work in progress
welcome to wip Although WIP is about fashion, music, art, and artists, my goal is to show the creative talent that Detroit has to offer. Detroit may not be the place for a fashion empire, but the room for opportunity is there. Whether it’s friends or strangers contributing to the magazine, I’ve enjoyed learning about other people’s craft and figuring out how to show them in the best possible light. When trying to come up with a name for the magazine I wanted it to be something that described not only myself and my work but Detroit as well. Detroit is in a state of progression - a resurgence of the city if you will and with that brings new ideas, fresh faces, and those longing to be apart of something great. But Detroit isn’t perfect, it’s just growing. Coming back from some of the hardest times it has seen. And that’s why I relate to the magazine. I am also a work in progress, my work and growth is never quite finished completely but I’m content with where I am right now and I look forward to what’s to come. Enjoy - Madison Koster @photosrcoolman
BTS with Detroit Is The New Black
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PANTONE 18-0940 black female artists paving the way in detroit
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CLOSER THAN SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW an in-depth look at movies filmed and based in detroit
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ZACH WENDT fashion illustration student making a name for himself in the city
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EAT DA RICH interview and editorial with founder Simone Else
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ASIANS. WHAT ARE WE? photo series examining the representation of asian americans today
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OCAS group of 18 artists and musicians banding together to form a collective
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WOMEN IN DESIGN three women aimed at ending sexism in the art & design workplace
in this issue
cover shot by Madison Koster for Eat Da Rich clothing
PANTONE 18-0940 Gold is one of most precious and rarest metals in the universe. Add a little brown and it’s even harder to find and more valuable. Meet Taylor, Franchesca, and Adonnica – three of the city’s upcoming, black female artists. Interview and Photography by Morgan Parker
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Taylor Childs
Taylor @taylorchildsstudio
// I see that your work varies from accessories to outerwear and everything in-between, so how did you learn to create all of these different pieces? So, in the creation of my pieces I was originally focused on fashion. And that was my main goal. Coming to CCS [College for Creative Studies], there was no fashion department, so I began to discover that textiles has its own language as well as fashion. So not just creating a silhouette, you can create your own story within the material as well. And that can enhance a silhouette, whereas in fashion, it’s moreso about the item opposed to the overall package of the piece. // You’re studying fibers. What does that necessarily mean? And how do you apply what you learn in school to the work that you make? So, my work speaks on racial issues in society so since i know how to do the basic patterning, which you would learn in a fashion class as well as textiles, I create my fabric from scratch as well as my patterns. So the fabric I created for my VHS Tape Jacket, I wove them on a cranbrook loom where I took VHS Tapes, as well as shoestrings and discarded material and I created this fabric to represent beauty out of discarded things which can also relates to people. So, there’s beauty out of discarded people as well, so I try to create a message in the work that I present to my audience. The jacket also is in the silhouette of a Chanel jacket and Chanel was known for their woven tweeds. It questions the idea of what makes a luxury item luxury. Is it the material or is it just the price tag on it. So my work relates to consume culture as well as urban, african american culture.
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// What is it like being apart of Detroit’s art scene as a young black woman? Or should I say fashion scene? The fashion scene in Detroit is coming up I feel like Detroit’s street style, in itself, we’ve always have had our own sense of style. So, it’s just like adding to that and showcasing that in a way that is more tailored towards a consumer market opposed to just lounge wear or just street style. Being in Detroit right now, it’s kinda of like a wave going on. You see our city coming back, and I feel like the fashion scene is becoming a stronger presence in Detroit because of the Nike store and different little boutiques like Royal Oak has a lot of. Like vintage boutiques or like the fashion is becoming a big thing, but I feel like our art scene and fashion scene could be pushed a bit more. Where, I know for my age, we have different art parties and things like that which is cool, but I just wish that we took it more seriously in the craftsmanship of fashion apposed to just creating because it’s no one else creating.
I feel like Detroit artists in general, we pull from our surroundings, which comes from depression or blight.
