STITCH December 2016 - The Excess Issue

no. 32

december 2016 the excess issue

table of contents

03 masthead 04 contributors 05 editor’s note 06 fast fashion in focus Should fast fashion slow down? STITCH investigates.

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10 seven deadly sins Gluttony isn’t the only thing that’s indulgent.

The Seven Deadly Sins get a dose of excessive monochrome to bring them to life.

20 a path to sustainable fashion In an industry infamous for excess, one writer argues we should count on emerging labels to make fashion more eco-friendly.

28 uniformity A single look with many iterations showcases how unique an imitation can be.

36 blogging to the bank Once a voice of reason and individuality, fashion bloggers have become just another face in the crowd.

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st ur be o y s i what ore find? st thrift

CO-EDITORS-IN-CHIEF Lizzey Johnson and Sarah Spellings

ir Waldorf ss that Bla ossip Girl re d e it h Aw 2G e season wore in th for $10. .. .. premiere

MANAGING EDITOR Amber Cline

im vest inted den apest. u in B d

A hand pa

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Beatrice Hagney SENIOR EDITOR Rachel Lefferts TREASURER Susan Chen DESIGN EDITOR Emily Ash

DESIGN TEAM Estelle Lee, Elizabeth O'Conor, Rachel Price, Jessie Paridis, Aysha Salter-Volz, KT Son, Birdy O’Conor, Angela Cheng, Natalie Griffin, Cindy Luan ONLINE EDITOR Rachel Burns

ns high

a ll-white V A pair of a 1 tops for $

ASSISTANT ONLINE EDITOR Haley Glazer STAFF WRITERS Maddy Kaufman, Monty Nelson, Grace Wade, Samuel Maude, Emily Chaiet, Eden Lichterman, Patricia Tang, Isabel Siedel CO-DIRECTOR OF PHOTOSHOOTS Christian Maness and Madison Blanchard DIRECTOR OF MULTIMEDIA Renee Jacoby

A mini Lo u backpack is Vuitton .

ONLINE PHOTO EDITOR Mari Uchida PRINT PHOTOGRAPHY EDITOR Sam Schumacher STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Allie Hagan, Melissa Cagan, Charlotte Hu, Katherine Sprengel, Michelle Yun, Louis Lu, Luke Kleekamp, Jodie Wei STYLING TEAM Olivia Krevoy, Elizabeth Zhang, Tori Latham, Nina Wescott, Sage Ressler, Kathleen Carroll, Megan Cahillane, Rachel Gradone, Helena Kalman, Dani Lewittes MULTIMEDIA TEAM Zoe Juanitas, Balim Tezel, Hannah Chorley, Gabrielle Silva, Emily Kvitko, Hannah Lindley, Sydney Stein, Kayla Reardon, Emily Orr, Smera Kumar CORPORATE DIRECTORS Casey Doherty and Luke Zhang MARKETING TEAM Ariel Matluck, Sydney Agus, Haley Rolff, Phoebe Chase, Karina Veikos, Juliet Sage, Marianna Kammo, Ruth Teklu SOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Carolina Diaz SOCIAL MEDIA TEAM Brooke Delaney, Macon Bianucci, Ridley Rochell, Courtney Schaf DIRECTOR OF EVENTS Hannah Curcio RECRUITMENT CHAIR Dani Cohen

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contributors Kayla Reardon Multimedia Team Hometown: Greensboro, NC Major: Journalism Year: Sophomore Piece of clothing you can't let go of: My pink Timbs.

Hardest piece of clothing to part with: My ladybug rain outfit from kindergarten.

Favorite eco-conscious store: Reformation.

Emily Orr Multimedia Team Hometown: Jacksonville, FL Major: Journalism Year: Freshman Piece of clothing you can't let go of: Topshop high waisted ripped jeans.

Hardest piece of clothing to part with: Steve Madden combat boots.

Favorite eco-conscious store: Madewell.

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Haley Rolff Corporate Team Hometown: Los Angeles, CA Major: Economics Year: Freshman Piece of clothing you can't let go of: Cashmere turtleneck.

Hardest piece of clothing to part with: Worn-out Birkenstocks.

