A line of students and community members wrapped around the corner of State and East William streets Thursday for a pop-up event hosted by Dairy Boy at ONDO Bakery. Dairy Boy, a clothing and lifestyle brand, offered specialty maize and blue merchandise as well as three featured drinks and pastries in collaboration with ONDO.
Founded by Paige Lorenze in 2021, Dairy Boy is inspired by the New England aesthetic, specializing in everyday clothing and home decor. In addition to managing her brand, Lorenze is a social media influencer and is set to speak Sunday at the annual Michigan Fashion Media Summit, a campus-wide fashion conference.
In an interview with The Michigan Daily, Chief Brand Officer Rachel Liebenthal said the goal of the brand is to inspire a sense of community through clothing.
“It’s been really bringing this effortless, beautiful feeling and lifestyle and energy to our audience, making sure that everybody feels included,” Liebenthal said. “It’s everyday accessibility and attainability in an elevated way, and we found that for the people that are fans of Dairy Boy and fans of (Lorenze), it really resonated.”
Dairy Boy plans to launch a university-inspired clothing line in partnership with various universities, including the University of Michigan as their first partnership. Liebenthal said the brand wants to bring their products to a broader audience of students that are not based in New York City, where their other pop-ups have been located.
“The audience in Ann Arbor and the University of Michigan student is so spirited, so community driven and really aligns with our company ethos so it felt like a perfect fit,” Liebenthal said. “We love Michigan. The love that we felt since the moment we stepped on campus and stepped into Ann Arbor has been incredible.”
LSA freshman Gabby Miller, who attended the event, told The Daily she loved the floral decorations inside ONDO and vibrant environment of the pop-up.
“It’s honestly just really cute, really aesthetic, I love all the flowers in here,” Miller said. “It’s just really bright. It’s kind of been a cloudy, rainy day, so this was just a nice little fun pick-me-up.”
LSA sophomore Addy Vemulapalli, who also attended the pop-up, said she was excited to experience this sort of event outside of the big cities where they are normally located.
“I feel like it’s nice that we have more opportunities, things that you normally only see in L.A. or New York,” Vemulapalli said. “It’s fun to see them in a small little town like Ann Arbor that’s home to us.”
Daily Staff Reporter Sarah Spencer can be reached at sarahsp@umich.edu.