// Detroit isn’t New York, London, or Paris when it comes to fashion, so how does this affect your work? It affects my work because I feel like my voice is a lot different from someone in New York where their surrounding area is very beautiful. I feel like Detroit artists in general, we pull from our surroundings, which comes from depression or blight. We live in an area of poverty or an area that people have labeled as low income and not flourishing. So, a lot of Detroit artists pull from that idea of destruction and making beauty out of what they have. So my work specifically, is beautiful but it also touches on a lot of dark subjects. A lot of subjects that people in society overall don’t want to talk about or discuss. Even like my sample. It’s a nice piece of cloth but I ripped it and mended it back together to try to create a new language. But I feel like that’s what Detroiters do with their work in general. They take something discarded or they take a building and put graffiti on it to make a new language, a new wave. That makes us a lot more special than New York because it’s not the same pretty, aesthetically beautiful thing. We have more layers and a story within the work that we create. // What are you working on now? What’s your future looking like? My work right now is building off of concepts that I talked about last semester, so going more in depth of black culture. My senior thesis last semester was basically how the african diaspora, which is like the forceful movement of any group of people, how that affects African Americans contemporarily though fashion. So I’ve been studying people around me, and just by personal experience, or how more specifically African American men adorn themselves and how that relates to Africa or even the civil rights movement. They adorn themselves in order to elevate their success, so they would have a polo hoodie with a Gucci belt in order to be like “Okay, I’m Successful. I have this elevated class” and a lot of the brands they wear are by designers that don’t even support African
Americans, don’t have clothing stores accessible to African American areas. They count on luxury brands to elevate their class when they don’t even mess with them, they don’t rock with their demographic. There has been designers like Tommy Hilfiger who’ve made statements like “African Americans are not our demographic,” yet in the 90’s that’s been a thing, and now it’s coming back where we’re supporting him but he doesn’t support us. So, in my work, it questions the idea of why is it always this face or this idea that we have to turn to these brands or this group of people in order to feel validated. And I feel like even in slave- culture, in the civil rights movement, we would wear sunday-best clothes, where slave masters would dress African Americans in their best clothes even though they celebrated african-indigenous religions. We’ve always tried to dress nice in order to seem better. Like, our car is busted on some flats but we sure do have on a Gucci belt. So, my work right now is pushing that idea where I’m actually creating different things that are staple pieces in African-American men wardrobes, like the Gucci belt, Jordans, and I’m bringing it back to civil rights commentary where I make a Gucci belt out of a noose. Because we haven’t changed. It’s the same thing, and we’re not progressing, which is opinionated, but it’s my opinion. I’m not sure if I should go to industries or design companies, I did apply to Adidas, but I do want, whether I work for a design job or not, I do eventually want to have my own brand because I feel like my work is not corporate. It’s very conceptual. It’s so many things. It’s fashion, and then it’s art, and its quilt-making. I had an internship with Tiff Massey and she does a lot of different things. She’s a jeweler, she does quilting, and she does fabric jewelry pieces, but she said don’t box yourself in because art is art. Don’t try to fit inside of a mold where you don’t have to. Just create. I’m trying to embrace the idea of just creating right now.
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Franchesca @franchescalamarre
// Do you go by Queen Complex? Queen Complex is more of my street tag, referring to my murals that I do or any street art in general. I really go by my name to be honest. I felt the urge and the need to make an art presence for myself because that’s so true to artist in general. I don’t want to say alter ego but they have this other presence that lies within them along with their art. // What do you do and why do you do it? I consider myself a representational ...artist. Most of my work is self-representational work which always come from a true place, true feeling, or true story and I like my work to represent the culture that I’m from which is the African Diaspora, and so a lot of my work is focused heavily on that. And it’s always created to opened up a new conversation about the identity we have and how those identities are exposed outward in the world, and so I’m always searching for a new place to have that discussion when I create my work. // What is it like being a young black woman in Detroit’s art scene? It’s really interesting because I find that in Detroit, in the art scene, black women are kind of like these matriarchal – they have this matriarchal stance as far as being a prominent face in the art scene. If you look up to some of my predecessors, which are Sabrina Nelson, Sydney James, these are very strong black women that are very dominant in the art community, so as a younger black female artist, I look up to those artist in, I don’t want to say carrying on a tradition or a legacy, but just solidifying the movement of solidarity between black women. When I was younger, in high school, a lot of my work was just pretty much the preconceived notions
of what art is and what art that I should be creating, and then when I got older, I realized that art was not the voice that I had, but it was the voice that they wanted me to have, so I started looking heavier into the people that I just named, Sabrina and Sydney, just to hear more artwork and literature artwork and try to figure out why I was drawn to them so much and what those relations had to do with my own art work. And I found that my voice is very powerful, very strong, and it is very true to my culture. So, I try to continually put that in my artwork. Whichever art medium I use, I don’t just do painting and drawing. I do body painting, I do styling and fashion. I collaborate with a lot of other artists in the city to try and continue to bring our message forward, just to represent our culture because representation matters. // I noticed that your work varies from the wall of buildings to the actual human body. How do you go about choosing your canvas? I started out with not sticking to the traditional canvas just because it was expensive in my opinion. As far as just going, getting canvas made or just seeking canvas. I also don’t like the confinements of one shape, so I started to buy rolled canvas, and I started to buy rolled paper, and the shape that was, I started to do my artwork in. I’m not really big on confinement, and that’s also what drew me into the mural aspect. I like doing large work. I like work that the audience in some parts becomes apart of it because you’re either smaller than – your not confined to this horizontal, vertical picture. It’s more in depth and complex. // So, what are you working on right now? I’m currently trying to get into a little bit of animation, a little bit of digital illustration combined with traditional practices. I just rambled around on my iPhone and I started doing digital media formats, so now, I’m trying to combine traditional artwork with that and molding the two, and seeing where I can take that as far as animation goes and as far as having my art move and tell a story even more in depth– maybe even venture towards film through my artwork.
