South High has a new club called; South Fashion Club. Founder, Sonya Maier, states that she created this space to open up a platform for people to express themselves. Maier explained that the purpose of the club is to engage more students in the art of fashion. “We do DIY [do it yourself] projects. Every meeting is a different creative thing,” said Maier. The club provides fellow members with supplies to make fashion statements by using their creativity to style themselves however they would like. South High Fashion club is used to enlighten South High’s creativity and get students involved in school.

Maier promoted the club on social media over the summer. She explains that, “I started fashion club because I’m into fashion. I wanted to get people involved. We made a social media page, posted outfits and a lot of people seemed to like it and followed… Fashion is my way of expressing myself because I’ve never gotten into art or anything like that. So fashion is my way of expressing my personality through my outfits.”

Everyone brings something new to the table, members Elizabeth Vora and Rayna Acha explain that every meeting is a new concept. When the interview began, it became relevant that denim was popular. Vora shares, “During this meeting we’re customizing denim. We have a bunch of fabric, and a bunch of patches, and irons, and sewing supplies. We are teaching people how to put patches and fabrics on their denim. We had turned a great turn out!”

Acha continues, “Everyone brought their own denim, but the patches and everything else was supplied. Basically, Sonya had a garage sale during the summer [to raise money for the club]… Continuing to have fundraising ideas is really important because to have it [South Fashion Club] be inclusive, you have to have some supply for people… There’s a better sense of community this way.”

Vora explains, “It’s not like we have better fashion than other people and we can judge people who can join Fashion Club, that’s not what Fashion Club is at all. We are trying to open up a platform, so that people can talk about fashion and express themselves. We’re just providing people with the opportunities and supplies with fashion… it’s more fun. It’s more like we just want to help support other people do [fashion]”.

I spoke with Frederick Emdin a sophomore who has joined the club. “I thought my fit was so clean, I wore it again. Four to five people walked up to me and were like “Oh I like your outfit. Let me take a picture of you.’ I then noticed myself on the South Fashion Club’s Instagram.” Which led him to join. After speaking with Emdin, other members of the club were eager to speak to me.

Junior, August Bernick said, “I joined because I’m trying to go into fashion photography when I’m out of high school. I was on instagram and on my explore page [when] I saw the South High Fashion Club and thought it was going to be one of those accounts. The ones that chastise people, but no. It was actually pretty interesting and [I wondered] if they want a photographer. I’ll hit them up, and I did. I thought this was a good way to get into that.”

Lastly, junior Optimus Musich shared that the club is creative because,“fashion is a way of expressive yourself without talking… You can tell a lot a lot about a person from their clothes.” You can tell alot about a person by their clothes from economic status to what group they identify as. There are no two people alike at South. Everyone comes from someplace different and you can share that expression through clothes. Bernick adds on that, “this club is really inclusive of people… It’s a calm relaxed environment that [allows you] to design things [and] be creative. I think having a fashion club is a really interesting take on a club. A lot of schools have pretty standard clubs… but having a fashion club is an interesting thing you don’t see very often.”

“Having a ton of people join a club right from the gecko just shows people are into this, this is people’s hobby. This is really interesting to a lot of people and that sets South apart and that’s a huge benefit to have there. It’s a huge way to express yourself and it’s a great way to connect with people. It brings people together from all different backgrounds, not necessarily everyone knows each other. There is a very inclusive club that really builds a strong community,” said Bernick.

South High’s Fashion Club is planning to host events in the near future. From Christmas parties, guest speakers, to an end-of-the-year fashion show! On Halloween day, the club members hosted a Halloween party after school for an end of the quarter celebration. This’ll be their first event. Meetings are held every other Wednesday in room 121.