Favorite eco-conscious store: Patagonia.

editor’s note On April 24, 2013, an 8-story commercial building crumbled in Bangladesh, killing over 1100 workers who mostly produced Western apparel. In the three years since,Rana Plaza remains the highestprofile factory collapse in history, the token emblem of the industry’s failure to protect its employees. Attention has increased, but progress is slow, and the incentives to buy a $10 dress often outweigh the pull of sustainability and ethical consumption. The fashion industry isn’t immune to the ills of globalization, but we allow ourselves to pretend it is perfectly healthy while adding piece after piece to our ASOS wishlists.

We like to believe that fashion is an art, and therefore, that it has a compassion that other capitalists ventures do not. We like to believe that fashion is a form of self-expression, that one person’s way of putting together jeans and a t-shirt reveals a truth about them that other languages do not. We like to believe that fashion is inimitable, that the genius of Alexander McQueen will live and die within the walls of his brands and not be reproduced into a cheap knockoff in a Bangladesh factory.

Sarah Spellings and Lizzey Johnson, co-Editors-in-Chief

Fashion is full of contradictions. The desire to make trends affordable contributes to tragedies like Rana Plaza. Cultural appreciation too quickly becomes blind appropriation. The effects of fast fashion are seen in plain sight, in overflowing closets, trash bags and landfills. The onus for protecting workers is a grey area at best between factory owners, global brands, and international alliances. Knockoffs aren’t Canal Street exclusives -- they’re sold at Zara and Topshop.

There has been some success. Stella McCartney has led the charge towards sustainable, high fashion brands. Livia Firth, wife of actor Colin Firth, founded eco-age, a consulting firm focused on “bespoke sustainability solutions.” For anyone wanting to learn more about waste in fashion, the documentary The True Cost sheds much-needed light on the matter.

But as for our part, we present to you the Excess issue, which focuses on imitation and consumption in the fashion industry. We explored the uniformity of fashion in our shoot, Of a Kind , how brands are trailblazing in sustainable-yet-covetable fashion, and the effects of blogging on our attention spans.

In creating this issue, we reflected on our own bad habits. This drove us to want to change them. As part of this issue’s December launch, we partnered with SEED to organize a campus-wide clothing drive. While this is no more than a blip on the spectrum of all that needs to be done, we believe that awareness is, at the very least, a catalyst for action. We hope you do too.

XX Sarah and Lizzey, Co-Editors DECEMBER 2016 •

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FAST FASHION FAST FASHION FAST FASHION FAST FASHION FAST FASHION FAST FASHION in focus.

by________

PATRICIA TANG

T

o quote Rihanna, being “fresh off the runway” is, was and will always be paramount for the fashionconscious crowd. When everyone wants to be a trendsetter, there exists a constant crusade for the latest and greatest. Previously, this crusade was only for the patient. It involved watching a design house’s prêt-à-porter show for an upcoming season and then purchasing the pieces shown months later when they finally hit the shelves. As we become increasingly obsessed with instant gratification, fewer and fewer people are willing to wait.

From this, fast fashion emerged.

And, it’s here to stay. The key players? Brands like Topshop,

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H&M and Zara, which evidence the fashion industry’s evolution toward a business model centered around instant gratification.

New technologies as well as globalization enable the success and rapid growth of the fast fashion industry.

In short, fast fashion fulfills consumers’ needs for high fashion trends at low costs by picking up ideas or trends from the runway and turning them into products within days. This involves methods of designing what consumers want, a highly-responsive supply chain and an exclusive but diverse variety of apparel so that customers buy frequently and in large quantities.

Most importantly, fast fashion retailers maintain their popularity by constantly opening stores worldwide, and therefore striving to constantly be in the public eye.

Successful fast fashion retailers are always visible and always relevant.

According to Dr. Donald Sull, a senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, fast fashion companies earn higher profit margins—averaging 16 percent— than typical apparel brands, which average 7 percent. The see-nowbuy-now model is extremely successful and caters to the demands of a fast-paced society.

B01-KTH-51DO part 1________

THE CASE STUDY The popular Spanish brand Zara is a textbook example of the successful fast fashion model. Zara’s first store was opened in 1975 in La Caruña, Spain, and the chain grew steadily throughout the 1980s. In 1985, the retailer was absorbed by the Inditex group, and in 1988 opened its first international location in Porto, Portugal, followed by New York in 1989 and Paris in 1990.

It seamlessly transformed from a European craze to an international phenomenon. Consumers are drawn to Zara’s products that come with runway style at a fraction of the price, and clamor to snag desirable pieces due to their limited nature.