Most of my work is self-representational work which always comes from a true place, true feeling, or true story and I like my work to represent the culture that I’m from which is the African Diaspora.
Adonnica
media handle so they can check out my work. I look on Instagram sometimes too.
@takenotezvisn
// What keeps you going?
// Where did you start? How did you end up with a camera in your hand? I’ve always had a passion for photography. I started using cameras at the age of three. I knew at a very young age that it’s what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. After I graduated high school in 2012, I got my camera, left and went to Full Sail University for a little while. I was actually there for the film program, so it was a good experience. But, I’ve been doing photography my whole life. It’s something that I’m very passionate about. // What is it like being apart of Detroit’s art scene as a young, black woman? It’s interesting because the people of Detroit are very – they don’t support how they should. You have to really prove yourself to people here that you’re somebody – that you’re good at what you do. People don’t give you recognition really until you leave, make a big move, come back, and then it’s like, “Oh, okay now I want to be on your team.” But, I feel like I can definitely make a difference here, and I feel like it’s up to me, in a way, to change our scene as far as photography goes, especially with me being a female photographer. Photography is a male-driven field, so I definitely have to work harder to prove that I’m serious about this, this is what I do, and I’m good at it. // Where do you get inspiration and how do you go about finding models? I’m inspired by a lot of different things: music, art. I definitely look at myself as an artist even though I’m a photographer. I find models usually just on the street. I see a lot of people that are eye-catching or really pretty, and if I want to work with them, I stop them and tell them that I am a photographer and I would like to shoot them, give them my social
My drive, my ambition, my love for photography – I feel like it’s my baby. I can’t let down my goals. I feel like I have a purpose and my purpose is to be a photographer, to capture beautiful souls, capture beautiful moments, and to show people what they really look like. When somebody works with me, I definitely boost up their confidence because a lot of people say they didn’t know they looked as good as they did until they shot with me. Also, I was actually robbed back in April. I was at a skatepark in Detroit with some friends and we were all robbed. Around nine or ten guys came into the park, they put a gun to my head, grabbed my camera and ran off. I wasn’t really depressed from that. It really motivated me and pushed me to go even harder. July, I got my new camera, which is the one I have here, Canon 1D C, and that’s a blessing because I was set on getting the 1D X, but if the devil’s gonna take my stuff away, I got to come back harder. Then, God blessed me with the 1D C. Like I said, that’s a blessing, but I’m never going to give up until I get to the point I want to be at. Being an entrepreneur, being driven, and goal oriented, you have to trust the journey. You never know what’s going to really happen. Even if you have plans, I feel like it’s a day by day thing. It’s a lifestyle. // What’s do you have planned for the future? I want to get into astrophotography and architectural photography. Right now, I specialize in portrait photography, street photography, but honestly, I’m trying to come up with a way to categorize photographers who literally shoot everything. I do specialize in portrait, but I shoot everything. I would love to work with NASA on some stuff. I don’t know when, but yeah, that would be cool.
People don’t give you recognition really until you leave, make a big move, come back, and then it’s like, “Oh, okay now I want to be on your team.”
