Hand-painted apparel businesses serve as creative outlets for fashion-forward students

Customs by Kya and EMRLD are two separate student-run businesses, but both share a common passion for fashion. Credit: Courtesy of Customs by Kya and EMRLD

Customs by Kya and EMRLD are individual student-run businesses, but both share a passion for fashion and painting.

EMRLD, a custom, hand-painted denim apparel business, was started in September 2021 by Ally Hornstein, a fourth-year in finance. Hornstein said the idea to start a denim-upcycling business was inspired by upcycling clothing trends, and she enlisted the help of Sam Samuelian, a second-year in marketing, to co-own EMRLD alongside her. 

The two students take custom orders for all denim items, fielding customer input before sending the item off to be completed by one of three painters on their team. 

“Everyone’s been nothing but supportive,” Hornstein said. “All my friends immediately followed the account, always want to promote it, help, whatever. So as much as you’re scared that there’s people who are going to think what you’re doing is weird or no one’s going to like it, there’s always going to be someone who likes it in this community.”

Kya Kopans, a first-year in art education, said she began her custom, hand-painted shoe and apparel business, Customs by Kya, during the pandemic lockdown in early 2020. Driven by her love of art, Kopans said she painted several pairs of shoes and posted them to her social media, eventually beginning to take custom orders. 

In addition to shoes, Kopans said she has expanded her business to include hand-painted tote bags, jean jackets and other secondhand items.

“Ever since I was little, I’ve loved fashion especially, and then as I got older, I had a deeper appreciation for art,” Kopans said. “Towards the beginning of quarantine, the place where I worked closed and I had a lot of free time with school online, so I decided to start my own business.”

Unlike Kopans, Hornstein said her interest in fashion developed gradually as she became more attuned to her creative side.

Samuelian said EMRLD became a way for her to express herself and get in touch with her creative side without having to pick up a pencil or paintbrush.

“I was always super creative, but I never was good at art,” she said. “I never knew how to channel that until I became older, especially with this, because I’m really bad at drawing, painting, all that stuff. For me, it’s like I’m able to put what’s in my brain onto a garment without having to do it on my own.” 

Even with a love of fashion, running a business while in school can be difficult, and Kopans said managing a full class schedule, custom orders and a business is sometimes strenuous.

“It is really hard to do while I’m at school because I live in a dorm,” she said. “Having all my paints and stuff is not the easiest, so everything is back home, and I’m not able to take as many orders as I’d like to be doing.”

Despite having to strike a balance between work and classes, Samuelian said there are benefits to starting a small business as a student. She said events such as an Ohio State-initiated pop-up shop the duo recently attended are a valuable element of owning a business because they offer the chance for student business owners to meet and learn from one another.

Kopans said being a student business owner also provides a way for students to receive life experience outside of school.

“It’s definitely been a good learning experience,” Kopans said. “I feel like it’s a good conversation starter, if anything, because it interests people, and painting shoes was actually what made me decide to be an art education major because I realized how much I loved doing art in my everyday life.”

For those who are interested in starting their own businesses but are unsure about how well their ideas will be received, Hornstein said to just go for it.

“Why not give it a try and see what happens?” Hornstein said. “I think that’s kind of the best thing. Something that I’ve just noticed in life is just put yourself out there. What’s the worst that can happen? Someone doesn’t like it? Someone says no?”