FIDM Fashion Club president and vice president, juniors Abbey Rose (right) and Caitlyn Wang (left) are ready to take on a new year of fashion fun with fervor.
By Elyssa Phan, Staff Writer
With the conclusion of Club Rush two weeks ago, most students are either beginning to settle into their newfound clubs or are returning back to familiar ones. However, with over 90 clubs available on campus, it may have been overwhelming to find the perfect club to one’s liking.
For all the fashionistas and artsy students out there, Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandise Fashion Club (FIDM Fashion Club) is a stylish and savvy circle focused on everything fashion. Holding weekly meetings in room 248 every Wednesday, Fashion Club intends to guide students in exploring different aspects of the fashion and design field.
“From DIY crafts to fashion shows, Fashion Club helps you find what you’re interested in,” said junior Abbey Rose, president of FIDM Fashion Club. “It’s about expressing your personality and learning new concepts about the fashion industry.”
When students think ‘fashion’, many are often intimidated, the picture of wild avant-garde garb strutted down striking runways flashing through their minds. However, fashion, especially in today’s time and age, is very relevant to high school students.
“High schoolers use fashion as self expression,” said junior Caitlyn Wang, vice president of FIDM Fashion Club. “I believe it’s important because it gives us an opportunity to try new styles and trends. Fashion is always changing, like we are. So as high schoolers who are still growing and changing, so do our styles and what we define as fashion.”
With their sole focus on DIY crafts last year, Fashion Club provided members with numerous activities, ranging from sewing to making friendship bracelets and teaching new crafts along the way.
“Some activities we did last year include pop tart pillows, sketching, draping lessons, and fashion through the eras,” Rose said. “The crafts were fun and gave members a break from stressful schoolwork.”
FIDM Fashion Club held lesson sessions teaching members how to drape fabric last year. Photo by Elyssa Phan.
Fashion Club is particularly distinct in that they also incorporate fashion into volunteer activities and ways to help the community. Last year, Fashion Club extended their hands out in partnership with the Domestic Violence Awareness club to make stockings for women and children in shelter homes during the holiday season.
Additionally, Fashion Club aims to help students familiarize themselves with the business and professions through personal stories.
“We had two guest speakers. Our first guest speaker was from FIDM college. She helped us learn about the industry and the different careers in the fashion world. The second guest speaker we had came to us to talk about the makeup industry and how she made it in that field,” Rose said.
Because Fashion Club is an official club backed by the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandise, a lot of their events are directly related to those of the college. With this exposure, students can gain lots of fashion-related opportunities. Active junior or senior members can win up to $2,000 scholarships to FIDM, junior members can enter a scholarship competition for a full year tuition to FIDM and senior members have a shot at winning $5,000 to attend the school.
“Networking is a big part of fashion, and through our guest speakers and advisor you can meet people in the industry to help you with future opportunities,” said Rose.