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Closer Closerthan than SomewhereOver Overthe the Somewhere Rainbow:AALook Lookatat Rainbow: Moviesthat thatConvey Convey Movies theMotor MotorCity City the
CollageWork Work and Story Collage and Story by: Courtney Cheshire by Courtney Cheshire
Growing up in Metro Detroit, the city of Detroit seemed like an otherworldly presence to me. The adults in my life seemed to either adore it or fear it and these polarizing views confused me. As I grew older I visited the city more frequently and fell in love with it. The thing about Detroit that I love is there is a feeling that I only get when I am there. The city gives off such an unusual vibe; its history oozes at every turn and its future can be seen rising with the sun each morning. I now live in Savannah, Georgia and I often find it hard to convey the
feeling Detroit gives to people who have never been. Luckily, through films I have found a way to communicate this feeling. The three essential films I think of when I try to capture the feeling of the city are Gran Torino, Only Lovers Left Alive, and Lost River. Each of these movies were filmed in Detroit and capture its essence in totally separate ways: Gran Torino presents a modern Detroit still stuck in its sordid past, Only Lovers Left Alive shows off the comforting solitude of the city, and Lost River tells a beautiful fairy tale allegory of Detroit.
Gran Torino
Hands down the most known of the three films is Gran Torino, an Oscar nominated drama directed by and starring Clint Eastwood. Eastwood plays grizzled Walt Kowalski, a retired war veteran who lives in Highland Park. His life gets shaken up when a Hmong family moves in next door, a change that Walt is less than happy with. At first the old man is bitter towards his new neighbors because of their differences, but as he gets to know the children he befriends the family and often sticks up for them. Gran Torino highlights issues of diversity and the
resistance to it that many people who live in and outside of Detroit face daily. Growing up I saw an awful lot of adults in Metro Detroit acting like Walt. The redemptive arc of Walt shows that the only way to move on and grow is to work to accept everyone for who they are. The diversity of Detroit is one of the key things that makes it so wonderful. Gran Torino was primarily filmed in Highland Park, but also in Detroit and Royal Oak.
2008
Only Lovers
Left Alive
Only Lovers Left Alive doesn’t have a plot that centers around the city, but it uses its’ setting beautifully. The film follows two vampires Adam and Eve (Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton) who have moved to Detroit because Adam wants a place where he can produce music in peace. The idea that vampires choose to move to Detroit so that they’ll be somewhere somewhat devoid of humanity may seem a bit offensive at face value, but the way that director Jim Jarmusch captures the city is eerily gorgeous. The couple drives down the street, empty save for only for a few cars. In my opinion the solitude of Detroit is one of the most unique and wonderful things about it. Its not “empty”, but it does not bustle the way that Chicago, New York, or Atlanta do. Jarmusch singles out Adam as choosing to make his own version of Detroit empty: “Adam lives in Detroit to kind of hide, and his
view of Detroit is desolate - nighttime and desolation. But that is not all there is of Detroit - our film doesn't show you the amazing people there, the stuff going on, the interesting activity. But he's not part of that.” Most of the film takes place in Detroit and was filmed there. Adam’s house is actually a 135-year-old mansion located in Brush park that has since been renovated and is available to rent as an Airbnb. Whilst driving at night they pass the Packard Plant and the Fox Theater. The couple end up stopping inside the Michigan Theater car park late at night. Seeing all these iconic locations on the big screen is riveting and allows non locals to see Detroit in a new hypnotically beautiful light.
2013
Lost River In my humble opinion Lost River is the most beautiful movie filmed in Detroit. The movie is the directorial debut of actor Ryan Gosling and tells the story of a young man who lives in the fictional Lost River and must break a curse to bring prosperity back to the town that was brought on by the purposeful flooding of a large part of the city to create a man made lake. Simultaneously his mother is forced to work in a bizarre pop-up club ran by a non local man seeking to exploit the people of Lost River. She is obsessed with keeping her childhood home in Lost River while her son wants to get out, creating a struggle between the two. The plot is a blatant allegory for the auto industry and industry in general pulling out of Detroit, leaving much of the population trapped and jobless. Gosling, who grew up not far from Detroit in Ontario, Canada says about Detroit: "It seemed like everything cool came from Detroit... the whole American Dream." The American Dream seems to have been born and died in Detroit. It’s something that doesn’t exist anymore, but most of the country seems terribly in denial about its disappearance. This is not the case for the people of Detroit. Detroiters know that things have changed and will never be the same. The city can never be the way it used to be, but in the ashes of the old a new kind of city will rise, maybe even stronger than the one before it. The actual answer to Detroit’s
economic problems cannot be answered as easily as Lost River’s problems are solved in the movie, but the creation of the film itself is part of the real life answer. Artists are at the center of Detroit and they always have been: from Motown to the Heidelberg Project to up and coming young designers just about to break out. Gosling and his cinematographer Benoit Debie beautifully capture Detroit’s sprawling urban jungle. Notable filming locations include the abandoned Belle Isle Zoo, the old train station, and the Brewster-Douglass Projects. Several locals were included in the film, most memorably an elderly woman who walked on set at a gas station and started talking to Matt Smith who plays the villain. Watching Lost River as someone who knows the city is an unbelievably moving experience. It makes Detroit look like the most beautiful place in the world and all the filmmakers did was shoot what already exists, proving that the beauty has always been there, people just weren’t looking. I learned quickly that most of our nation view’s Detroit in the most negative light possible. They never make an attempt to be educated about the city and talk over me as I try to explain how fantastic it is. This is why I’m thankful films like Gran Torino, Only Lovers Left Alive, and Lost River exist. Seeing its beauty and powerful presence on a screen with actors they know and love is way more affective than my words.