Zara fulfills the fast fashion model with success and efficiency through technology and globalization.

Collaboration between storefronts and headquarters through information systems increases efficiency: store managers track what sells, what doesn’t, and what customers look for, and sends this information instantaneously to corporate headquarters. Zara sends this data to its army of hundreds of in-house designers so that they can design trendy apparel that consumers really want to wear. Then, the designs are sent to production.

B01-KTH-51DO part 2________

THE PRODUCTION CHAIN Previously, Zara produced apparel in Spain and Portugal, and was known for clothes that did not feel cheap despite their prices. Zara was able to maintain this quality due to low labor costs in Spain and Portugal that kept production costs low. Presently, the advent of more advanced production technologies in countries like Morocco and Turkey means that Zara can produce at an even cheaper cost than before. Thus, Zara sources its products from both European and international sources to maintain its reputation for quality while still minimizing costs. Complicated items are sourced from firms in nearby Morocco, Bulgaria and Turkey, and simpler items come from far away places like India, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Due to Zara factories’ quick turnaround, stores are able to

deliver new items twice a week.

According to a Newsweek article from 2001, it took “less than two weeks for a skirt to get from Zara's design team in La Caruña to a Zara store in Qatar or Paris or Tokyo—as much as 12 times faster than the competition.” And, by keeping production quantities low, Zara creates exclusivity: since a product is gone forever when it sells out, demand for popular pieces is incredibly high. Zara also increases its popularity through rapid expansion, especially in regards to physical locations. It became wellknown in Europe for an “oil stain” method of growth: Zara opens a flagship store to create hype for the brand in the new location, then adds various specialty shops in the vicinity to capitalize on its name brand.

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B01-KTH-51DO part 3________

PSYCHOLOGY OF LUXURY Though fast fashion dominates the industry, it hasn’t detracted from luxury goods. According to some, it’s because of the timeless qualities of luxury pieces.

Consumers turn to fast fashion retailers to follow trends, but buy luxury goods for investment pieces that they will wear for a long time. For others, luxury goods’ appeal lies in what they represent.

According to a survey published in academic journal Fashion Theory where participants were asked about luxury fashion, the three most mentioned themes were dreams, exclusivity, and art. The participants emphasized the prestige of luxury goods. A participant in the survey, identified as a store manager named Tom, commented on Polo Ralph Lauren’s brand image.

“Polo is not only a traditional game played by the upper classes...it also refers to the social and emotional attitude of people towards exclusive and luxury products. This is a dream that I cherish...but it is not within my reach currently. I hope my dreams will come true one day.”

Fast fashion allows those who cannot afford luxury goods to achieve similar styles, but at a lower price point. Those who can afford to buy luxury goods will do so.

It’s a phenomenon called enclothed cognition, named and analyzed in a study by Northwestern University researchers, that explains how “wearing clothes causes people to ‘embody’ the clothing and its symbolic meaning.” Enclothed

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cognition is, according to these researchers, “the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes,” and the study explores how “the experience of wearing clothes triggers associated abstract concepts and their symbolic meanings.” These researchers conducted an experiment where they distributed white lab coats to participants and told some that So, what is more wasteful: spending it was a more on these rare luxury pieces for doctor’s coat and others aspirational, psychological fulfillment, that it was or buying in greater quantities to stay on a painter’s top of ever-changing trends? smock.

Then, both groups were asked to do the same task.

The participants who wore a “doctor’s coat” were more attentive and did the task more carefully, demonstrating enclothed cognition.

Since doctors usually need to be more careful and precise than painters, the group wearing the doctor’s coats embodied the symbolic meaning of their garments.

Wearers of luxury goods experience the same enclothed cognition affect. The woman profiled in The Cut for spending more than $5000 on an interview outfit for Vogue was probably not immune to it: she got the job by impressing Anna and probably showing confidence gained through enclothed cognition.

B01-KTH-51DO part 4________

THE CONTERPART Higher echelons of the fashion ladder are caving to the pressure and shifting toward more fast fashion-like business models.

2016’s Seoul Fashion Week took cues from its fast-paced host city by selling pieces immediately after they were shown on the runway. Even luxury brands like Burberry, Ralph Lauren, and Tom Ford are beginning to adopt see-now-buy-now business models. Tom Ford even cancelled his NYFW show for his Fall 2016 collection, opting to wait until September.

