CHESTER WILSON C

HOW AND WHY DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH TFN?

I joined the second semester of my freshman year when I saw photos on TFN’s Instagram. I instantly became hooked and obsessed. I’ve always loved fashion and clothes, especially what clothes can do for people. I started out as a stylist, because I love putting clothes on people, and putting together outfits. I also was a model for a few shoots. It was overall a really fun experience.

VISUALS FROM PLAYFUL (WATER SHOOT) - ISSUE 04 | FALL 2019

MODEL - TYLER HIXON

MUA - LIZ KARLOVICS

STYLIST - CHESTER WILSON III

PHOTOGRAPHER - JOSE HERNANDEZ

WHAT WAS YOUR ROLE IN TFN?

My senior year I became an Executive Board member as the Event Coordinator. All of the little events, mini-shoots, and handling the Discord were all in my department.

The hardest part of being the event coordinator was managing the Discord. In the beginning I was doing the Discord for like fifty people, and it became more difficult moderating the Discord as it grew to two hundred plus people. I started in 2018, and in 2021 TFN blew up. I definitely did not expect the boom of new members.

My favorite thing about being event coordinator was hosting events where I would bring members to thrift stores. It was so much fun. We also did a lot of things on the quad. We once had a big group picnic with cute outfits on. Photos were taken, books were read, and homework was done. We all just chilled on the quad on a 90 degree day.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE EVENT TO DO AS THE EVENT PLANNER?

I truly love themed events and getting to wear costumes. It was my bread and butter on campus. We wanted each quad day to have an aesthetic theme and have people come in certain outfits, like pajamas for example. The dressing up didn’t happen very often because of Covid but I wanted to do more.

AS A PREVIOUS EXEC MEMBER OF TFN, HOW DOES IT MAKE YOU FEEL KNOWING THAT THE CLUB CONTINUES TO EXPAND?

I don’t know consitently what’s up with TFN lately, but hearing about all the new workshops like posing, makeup, and screenprinting, it is so cool to hear. It makes me want to come back! You guys are just so incredible and it just makes me feel super proud of the work we have done, and the work you guys are still doing, and it’s only gonna get bigger and better from here.

WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE BEING A BLACK PERSON WITHIN A CLUB THAT’S PREDOMINANTLY WHITE?

HOW WERE YOU ABLE TO ADVOCATE FOR MORE PEOPLE OF COLOR TO BE SEEN AND SHOWN WITHIN THE CLUB?

I was a really shy awkward kid, so being a Black boy and being able to model was such an eye opening experience, and it’s been lovely giving that to other people. Photoshoots at TFN were my first dose of RAW confidence with being in front of the camera and being hyped up by the president at the time, Liz. When you were in front of that camera, they really made you feel like a star. Afterwards, I was like ok I love this. This is something I never want to give up. If there is anything I have to say, it’s this. The confidence that TFN gave me 100% shaped the person I am today. I probably will continue to use my TFN photos until I’m thirty because they’re just so good. I had a great time during them, and everytime I look at them I just have great memories.

When it comes to advocating for more people of color within the club, I think it really began with a lot of us (other Black members within TFN and I) communicating with our friends and talking to them about TFN. Mostly talking about what it represents and what we do, while also selling the idea that you have an entry into the fashion world even if you’re not perceived to be a part of it. Word of mouth, especially among my Black friends, helped increase attraction to more people joining. Overall, it was a different experience, and the club isn’t nearly as big as it is now.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SHOOT YOU WERE A PART OF?

It was the Valentine’s day one, The Broken Hearts Club. Pink is my favorite color, so I had to do it! As soon as they said the theme I screamed because I had a pink leather jacket, and I was like I can make this into an outfit.

VISUALS FROM PINK HEARTS CLUB - ISSUE 05 | SPRING 2020

MODELS - JADA FULCHER | CHESTER WILSON III

PHOTOGRAPHER - NORA POTTER

STYLIST - HEATHER ROBINSON

MUA - ESTHER ARMENT

“Pink is my favorite color, so I had to do it! As soon as they said the theme I screamed because I had a pink leather jacket, and I was like I can make this into an outfit”

VISUALS FROM PINK HEARTS CLUB - ISSUE 05 | SPRING 2020

MODELS - JADA FULCHER | CHESTER WILSON III PHOTOGRAPHER - NORA POTTER

VISUALS FROM MONOCHROME - ISSUE 06 |

MODELS - JADA FULCHER | CHESTER WILSON III

PHOTOGRAPHER - ISABELLA ZHAO

STYLIST - HEATHER ROBINSON

We also had a monochrome photoshoot, and the color that I got was brown. I wore this cool brown corduroy suit, and my friend Jada, who was the previous Writing Director, wore these brown bell bottoms and we went to pose around downtown Urbana. It was really fun and so cold! Someone even stopped us and asked if I had just graduated law school.

In their defense, I did look like I graduated law school.