2014
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zach wendt
A second year illustration student at CCS in midtown, Zach Wendt pushes boundaries with his elongated figures and textured bags within his fashion illustrations. Originally from Rochester, he now lives in the dorms at CCS but is willing to go wherever his work takes him. Upon meeting Zach, I learned that he lets his work do most of the talking while he sticks to a soft spoken manner. Story & Photography by Madison Koster
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// When did you realize you
wanted to do fashion illustration? I didn’t really decide until my freshman year of college. // Who were your first favorite designers that you were drawn to? Well when I got in to it, I don’t know if you know the artist Clement Louis, he’s on Instagram - he’s like who got me in to it pretty much and he would do a lot of goofy stuff and then I don’t know, I’m not too much in to it anymore but a lot of the Vetement stuff I was into just because the exaggerated proportions were fun to draw. but I’ve gone in to other older stuff so like old Margiela and stuff like that. But, nothing too specific I guess just whatever catches my eye. // Who’s your favorite designer right now? do you have one? I’m not too sure. I haven’t done Vetements in awhile. I really like a lot of the Balenciaga stuff right now - they’ve got the suit
coats and the plaid pants. I like the way they’ve being going with all those pieces recently. // When did you start to develop your own personal style? I used to do a lot of digital art because I didn’t have a workspace. But then when I came here I started to experiment with traditional techniques and I haven’t really done too much digital since then. But I think after my first year here and I learned to paint thats when I developed my style. And its kinda just been progress since then. // Whats your favorite medium to use? I mean if I had to choose one it would probably be acrylic paint. But I use up to ten different media in one piece. But usually I do like four or five different ones. // A lot of your work is pretty muted but then contains pops of color, did someone inspire you to do that? Not really, over summer I decided to try and start drawing in only black and white and then from there start adding in the primary colors.
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I like to stick to the black and white theme-it’s cleaner that way I got in to doing it - I felt like that would be a good way to perfect what I’m doing by only working in black and white. I like to stick to the black and white theme-it’s cleaner that way and then add color if i feel like it. // Where do you like to work? I’ve got a drafting table in my room that I work at. // How long does one piece normally take you? Couple hours probably, depends if I’m in the mindset because then I’ll just sit down to
work and just won’t stop. So, I’m not too sure. Sometimes I wake up early and work and honestly I’ll work all day the only thing I really do is draw, I don’t have too many other hobbies and I can’t really call this a hobby anymore. // What do you listen to while you’re working? Mostly podcasts, a lot of comedy. // So what do you want to do when you get out of here? I haven’t decided yet, I like a lot of Clemente Louis’ work, he does a lot of editorials and has been in many magazines. // One word to describe Detroit? I would say progression. // Leather or denim? Denim, I’m not that big in to leather stuff. Leather shoes and boots are nice of course, but I feel like there’s more variety to denim.