Regarding the shift, Ford said: “In a world that has become increasingly immediate, the current way of showing a collection four months before it is available to customers

is an antiquated idea and one that no longer makes sense.” If the age-old runway show formula is an antiquity, then fast fashion is a novel innovation.

And yet, we hang on. Some luxury retailers still stand their ground as members of the old guard. In their stances, they retain their creative freedom that others have lost because of fast fashion. Contrast Burberry and Tom Ford’s new fast fashion models with Tunisian designer Azzedine Alaia’s freedom: he doesn’t shoot ad campaigns, rarely sends out samples, and only holds fashion shows when he’s ready. His clientele includes Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, and Marion Cotillard. It represents a viable counterpart—Alaia’s niche

in rare and desirable pieces keeps it afloat, while Burberry and Tom Ford cater to a new generation with shorter attention spans.

So, what is more wasteful: spending more on these rare luxury pieces for aspirational, psychological fulfillment, or buying in greater quantities to stay on top of everchanging trends? Which one of these models really, truly defines excess? Is fashion for the looks or for the esteem?

It’s a dilemma fit for a modern day Carrie Bradshaw. With fast fashion, the Carries of the world no longer need to spend $40,000 on shoes to stay glamorous. But, the allure of luxury is strong. They still might want to. S

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7 Deadly S Gluttony isn’t the only thing that’s indulgent. The Seven Deadly Sins get a dose of excessive monochrome to bring them to life.

Photographer: Allie Hagen Director: Madison Blanchard Makeup: Kathleen Carroll, Christian Maness, Nina Wescott Hair: Hannah Curcio, Helena Kalman Set Assistants: Olivia Krevoy, Megan Cahillane, Dani Lewittes Models: Marianna Oharenko and Ashley Chai

On Ashley: Whitney Eve shirt; American Apparel dress; Forever 21 jacket; H&M necklace; Forever 21 rings 10

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Sins

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Sloth

the quality or state of being lazy; a habitual disinclination to action or labor; an absence of interest

On Marianna: John Vass sweater; Sam Edelman boots 12

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Lust very strong sexual desire; a passionate or strong desire for something; a sensual appetite regarded as sinful On Marianna: Romwe dress DECEMBER 2016 •

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Gluttony On Marianna: MNG Suit jacket; Ann Taylor pants; Forever 21 t-shirt; Splendid shoes 14

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the act or habit of consuming, eating, or drinking too much; excessive indulgence of anything to the point of waste

On Ashley: H&M kimono; Fossil watch; Zara dress; Kelly & Katie heels; Danskin leggings

Envy

the feeling of wanting to have what someone else has; a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage

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extreme anger; uncontrolled feelings of anger, rage, and even hatred, often manifesting in form of indignance or desire for vengeance

Wrath

On Ashley: Nordstrom black jacket; Guess boots; 7 For All Mankind jeans

Greed a selfish and excessive desire for more of something than is actually needed (especially money); an artificial, rapacious desire and pursuit of material possessions

On Ashley: Whitney Eve shirt; American Apparel dress; Forever 21 jacket; H&M necklace; Forever 21 rings

Pride

dangerously corrupt selfishness, the putting of one’s own desires, urges, wants, and whims before the welfare of other people; irrationally believing that one is essentially and necessarily better, superior, or more important than others while failing to acknowledge the accomplishments of others The father of all sins, the devil’s most prominent trait. The source of the other capital sins, the original and most serious of the seven deadly sins.

On Marianna: Splendid heels; H&M dress; vintage heels 18

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BY GRACE WADE

W

alking into her brickand-mortar boutique located in the the West Loop of Chicago, Candice Stewart, a graduate from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, prepares to open her store, Mod + Ethico. Minimalistic decorations compliment the sleek racks where chic, yet sustainable clothing hangs. In between talking to customers and reaching out to fair-trade designers, Stewart runs to the door periodically to pick up shipments from local Chicago designers.

Meanwhile, Olivia Horan, a freshman at the New School in New York City, walks through racks overflowing with secondhand clothing. While thrifting may be overwhelming for some, Horan is a seasoned veteran as her eyes catch a sparkling sequined shirt amidst the dusty and used clothing.

Here, she is curating a collection of pieces that will later be sold online through her own store, Teenjuice.

