things 

being possible, 

people here aren’t 
afraid to try new 

things”