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LOST IN SPACE PHOTOGRAPHY: LEONA FLOWERS CLOTHING PROVIDED BY ALXVNDRA
SLUMBER PARTY PHOTOGRAPHY: MADISON KOSTER STYLING: CARLIE QUEZADA
@eat_da_rich Simone Else is the founder of EAT DA RICH, an independent clothing company with “wearables for weirdos” based in Detroit. Her use of reflective materials, PVC, and her classic pom-pom earrings are a few items that originally drew me to the brand, and her bold colors and experimentation with materials truly makes EDR stand out from the rest. Simone started off selling vintage pieces at consignment shops in Detroit and picked up sewing when she realized most clothes didn’t fit her due to her small stature. Friends would give her scraps of their old clothing and from there she incorporated these “scraps” in to the vintage pieces to create one-of-a-kind items that you can find on her website now. Story & Editorial by Madison Koster
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SIMONE: Eat Da Rich has always been my accessories line and eventually grew in to what the brand is now. I’m working towards carrying only one-of-a-kind handmade pieces that don’t contribute to the sweatshop industry. People will give me bags of free stuff and I incorporate it in to my line, I would rather repurpose then throw it away. I’ve cut myself off from buying new shit and contributing to the mass waste. Everything I do I aim for it be “alive” in some way whether it’s shiny and moves, see-through and interacts with that you wear under it, or reflects. It’s hard getting yourself started as an artist in Detroit especially in fashion because there’s only so many outlets and if you don’t have those connections you won’t be able to thrive here. I don’t have a lot of involvement with these institutions so I’ve chosen to showcase my work on the internet and market my work in my own way.
Asians. Who Are We? These photographs represent a revolution that fights towards the lack of representation Asians face not only in media, but in everyday life. Downplayed oppression has been keeping the platform of the Asian community in a minuscule bubble-a bubble that has just blossomed-compared to other people of color. It is not a fight of who is more oppressed, but rather an act of awareness. Society seems to forget that Asians are minorities and have been taken advantage of through the effects of colonialism. Suffering from fetishization and false stereotypes these people represent the empowered and unique lives that America has ignored. This is my way of representing the Asian Diaspora. Story and Photography by Lancer Casem
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Naomi @na0hmi
I moved to America in the later part of 2014. My first year back in the US, I lived in Sterling, Colorado. If I wanted to pick a place to move to which is a polar opposite of Singapore, where I was born and raised, I couldn’t have picked a better place. With its 0.08 % Asian population, it was a huge culture shock to me. I felt like such an outsider. People there thought I was a foreign exchange student the whole time, and just about every Asian stereotype was forced onto me. They thought the Chinese language was a funny joke or a secret language only spoken by the wait staff at the Chinese restaurants (2 in the town), and not my mother tongue. They thought being good at my studies, especially math, was in my genes. People asked if my dad was just my host family here because he was white, even when I referred to him as my dad. They even imagined some romantic chemistry between me and two other Chinese kids at our school. I’ve lost count of how many people thought they were complimenting me when they said I spoke English so well. I got tired of telling people it was my first language.
I was assumed to be the expert on all of Asia, and was looked at any time something Asian was brought up. Living in Sterling, I wished so badly that I was not biracial but born a pretty blonde white girl instead. Moving to Detroit the following year was such a welcome to me. I started to feel more comfortable being biracial. There are still a million times I’ve been told how exotic I look or sound, miss a joke or don’t understand a slang word, but I feel like I don’t hate being in my skin nearly as much as I did before. There are still countless times I can’t help but wish I wasn’t even part Asian. No matter how much white people seemed to love the exoticism of Asian culture, having fair skin and European features are still treated as more beautiful. If only Asians are portrayed more prominently in the Western media besides filling the role of the exotic friend with wacky culture practices, I think I wouldn’t have felt so conflicted these past few years.
Yang @nostalgia64
I was born in a refugee camp in Vietnam. My family said fuck Communism and we escaped when I was six months old. We bounced around a few cities in Georgia before settling into Oak Park, Michigan. I went to schools where I was one of maybe 4-5 people that weren’t black. I was picked on, I was constantly in fights, the Ching Chong jokes and dog eating jokes were endless. I won’t go into the bullying and all the racial slurs because that’s just something that happens to kids everyday. Growing up as a Vietnamese American, the language barrier between my family was one of my biggest personal issues. I didn’t know how to communicate with my own parents, and they didn’t know how to communicate with me. It was tough. I wouldn’t be able to voice my opinions and share how I was feeling and neither would they.
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Lilly @lillylao_
“You’re what?” My mother was born in a refugee camp in Thailand in 1980. My grandparents and their two daughters (my aunt and mom) settled in Canada a year later. I’m Lao. Everyone’s main question when I state my ethnicity is.. “You’re what? What’s that?” It’s comical really. Laos is a country in the middle of Southeast Asia. It borders Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, China, and Myanmar. It’s a country hidden in plain sight, a lost gem. With that being said, there isn’t a lot of Lao representation anywhere. If you google “Laos” there isn’t much in-depth categories to search through, there’s just old history. I was born in Canada in 1998 and have been moving back and forth between the U.S.. No matter where I am, there are always people who try to guess my ethnicity, and every time they get it wrong. “Japanese? Korean? Chinese?” I don’t have any of those staple, regional characteristics besides my almond shaped eyes. It’s always tiring to meet new people and go through the same routine of explaining where Laos is, but I guess it’s also really refreshing to drop some knowledge on people.