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN DOING POST GRADUATION AFTER TFN?

I thought the dream was going to be moving to California, but I decided that my heart was in New York. I’m trying to get into the publishing industry here. Currently, I work for a literary magazine, Hooligan, where I’m an associate poetry editor. I also just got the Cave Canem Fellowship for Black poets in New York, which is what I majored in.

HOW HAS TFN HELPED YOU WITHIN YOUR CURRENT CAREER?

TFN has absolutely helped me within my career.

Doing what we did at TFN, from just a managingpoint of view, was so hands-on and really gave me the skills to be able to succeed. I feel like I was a lot more cluttered before TFN, and then I kind of got it together. TFN gave me the opportunity to embrace fashion in a way that I hadn’t really been doing. I love a good skirt, and love how fashion has no gender. Doing shoots that embraced the idea of gender fluidity made me feel like I can do this! I can wear a skirt and have a really good photo of me in the skirt.

ARE YOU STILL IN CONTACT WITH PREVIOUS TFN MEMBERS?

Oh yeah! A lot of the models, stylists, and photographers have all kind of stayed together, and it has become this little network of people. It’s so cool. For example, Isabelle, TFN’s previous Photography Director, graduated before I did, but she came back to do a photoshoot for me with my frat. I also still keep in contact with Jada, who was the previous Writing Director for TFN.

HOW DOES FASHION PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR CURRENT DAY TO DAY LIFE?

It’s kind of how I start my day, and I’m kind of really picky about clothes. Whenever I put on an outfit and I’m like “I don’t really like this” or “I really like this,” I feel like the root (whether or not it’s good for me) of all my confidence is how I build myself in the morning. Fashion has become an avenue of making myself look and feel great.

WITH CFE EXPRESSING THE IMPORTANCE OF UPCYCLING, HOW HAVE YOU INCORPORATED SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN YOUR FASHION?

If I’m being completely honest, a majority of all of my clothes are from thrift stores. I haven’t really shopped at a clothing store in a while. I’m such a hoarder of clothes, I just have a lot of clothes and I don’t really need more, and when I want more I go to thrift stores. Everything I wear is something I’ve modified in some way or I’ve gotten from a thrift store. I used to wear a lot of H&M, GUESS, and ZARA, but then I began reading about fast fashion, especially within the past three years of TFN doing more work in fashion sustainability. I’ve done a complete 180 with my shopping habits.

HOW DOES FASHION PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR CURRENT DAY TO DAY LIFE?

It’s kind of how I start my day, and I’m kind of really picky about clothes. Whenever I put on an outfit and I’m like “I don’t really like this” or “I really like this,” I feel like the root (whether or not it’s good for me) of all my confidence is how I build myself in the morning. Fashion has become an avenue of making myself look and feel great.

HOW HAVE YOU GROWN INTO KNOWING YOUR STYLE AND EXPERIMENTING WITH IT?

I definitely didn’t really have my own personal style for a bunch of years. Fashion has become a further exploration of myself. Once I went to college and went through TFN, I was able to establish my own fashion identity. There’s always a way you can infuse a bit of yourself into style, which is what I really like about fashion. It’s malleable. It’s like cooking.

WHO WOULD YOU SAY IS YOUR FAVORITE FASHION DESIGNER?

I would say Iris Van Herpen is one of my favorite fashion designers because their dresses are really modular and flowy. I don’t know how to describe it but they look not real. I just love when fashion does that, when clothes look like they aren’t clothes, when they are. It’s fascinating when clothes become shapes, I just love that.

HAVE YOU TRIED TO MAKE CLOTHES, LIKE IRIS VAN HERPEN, THAT’S TYPICALLY NOT SEEN AS CLOTHES WITHIN YOUR STYLE?

I feel like I should do more of that, but I’m more into isolating really bold colors into my style right now. I’ve worn so many black, gray, and muted tones for so long, especially during middle school and high school. Once I came to college it was like BOOM, I can wear color! And now I’m walking around in lime green pants and bright pink sweaters. I just love the harsh clash of colors, very much like the Disney aesthetic of many colors and patterns at once, not so much the multiple layers though. But like they really had a thing for color, and I like my jeans to be bright and colorful.

HOW HAS LIFE IN NEW YORK INFLUENCED YOUR TAKE ON CLOTHES?

It’s different! I thought I was really pushing the envelope. I am not pushing the envelope at all. People here dress really, really cool, and I’m always trying to subtly take pictures of peoples clothes so I can memorize them. It’s very much like I walk outside and I just have my notes app open, and I’m kinda just like ok write down the brand of this and write down the type of jacket etc. It’s just so cool, and people are so unafraid to wear things. Everyone either wears all black or the people who wear an outfit or put it together really PUT IT together. It’s just mind blowing sometimes.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO THOSE WHO ARE INTERESTED IN JOINING TFN?

Do it! Just do it! wait let me be more specific...