Meet Alice O’Neill of PolishedMoll in Uptown

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alice O’Neill.

Alice, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
PolishedMoll evolved from the idea that art should be something you can touch, smell, and get dirty. Typically, one walks into a gallery or museum and can not touch the beautiful creations they see. This makes sense. The artist in the gallery spends countless hours creating these pieces. But what if clothing could be a display for art just like a canvas or a pedestal?

PolishedMoll is about being influenced by the community, whether that be outside in the streets of my neighborhood or by my close friends. My models are friends, my photographers are friends, my production artists are friends and they all support me in my goal to change how I view art. I feel intimidated to touch art that even I have created in the past. What is the point of art if you create it for the world to see and it sits in the back of a storage unit in an apartment? This isn’t how I see my art, I see it on friends and family, strangers on the street, all taking pieces of my art with them on their daily adventures.

I actually began embroidering when I worked in a call center and I spent nine-to-five on the phones in need of mindless activity for my hands, from there, PolishedMoll was born.

As I began to advertise embroidered shirts the demand grew and I could not keep up with the orders (a great problem to have). When I spoke with my business advisors, we decided that PolishedMoll was ready for the next level and it was time to transition to both an artist to a business owner.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A Smooth road is not exactly how I would describe starting PolishedMoll. Taking any sort of hobby and turning it into a small business is never an easy road. For a short time, I was embroidering everything by hand and although the shirts turned out beautifully they took eight hours each to make, which, with a full-time job, was not scalable. After trying to keep up with growing demand I quickly found I was burning myself out. Then my friend Lillia Shpitalnik introduced me to her friend Maxim Epifanov and he had a solution. He too was an artist, however, he creates art through machine embroidery.

Partnering with Max solved my scaling problem and I could now increase my productivity and maintain the intricate hand embroidered stitching that my customers had appreciated. Max only speaks Russian and I only speak English, which for some may be challenging. Luckily, I had a friend Lilia who is fluent in Russian and could bridge the language gap between Max and I. Three artistically minded individuals coming together to bring a vision to life is a truly beautiful story! Smooth road maybe not, but interesting road definitely!

Please tell us about your company.
PolishedMoll is a small clothing company specializing in embroidery. Embroidery is a fiber art that has increased substantially in popularity over the past few years. Some say that this is because individuals have a strong desire to move away from technology and embroidery provides a meditative outlet. The part I am most proud of with PolishedMoll is how I have been able to work with my friends and family to grow the business positively. I am surrounded by talented and beautiful individuals, it will always be a core value of this company to work within my network to encourage artistic growth in my friends and me.

In its early stages, I utilized the nude female figure to express vulnerability through wearable art. In a time full of female empowerment, I wanted to turn what some people see as vulnerability into a strength by embracing the female figure. This is the vision that I have for PolishedMoll I will continue to push the envelope and the broader market. PolishedMoll should not be seen as vulgar but a beautiful display of the female (and soon to be male/other) body. Pushing the envelope thoughtfully and tastefully is what sets PolishedMoll apart from others.

Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My favorite childhood memory is going to Patterson’s Fruit Farms in Chesterland, Ohio in the fall to go apple picking in the fall with my parents and two younger brothers. This memory always strikes me as a favorite because of how vivid the memory is. I can taste the fresh apples and smell the cider doughnuts, I can even imagine my little brother Patrick trying to find the biggest pumpkin in the patch and trying with all of his might to push the pumpkin towards the car, inevitably crying because the task was an impossible one. I remember the cool crisp fall air and the families laughing and playing all around us with the warm fall colors reflected on the rosey cheeks of children. Although this isn’t a particularly artistic memory, it is inspiring. I am inspired by nature, by colors, and by people in their environments.

Pricing:

• Each shirt is $55 not including tax or shipping
• More shirts will be available in the near future

Contact Info:

• Website: www.polishedmoll.com
• Phone: 6149177254
• Email: alice@polishedmoll.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/polishedmoll/?hl=en

Image Credit:
Jonathan Ward

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