Of course growing up, I was asked dumb questions like if I ate cats and dogs, or if I ate everything with chopsticks. “Ching Chong” was also a big one I didn’t really understand. My good grades were always disregarded because “she’s Asian”, and that’s what I was suppose to do. One time, freshmen year of high school someone in the girls bathroom wrote something on the stall in blood and this boy trying to be funny in the middle of class said I did it and wrote Chinese symbols, then he proceeded to mock me. Of course I had nothing to do with it but it made me really upset. I started telling people I was Thai just so I didn’t have to explain myself. Now that I’m older I know that people are just ignorant and they don’t know. I love being Lao. I love being Southeast Asian and representing a country that doesn’t get much recognition. My country is beautiful and bountiful and filled with so much spirit and grace. I hope nothing but the best for those people who made me feel insignificant in my own skin or tried to fit me into these weird stereotypes, because now I feel like I’m thriving. I’m proud to be Lao and everything that comes with it. I’m going to put Laos on the map.
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OCAS
@ocas.detroit When I asked what OCAS stands for the group simply said “nothing.” The meaning comes more from what they do as a collective. The group of 18 members believes in collaborating as a whole while still being independent artists - and not just musicians. The group has a wide range of creators from fashion to painting to producers and band together to host small shows and pop ups whenever they can. In a world where it’s every man for himself, OCAS challenges that. You can head to OCAS’ Instagram page to get more info about each artist in the collective. Story & Photography by Madison Koster
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// How did OCAS start?
ZACH: OCAS started out as group of friends just wanting to be creative artists whether its based on music, art or fashion, people just wanted to create. It started originally in Lake Orion but we take it more seriously now that we are based in Detroit and work with local artists. We’ve all known each other for a long time but recently we decided we want to be more marketable as a group. JAKE: I was pursuing a business degree and then i took a break so I could focus on developing OCAS because I saw something special in the group so this is what I dedicate my time to now. // How are you doing that? MAX: We have weekly meetings, and shows as often as we can and we’ve started to separate departments when it comes to things that need to be done like Jake is in charge of booking shows and production of music while I’m in charge of marketing. We all have a system of how we get shit done.
// How many bands/artists are part of the whole collective? MAX: Probably 15 but 8 core people that we see on the daily. We have painters, musicians, writers, and TV shows in the near future.
It’s like a fruit and cheese platter of music // So, you guys wanna dabble in a little bit of everything? MAX: Pretty much. We try to keep everything in house for the most part. There are so many of us, we have someone for everything. It takes awhile for us to put anything out because we get so picky about what we want to produce and how to produce it and we all have a voice in it. Before we release anything we have everyone listen to it and then have a critique. We’ve been spending this entire year just developing a brand for each artist which will be a lot of content once everything is released. The first thing we want to release is an OCAS tape with 1 or 2 songs from each artist on a collective tape. We’ll have that out by 2018.
JADEN: We want the listeners to get a taste of all the different types of sounds we make. It’s like a fruit and cheese platter of music. JAKE: Eventually we want to focus on sketch comedy that sheds light on mundane daily activities that would seem like a normal experience, but we want to show different things we do in a perspective that makes it specifically comedic. // What artists inspire you? MF DOOM, Flying Lotus, UFO Rage, Gorillaz, Frank Ocean, Yung Lean, Earl Sweatshirt. // What’s your goal with this? MATT: I started out listening to a bunch of music and I couldn’t find anything that sounded like something I wanted to listen to so I started making my own music. It sounded weird and terrible and I didn’t think anyone would like it but when I played it for my friends in my car they were into it so I just kept going. So, I want to keep making music that people can’t find anywhere else. ZACH: Make a career out of it. Make music we want to hear and make our own wave. No trendy bullshit. If our stuff becomes hip then we’ll change it up again. We’re all about originality.
