Black Fashion Society creates a community of fashion-minded students

LILY GISCLAIR thedmfeatures@gmail.com

The Black Fashion Society at the University of Mississippi is a confidence building club for all students with a passion for anything and everything fashion.

“The Black Fashion Society is about empowering minority students to be real with themselves and follow whatever passion they may have,” Caroline Sanders McCollum, society president, said.

It was with this spirit in mind that McCollum and Jordan Wells founded the Black Fashion Society in 2019.

“We saw on campus that there were no groups that were for minority students take pictures,” McCollum said.

And the Black Fashion Society was born. Extending beyond the title of “club,” the society aspires to be the ignition for a movement. With approximately 45 members, roles in the Black Fashion Society range from modeling to photography to graphic design.

“We just wanted to establish this movement, a movement of bringing fashion to campus,” McCollum said.

The Black Fashion Society not only welcomes individuals belonging to every area of fashion, but also strives to include students from diverse backgrounds, cultures and gender identities.

While the club was created in hopes of forming a

Williams believes that minorities need more representation in the fashion world and on UM’s campus. He advocates for Black male models in particular.

“Male models are underrepresented in the modeling industry just because the world of modeling itself is a female dominated industry. Black peo- lieve expansion for the club is prevented by lack of exposure. McCollum said that if knowledge of the club increased on UM’s campus so would membership, particularly among minority groups.

Azaria Wiggins, a senior and model for the Black Fashion Society, expressed her take on why more people should join.

“In a way the Black Fashion Society can also be used for professional development depending on how seriously people want to take advantage of the resources it provides,” Williams said. While career opportunities are a major pull to join, McCullom explained that part of the reason for forming