An environmental studies major with a double minor in alternative 20

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fashion strategies and sustainable systems, Horan developed the online secondhand clothing brand at just 15.

While Horan and Stewart may have different approaches, both of their businesses are working to fight back against the environmentally taxing fashion industry.

When shopping, almost every consumer eyes around for the cheapest deals. And yet, the price tag they see seldom reflects all of the excess costs not portrayed in the final listing. In reality, a garment’s price should account for more than just its production costs.

It should account for the social injustices, waste production and the water and air pollution caused during manufacturing. While global climate change is a hot topic in the media, the fashion industry’s role in sustainability is often not a part of the conversation.

“Everyone knows that petroleum is polluting the environment, but no one really thinks of the environmental costs when they’re buying garments,” Stewart said.

In a world where 80 billion new

pieces of clothing are consumed each year, the environmental effects remain fashion’s dirty little secret.

“The environmental impact of the fashion industry is so under the radar… it’s never talked about and we need to start,” Horan said.

The Environmental Justice Foundation claims that cotton utilizes more pesticides than any other crop. These pesticides run-off soil and contribute to the contamination and poisoning of drinking water. The process of breaking cotton down into weavable fibers and dying the fabric pollutes water, while coal utilized in production factories leads to toxic run-off as coal ash infiltrates water sources.

Water pollution is not the only factor, however. As consumers replace their wardrobes each season, the clothing they discard contributes to the massive issue of textile waste. Heaps of barely-worn clothing are left to sit in landfills.

Increased pollution is exacerbated by the rise of fast fashion has only exacerbated increased pollution. H&M, Zara

and Forever 21 aim to produce low-quality, trendy clothing in the quickest way possible. This, in turn, causes a humanitarian issue.

Production is outsourced to foreign countries where labor practices involve the exploitation of children and environmental standards go unregulated.

“I don’t think people understand the social responsibility behind fashion,” Horan said. “Your fast fashion clothes are being made in sweatshops, so is that trendy piece of clothing really worth it if you’re only going to wear it for maybe three months?”

That question is what prompted Stewart to establish Mod + Ethico.

As a consumer she had grown extremely frustrated with the lack of fair trade, American-produced, sustainable clothing brands.

“I want to know that the people who are making these garments are being treated fairly and equitably and under safe circumstances,” said Stewart. “Everybody deserves that.”

A big aspect of Mod + Ethico, which launched last year, is to uphold the belief in Americanmade clothing and fair trade.

“There is this hyper-local idea,” explained Stewart. “Just like in, say, farm-to-table restaurants. We are within proximity of the source and this helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

Similarly, having most of its clothing designed and produced

by locals means that the brand abides by the ideals and standards of American factories.

“The overall standards in America are much stricter than those with little oversight in other countries,” Stewart said. “But I do also look for companies that are using fabrics produced with low carbon dioxide emissions or organic crops.”

Striving for sustainability and locality means that Mod + Ethico clothing costs a little more than fast fashion styles.

“I want to know that the people who are making these garments are being treated fairly and equitably and under safe circumstances. Everybody deserves that.”

She said that moving towards the slow fashion movement “is going to be a little more expensive because of the high quality and fair way in which the garments are produced.

But, they’re high functioning. Things should be able to last, so you don’t need to replace them every year.”

Just as Stewart is combatting the harmful effects of fashion through the ideas of American-made products and minimalism, Horan is taking her own unique approach.

“Growing up, I would wear all these crazy clothes and people would ask me, ‘where did you get that?’” Horan explained. “When I’d say a thrift store, they were always so surprised. So I thought I would start an Instagram to sell my finds, but I wanted to make it fun too.” And that is just what she did.

Now, what started as a fun project photographing friends in her

clothes has developed into a brand where aspiring NYC photographers and runway models help to display the clothing.

Embracing her own quirky style, Horan exudes the same carefree and funky vibes through the pieces she curates. “Why not just go crazy and be so extra?” Horan said, laughing. “I have so much fun styling the photoshoots.” Sparkling pants, sequined tops, and handpainted denim jackets are standard in these shoots.

“I also try to curate all my pieces to be on-trend, because being relevant is so important,” Horan said, recognizing the need to appeal to a fast fashion obsessed audience. “I mean, shopping at environmentallyconscious stores is really expensive. Which is why Teenjuice is so perfect because I keep all of my prices at about $20 or below.”

