This week I had the pleasure of tagging along with one of my colleagues for an interview with Roslyn Karamoko, owner of Detroit is the New Black. For those of you who aren't familiar, DITNB is a multi-brand clothing boutique located on Woodward Avenue in Downtown Detroit. Beyond functioning as a retail store, Roslyn's utilizes her space to showcase local artists and to host community events, such as dance classes and poetry nights.

Roslyn is a Seattle native, who attended Howard University for her Bachelors in Fashion Merchandising. After graduation she moved to New York, where she worked as a stylist assistant at Sean John Bad Boy Records. From there she became a buyer and consultant with Saks Fifth Avenue and then with Rocket Internet in Singapore. In September 2013 she moved to Detroit and enrolled in the Build Institute, a local entrepreneur incubator, where she designed her signature DITNB shirt. That Christmas she gifted the shirt to a few friends and other people began to ask where they could get one. The demand for her shirt, allow Roslyn to begin her business with pop-up shows while still maintaining her position as a consultant. Eventually she realized that the demand was large enough, so in 2015 she opened a store front in Midtown. As her business grew, she began connecting with other local designers and moved to her current Downtown location in July 2016, where she carries the t-shirt that started it all along with designs from Detroit designer legends Tracey Reese and Anna Sui.

Roslyn took the time to answer some of the questions we had about her experience starting a business in Detroit and her hopes for the city's future.

What inspired you to design the DITNB shirt?

"I don't consider myself a true designer, I can't create ideas out of nothing - I need to design for something. I need to understand what I'm trying to say and communicate and at first it was like, do we really need another Detroit t-shirt? But y'know there wasn't one that I necessarily wanted to wear coming in from a different place, there's this more cosmopolitan forward element that I really thought Detroit was chic and cool and all my friends and family were like 'oh my god Detroit is so scary, what are you doing there?' and I was like, no guys it's really cool, Detroit is the new black! So now telling everyone that it's the new black, I've always been the champion of the underdog so I was just happy to be here and see something that had all of this rich history and tradition and industry and to see it in it's raw form was so inspiring. We were talking about the French history behind the city, so when I saw it with the accent, it was like this is it. That's the shirt I want to wear. In the Build class I printed some shirts and gave them to friends for Christmas that year, maybe fifteen of them, and that spring they wore them and people just started to ask, what is this and where can I buy it. So I knew it was a thing, a conversation piece that was resonating with so many people."

How do you separate yourself from other Detroit facing brands?

"I just think they're different. They sit together. I saw a picture on Instagram of a guy wearing 'Detroit vs. Everybody' and his girlfriend wearing DITNB and that's exactly why i created this. It's not like a competition, there's room for everybody. What do you want to say about Detroit today? Do you want to hustle harder today? Do you want to verse everybody today? Or are you just over it, like it's the new black."

With Detroit's current comeback, there is definitely gentrification occurring: So how important is it to have a store like yours, which hosts so many local vendors and events?

"It's so important, and that's why I'm doing it. I'm not really thinking of this space as straight retail. It's tough, retail is hard in terms of foot traffic and sales and driving it in the way that you need to, to have a profitable business. But, that's not how I'm approaching this space. It's not about getting the best buy or the best sellers or products. It's more about showcasing them, like a show, so whether it sells or not, it's making the point of, like, these are the brands that representing Detroit and not companies that are coming in. Not that that's a bad thing, we need that, but this is carving out a space for who is creating here from the ground up. So I'm looking at this space almost more of like a cultural center, than a retail space and so you come in and you see the best in fashion, you see the best of art in Detroit - fine art or photography. You can access different events: poetry nights, we do like African dance class, we do a yoga class, we do some networking events. It's like you can come in here and you can buy a $12 lip gloss or a $20k piece of art or do some yoga and hang out. It's really just about wellness, come in and experience Detroit, experience such a varied perspective of Detroit. I think it's about perspective. It's very easy to create a district that speaks to one person, because that's the only perspective at the table. When there's someone different who has a different background, a different understanding of these different communities then that person is able to relate and speak differently to that customer and i think all of those demographics are important to really represent the full make up of Detroit."

