By Liz Lawton, Designer and Staff Reporter
Photo courtesy club leaders Lily Cronin and Jordan Bennett
Scrolling through a typical Conestoga student’s Instagram feed, one can find pictures from Spring Break trips, team lacrosse photos, HONY features and a picture from a new account: stogastyle. The stylish students behind the account? The Young Advocates for Fashion Design, a club created this year open to anyone interested in style and the garment industry.
The club was started for a multitude of reasons. The president, Junior Lily Cronin was interested in fashion and its place in our culture and wanted to start a club at Conestoga that promoted and supported those interested in fashion.
“There isn’t a club like it, and I thought that starting this club now would benefit those who want to express their love for fashion,” Cronin said.
The club primarily raised money for the CFDA, Council of Fashion Designers in America, because the fashion industry receives no support for the government, unlike other countries in which the industry is subsidized by government funding. Their first event is a spring clothing drive in which students can bring in spring clothing, which will be cleaned and prepared for a small clothing sale the following week
“We’ll be creating our own little ‘Stoga Plato’s closet and hopefully it will attract a lot of attention to our club” Cronin said. “The money we make will be donated to the CDFA, and the prices on the clothes will be very cheap, so it’s affordable for everyone.”
Just like in the fashion industry, social media also plays a large part in promotion of the club. Club members find student’s outfits they particularly like, snap a photo, find out where each piece is from and feature it on their Instagram. The club hopes to make fashion and its message more prevalent at Conestoga, as well as host events that help the industry nationally.
“We’re trying to promote the unknown designers and how different fashion really is than it’s perceived” Cronin said. “Fashion is perceived as snobby and self-centered, but in reality it’s about being self confident and loving who you are. Fashion and style both are personal and everyone is different.”
Liz Lawton can be reached at [email protected]