By buying secondhand clothing, a consumer no longer contributes to textile waste and the production of fast fashion clothing. But for those who lack Horan’s knack for vintage finds, Teenjuice is trying to make the process of thrift shopping easier for those who don’t want to spend hours going through thrift stores. She also reconstructs and repurposes older pieces to be trendier and therefore more buyable. to her audience.

“I don’t mind keeping up with those [fast fashion] low prices,” Horan said. “As long as people aren’t buying from those stores I am so happy.”

Between the two stores, the message is the same: every decision counts. S

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face-to-face From smudged perfection to a Lichtenstein look, a generous application of makeup can really make art pop or melt away.

Photographer: Zack Laurence Director: Christian Maness Stylists: Lizzie Zhang, Rachel Gradone, Sage Ressler, Nina Wescott, Tori Latham, Madison Blanchard Models: DantĂŠ Gilmer and Aria Charles

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Uniformity does not e q u a l conformity, but you might see doubles... or triples.

A single look with many iterations showcases how unique an imitation can be.

of a kind

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Photographer: Michelle Yun Director: Christian Maness Stylists: Lizzie Zhang, Dani Cohen, Sage Ressler, Nina Wescott Models: Alex Kalman, Gabe Cohen, Alin Hulli, Kendyl Thomas, Nora Maxwell DECEMBER 2016 •

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On Kendyl: Gucci bomber; Zara tee; Forever 21 shoes; Topshop skirt

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On Nora: Torn bomber; Topshop skirt; Zara tee

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On Nora: Ronny Kobo blazer; Topshop skirt; Zara shirt On Alin: Mika & Gala bomber; Brandy Melville shirt; Topshop skirt

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On Nora: American Apparel top; DKNY skirt; Crossroads shoes On Alin: Forever 21 dress; Crossroads shoes On Alex: Rag and Bone jeans; Vince tee; RN jacket; Common Projects shoes

On Gabe: Sartoria blazer; Brooks Brothers button-up; ourCaste jeans; Mezlan shoes On Kendyl: Blue Vanilla dress; Crossroads shoes On Alex: Black Stone blazer; Rag & Bone jeans; Vince tee; Acne jacket

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On Alex: Black Stone jeans; Vince tee; Acne jacket On Gabe: Timberland shoes; Uniqlo jeans; Polo shirt 34

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On Nora: Torn by Ronny Kobo bomber; Doc Martins shoes; Zara shirt; Topshop skirt On Aline: Mika & Gala bomber; Brandy Melville tee; Crossroads shoes On Kendyl: Gucci bomber; Zara tee; Forever 21 shoes; Topshop skirt

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/

Blogging Blogging

to the the Bank Bank

to

BY MONTY NELSON

Take a moment and think back to a time when fashion blogs were the purest form of self-expression, giving a voice to people from all walks of life who, like many of us, love and worship fashion.

A time when everyone would argue about who their favorite bloggers were, whether it be for their amazing beauty tips or their enviable and aspirational jet-setting travels. Websites like WordPress and Blogger gave a microphone to a diverse group of style influencers, from 12-year-old teen Tavi Gevinson who dubbed herself the “Style Rookie” to a 24-year-old web developer known as BryanBoy, all before Instagram became the platform for street style influencers.

In tandem, these bloggers effectively took the fashion world from one of the most exclusive businesses to one of the most accessible, taking away the power of age-old establishments like Vogue. Without these new voices coming to the forefront of the fashion world, we would not have plus-size models such as Ashley Graham gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition or Winnie Harlow, a gorgeous model with vitiligo who boasts over a million Instagram followers and is the face of Desigual. Blogs have dispelled the myth that only one type of beauty sells by creating vibrant new conversations that celebrate diversity and challenge conventional standards.

For those of us who hope to enter the fashion realm, it is comforting to know that our quirks will be accepted and even embraced. It 36

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is also impressive to look at how young entrepreneurs such as Leandra Medine of “Man Repeller,” Chiara Ferragni of “The Blonde Salad” and Aimee Song of ”Song of Style” have transformed their blogs into multi-million dollar businesses.

Today, Medine has 27 employees, over 2 million monthly viewers and a growing fan base across all social medium platforms. And she is not an anomaly; “Into the Gloss” attracts over 200,000 unique viewers a month, adding to their total 4.3 million page views; its companion companies Glossier and The Coveteur have over 700,000 visitors a month and just shy of one-million Instagram followers. As the world of print journalism suffers, digital media continues to grow at an unprecedented rate.