With your experience in larger cities (Seattle, New York, and Singapore) what about Detroit felt like home?

"I live for a challenge. I think once something's already done, then there's no use for me, what can I do here if it's already set. So also in Detroit, there's opportunity to do things differently, to try things that haven't been done before, to see how it goes. Detroit has a history of creating new industry of things that weren't previously around. So the idea that in 2013, all of the major American cities are already done. Detroit is the only American dream really, on some level. It's possible here, with nothing. I started this in my loft with 15 t-shirts and now we're in a store and it happened. It's like that, is incredible. You never see that. So that is inspiring and to know that historically that has happened over and over again in Detroit - that is the juice, the energy you feel her. Major cities are on thing, but they're saturated and impossible to start with new ideas and things that might not make a lot business sense. Retail's dead, department stores are exiting, so why would you open a brick and mortar store? Even when I started this, investors and everybody else said, be online, online, online. In Detroit, specifically, this store is important, because you're carving out a space for people to cross pollinate and that's how ideas and creativity incubate."

What advice would you give to a business owner that is thinking about opening shop in Detroit?

"This doesn't even have to be for Detroit, it's just for anyone opening a business. You have to start with a passion and the 'why you're doing it.' It's hard work. It's not always working, you have to keep adjusting and change to go forward. You need to be motivated and inspired to keep moving forward. Be flexible. I thought I was going to make a ready-to-wear designer line and I ended up making this t-shirt.

Know who you are, know where you're strong, know where you're weak and bring in team members that can supplement areas that you suck at. It's an honesty game: what can I do and what can I not do."

In five years what do you want the fashion scene in Detroit to look like?

"I don't know, I'm interested in fashion, but I'm more interested in supply chain and manufacturing. I think that's something that Detroit could be a front runner in bringing that back to America. They're trying to do it in pockets everywhere; New York, L.A. ... How do we bring back apparel manufacturing? I think Detroit lends itself from a space standpoint and capabilities based on auto industry machinery and things they're already doing they're making auto seats, sewing fabrics for auto. So why couldn't you retool that for garments? They're the same machines, technical knitting machines. Nike is using that for their joggers. It's about understanding the resources that exist here in Detroit and how you can reshape them and retool them to create fashion. That's what I'm super interested in over the next five years."

What are some challenges slowing down Detroit's progress?

"The challenge is to unify and get everyone on the same page so we can move forward together. There are so many cooks in the kitchen, so many people doing things differently and going in different directions. We need to come together and talk about it and do it together. Detroit is for everybody... what does everybody need and how can we represent that full spectrum? We need to work together. I know I'm not from here, but I think that there's a way to come into a new city and take stock of what's happening and insert yourself in a way that's not overbearing or feeling like you're 'saving' the situation."

What is the next business you'd like to see come to the city?

"I'd like to see more creative businesses. I think that arts and culture are what drives cities forward. It's not hard economics. It's hard to pitch, because it's an indirect effect on the economy. Whether it's through galleries or music spaces or showcases - it creates this cool and sexy factor. New York and London are sexy because there's art and cool kids walking around the street. Detroit does have this international cache, but we need something with that urban, sex factor coolness."

If you were fully empowered and had all the tools and resources, what is one thing you'd change about the city this year?

"The school system. That's the future. It's the kids, the babies. They're gonna have the opportunity to do it different, do it right. Historically Detroit has dealt with so much hurt. We need a shift in perspectives that starts with the kids, the school system and their education. Having them work together, to create this unified city. Detroit is going to be different for them. We have worked with one of the schools, through a book drive and a field trip here. As the business grows I think there'll be more opportunities for us to be involved."