My name is Jillian, I’m a senior in high school, and my two favorite things have always been fashion and books. I’ve spent my entire life working as an interdisciplinary learner and thinker, so I knew that I wanted my project to combine two of my interests. I love getting dressed up whenever I can. I throw on a silk Pierre Cardin scarf and some sunglasses and suddenly I’m driving down the Amalfi Coast. A pair of kitten heels and a halter neck top, I’m a 50’s sock hop diner aficionado. I believe fashion is more than just an outfit, it’s a storytelling device. When I design or alter a piece, I feel like I can change the world. I can use fabrics and colors to induce confidence, or to change a narrative previously established by the unfortunately corrupt fashion industry. I’ve been sewing dresses for dolls and drawing sketches of sparkly skirts for as long as I can remember.

However, I don’t think I have a future in fashion design. “House of Walker” just doesn’t have a nice ring to it. No, my dream job is to be a fashion journalist. Learning how to communicate styles, trends, and important historical events related to fashion (fashion parallels history!) in a way that changes how people think about fashion will help me develop my understanding of fashion and work as a journalist. It’s not for skin-and-bones models and the elite, it’s a way for everyone to express themselves. Robin Givhan was the first and only person to win a Pulitzer Prize for fashion journalism. I’m determined to be the second. 

In the summer of 2022, I was involved in two different fashion programs, one at an organization named Terreform, and the other Parsons. At Terreform, I worked with mycelium and other biomaterials to design my own clothing. At Parsons, I created my own fashion brand. Both experiences were so much fun. By working with my classmates and teachers in these classes, I realized that fashion is so much more than putting together outfits. It’s problem solving and environmental activism and writing and marketing and so much more.

Even with my interest in fashion, my true passion will always be writing. As suggested by my passion for journalism, I love to read and write. Last year (2022), I read 79 non-academic books. I love reading, I think literature serves many purposes. From escapism to exposure to new perspectives and ideas, reading will always and forever be my favorite hobby. I’ve also dabbled into writing. Aside from essays for school, which I greatly enjoy doing, I write a lot of non-fiction. Either little essays or stories (think Joan Didion, Eve Babitz, Nora Ephron) that are witty and poignant reflections on the things I experience and learn from. I’ve taken a creative writing course once, short stories with Jane Belton second trimester of Junior Year, and ended up really liking it. I do think I’m more of a non-fiction writer though, with aspirations of working in publishing or some other literary career in the future. I like understanding how people think, why they do what they do, and writing my observations on my surroundings. 

So for this project, I’m combining my two favorite things, fashion and writing, to make something much bigger. 

This project explores a few central ideas, but mainly the who, what, when, where, and why of sustainable shopping.

The main part of my project will be creating a zine, a small-circulating, self-published magazine filled with photography, art, and writing about anything the creator feels inspired to publish. My zine will be a guide on how to shop sustainably in New York City. It will consist of interviews with different sustainable fashion designers/business owners, journalistic essays on the importance of shopping sustainably, and analog photography for a visual recounting of my experience exploring the city through the lens of sustainable fashion.

As addressed in my bibliography, I have connections with sustainable fashion experts. One example is Grace Jung who I worked with in summer of 2022. Jung works at a biomaterial design company, and designs her own garments using mycelium, kelp fabric, leather made of kombucha, and other biodegradable and environmentally friendly materials of her own making. I will speak with her about her work, how to make it accessible to a broad audience, and how sustainability can be made fashionable.

The zine will be available digitally and only a few copies will be physically printed. “The Sustainable Fashion Lover’s Guide to NYC” will cover who is offering sustainable fashion and who is buying it, why and where to shop sustainably, what is sustainability, and how those in fashion are addressing sustainability.

To practice my journalism, I will also be writing a longer piece for the Knightly News, of which I’m already a member, about sustainability in fashion. However, this article will not revolve around New York City, but instead, a much broader focus on the environmental impacts of the fashion industry.

In addition to my writing, I’ll be putting my fashion design skills to the test by upcycling clothing. I firmly believe that sustainable fashion doesn’t exclusively mean buying new clothes from environmentally conscious brands, but also giving a new life to clothes you already own. I will be using clothes that are already in my house but desperately need a new life, and making them into something new, whether that is recycling the fabric, adding embellishments, or turning it into something new altogether.

Every Wednesday, I will be taking the Clothing Creation seminar as a way to troubleshoot any issues I may be having with things I’m creating and expand my knowledge of sewing. In addition to working on my own designs, this seminar will help me with terminology and understanding of different techniques and ways of making clothes, something that will be crucial in interviewing designers about their approach to sustainability. In addition to the Clothing Creation course, I will be taking the New Yorker for New Yorkers seminar. This class will help me with my place-based writing and understanding how to write something that is meant for a very specific audience and location. Analyzing the journalistic styles of other authors will help me develop my own.

The last part of my project is the service element. I will be working with FABSCRAP to sort through different fabrics that have been recycled or discarded. This organization embodies sustainable fashion, working together to use what you already have, and making something great out of it. I will also be volunteering for Sean Casey Animal Rescue. While their organization doesn’t fit in with my project, I have a really strong relationship with them, and have been walking dogs and helping take care of animals since the 4th grade. It’s a very personal organization to me, and I think it would be lovely to finish out my senior year by working with them.

While my day to day will fluctuate based on who’s available to interview, these are my general goals for each week: 

• Week of April 3rd – Finishing project proposal, scheduling interviews with bibliography, reading and analyzing pieces of text about fashion journalism from bibliography, refine week by week plan.

 

• Week of April 10th – Start conducting interviews (scheduling week of April 3rd), use databases and research to start drafting and outlining a longer article for Knightly News, formatting zine and what to include, volunteer at FABSCRAP, work with Grace to plan if I want to upcycle a fashion line or just garments. Upcycling clothing.

 

• Week of April 17th – Visit designers and secondhand stores across NYC and curate a selection of stores that sustainable shoppers should visit (taking analog photos to document experience that will be in the zine). Continue interviews and work on Knighty news articles. Upcycling clothing. Volunteering with Sean Casey + Fabscrap. 

 

• Week of April 24th – Visit designers and secondhand stores across NYC and curate a selection of stores that sustainable shoppers should visit (taking analog photos to document experience that will be in the zine), compile interviews and draft the written segments of my zine. Upcycling clothing. Volunteering with Sean Casey + Fabscrap. 

 

• Week of May 1st – Submit article to Knightly News for revisions from editors, compile written segments of zine. Upcycling clothing.  Volunteering with Sean Casey + Fabscrap. 

 

• Week of May 8th – Draft of zine completed and revised, final draft of Knightly News article. Volunteering with Sean Casey + Fabscrap. 

 

• Week of May 15th – Publish zine online (likely on instagram), print and assemble few physical copies, put together Senior Project presentation.