Still, it’s important to recognize the effect their success has had on their authenticity. Those of us who once looked to our bloggers for an organic and unswayed take on fashion have become jaded; we feel abandoned by our online heroes who have instead become impressionable industry insiders.

From being front row staples at fashion weeks across the globe to eliciting sponsorships from every kind of corporation imaginable, these bloggers have almost become walking advertisements-many to the point of narcissism, not necessity.

In the pursuit of creating a brand while supporting themselves as self-sufficient journalists, I would be hypocritical to deny the savviness of these bloggers and their need to support themselves. But as I scroll through my Instagram feed

during Fashion Week, I am often disappointed by bloggers’ lack of creativity in street style photos and digital content. Take, for instance, the Vetements sweatshirt that says “May the Bridges I Burn Light The Way.” This sweatshirt, at the hefty price tag of $1,050 on Net-a-Porter, has been seen on everyone from Whoopi Goldberg to Sofia Richie.

As I see this sweatshirt more and more, I can’t help but begin to question whether it’s only popular because enough Instagram influencers have worn it to convince the rest of us that we should buy it as well. These days, the rest of us just patiently wait for fast fashion retailers like Zara, TopShop and H&M to grace us with the more affordable yet on-trend version. But as they do this, are we all becoming part of the vicious cycle of what is hot and what is not, neglecting the chance to decide who we truly are and how we want to represent ourselves? It seems as if no matter what blogs we read, our favorite writers endorse the same products and the same definitions of what is cool and popular right now.

In a world where social media creates and destroys trends, it is more important than ever to not care about what is cool or how you will be perceived. By taking away the power of publications and bosses, fashion blogs once functioned as the purest form of self. It can seem as though they no longer maintain this purity, but they have taught us the most important lesson in the industry: nothing is ever set in a particular way, and a world that seems unshakable can always be rattled. S

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BY SAMUEL MAUDE

s I was adding new clothes to my tiny closet in East Fairchild earlier this year, I quickly ran out of hangers—and space. I was going to have to ride my bike to Target to get the matching hangers I require (yes, I’m that person).

As I was moaning, I was faced with the inescapable truth: I have so many damn clothes.

A friend and I recently went to Chicago for a Michigan Avenue shopping spree.

We hit up our normal stops: Forever 21 and H&M. As a college student on a limited budget, I was careful not to walk away with too much—I already have a lot of clothes and I definitely don’t need a third pair of skinny black jeans. My loot? A baby blue sweater, a stretchy pair of pants, and a couple of necessary basics.

Just glancing at my wardrobe, I probably have 20 t-shirts I never wear, four pairs of pants I haven’t touched in a year, and two sweatshirts that are horrendous shades of green. For some unknown reason, there is so much in my closet I genuinely don’t need yet can’t seem to part with.

In 2013, The Cut released an article saying that we only wear 20 percent of our wardrobe. Yes, you read that correctly. That statistic seemed outrageous to me, but it rang eerily true as I yet again biked to Target to

get even more hangers for my already overflowing closet.

So what’s taking up all this room? I just couldn’t seem to part with the t-shirt I bought at my first Broadway musical or that awesome Des Moines, Iowa Bacon Festival t-shirt (I know, I know).

Yes, I’ve only worn these shirts twice, but their importance is far beyond fashion—they’re a familiar presence, especially so far away from home.

I know I’m not the only person to face this dilemma. Many of us are guilty of over-consumption, whether we can admit it or not. Once I was forced to face my own habits, the 20-percent statistic began showing up all over my life—whether it be my friends’ closets or my friends' shopping habits.

It’s no secret the fashion industry is booming. The industry’s revenues hit around $12 trillion annually, and according to the Bureau of Labor, the average American family spends around $1,700 on clothes each year.

We live with immeasurable excess. We can discuss fast fashion, and we can discuss thrift stores, but how many of us actually donate our clothing?

Just down the street two blocks away is a man I see every time I walk to CVS. He needs a new shirt, and I have 20 extra t-shirts collecting dust in my closet. I think it’s time to part ways with my Bacon Festival shirt. S

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Everyone can do simple things to make a difference, and every little bit really does count.

- Stella McCartney

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• DECEMBER 2016