Pictured: Don Pagliacci @donpagliacci Matt Everts @st.reve Shot on 35mm Kodak 400 Professional Color Film
Women in Design: speaking out about sexism in the industry
@ccswid Women in Design is a student-led club at the College for Creative Studies centered around ending sexism in the art & design industry. Founders Sydney Fine, Michaela Lidster, and Emily Tinklenberg formed the group at the start of 2017 and although they’re just getting started, they’ve already established themselves as a powerful force on campus with a lasting message. With the political climate changing and the discussion about women’s rights never ending, the group is important now more than ever. Story & Photography by Madison Koster
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// When did you decide that
you wanted to start Women in Design? SYDNEY: It was right after Trump got elected. Emily and I were sitting in class and a wave of sadness just hit us. We couldn’t not do anything about it and we thought “what’s the most manageable thing we can do?” // What was your goal with this? EMILY: Originally we wanted it to be a place for all genders to get together and talk about things that we experience even in the school. We want it to be a safe space for people to talk about it, give each other advice, and empower one another. After that, we realized it would also be a good networking opportunity and from there it just kept growing. // What do you want to focus on this year? MICHAELA: We’re planning a trip to New York during spring break so that’s where all of our energy is going right now. While we’re there we want to do a bunch of studio and agency
tours to show the people in the group places they could work. We also have guest speakers come in like women in career services to give us tips on building our resume, negotiating, and how to market yourself.
It seems like there’s always guilt when you do call out someone on their actions, because you think “how will I be treated differently if I say something?” // What’s your core message/ purpose? EMILY: The industry is hard and we want people to feel brave enough to go in to it. In school, graphic design and advertising
are mainly dominated by women but once you get in to the real world it’s the opposite and it’s a big shock you’re not prepared for. We want people to know that this isn’t something they have to go through themselves. When we learn about sexism happening at the school we report it and then want to be that support system for people to turn to. // What’s the best way in your opinion to change sexism in school and the workplace? SYDNEY: Educating is a huge part of it, but mainly we want women to feel like they have the power to speak out against it without facing any consequences. It seems like there’s always guilt when you do call out someone on their actions, because you think “how will I be treated differently if I say something?” We also need men to recognize what is happening and for them to stand up for us when they see this disrespect. Women in Design holds meetings every other Tuesday at the CCS campus. For more info, and continued updates, you can check out their Instagram above.
contributors models
Naomi Blakely @na0hmi
Max Stutz @maxstutz
Francina Juncaj @francinajuncaj
Morgan Parker @m.o.r.g.v.n
Nailah Bisou @nerd_n_ niceclothes
Chizoba Onwuzurike @zoabstract
Courtney Cheshire @courtneymcheshire
L’kiyah Rosé @lkiyah_rose
Reed Nowels @rdnwls
Rachel DeRieu @rachelderieu
Meagan Vekima @meagiv
Sydney Aloe @sydaloeha
Danielle McDougall @goog_ii_
Rebekah McClain @ ___beckyyyy
Megan Prawdzik @meganprawd
Ila Mindell @ilamindell
Nam Nguyen @namaste_n
Alice Sadler @_alicesadler_
@alxvndra
BIRD BEE @bird_bee_
DETROIT IS THE NEW BLACK @detroitisthenewblack
EAT DA RICH @eat_da_rich
SUPERNATURAL LINGERIE @supernaturallingerie
contributors brands
ALXVNDRA
contributors
writers
photographers
Madison Koster @photosrcoolman
Madison Koster @photosrcoolman
Courtney Cheshire @courtneymcheshire
Leona Flowers @leonaflowers
Lancer Casem @lansuh
Ila Mindell @ilamindell
Morgan Parker @m.o.r.g.v.n
Lancer Casem @lansuh
assistants Kylie Gotzfried @kyliegotzfried
Danielle McDougall @goog_ii_
Parents Mom - there wasn’t a time when you didn’t ask me what you could do to help me with the magazine. I am really grateful for your support and for pushing me to pursue my passions. Jerry - you heard me complain and stress out about everything surrounding the mag and you just listened. Thank you for that.
Courtney You were the first person I told when something went wrong (and right!) and you always knew exactly what to say. You’ve always been my biggest supporter even when I have the most obscure ideas and don’t know how to execute them. You were the first person to be interested in my photography even when I barely knew how to use a camera. You are my #1 fan and your support doesn’t go unnoticed.
special thanks
Miranda Clark Without you WIP never would have been created. Thank you for encouraging me to pursue my fashion photography interests and for doing this independent study with me. I have learned so much from you that I will carry with me in to my professional career.
you are allowed to be both a
masterpiece and a
work in progress at the same time