The Innovation Issue FW '19

3

2

VASSAR COLLEGE FALL 2019

VOLUME 13 ISSUE 1

THE INNOVATION ISSUE

5

4

06 skate park 14 bleach renaissance 16 fate of fast fashion 18 preserve 26 the fenty effect 28 in with the old 30 retro futurism 38 (un)extraordinary 40 sustainable revolution

letter from the editor One of the many conversations we’ve been having as an Executive Board this semester is about intentionality. An archetypal Vassar buzzword, intentionality can often feel disingenuous when recited ad nauseam in classrooms and parlors across campus. But our aim was different. We wanted to think critically about Contrast’s role on Vassar’s campus and beyond. To understand our responsibility in achieving that role. In other words, to approach intentionality with, well, intentionality.

We recognize that Contrast has rarely been a perfect publication. Over the last few years, in striving to reach a more “polished” look, Contrast began to lose its self-awareness. Communication became muddled, clear goals often remained at the individual level and it sometimes felt like the only opinions that mattered were of those in charge. As a result, the magazine itself started to reflect what nobody ever wanted it to be: an emulation of the broader fashion world, which has traditionally erased diverse bodies and experiences. Many people involved in Contrast actively devoted themselves to reversing this process, but it’s a hurdle that takes time to overcome. At the end of the day, we were—and still are—just a bunch of students putting together a magazine and finding our footing along the way.

It’s fitting, then, that this semester’s issue is a work in progress. We decided on innovation as our theme because we thought it was appropriate considering our goal of an artistic and structural revival of sorts. From student-artist spotlights on our blog, to brainstorming and embroidery workshops, to collaborative photo shoot planning, we hope our efforts will reveal themselves in the following pages. Our writers have brought to life stories of sustainability, hair revolutions and more, while our creative teams have worked together to bring you otherworldly visions of movement and transformation. It’s been very special for me personally to watch all of their hard work come together in this issue, and for that I am extremely grateful. Furthermore, thank you to everyone who has participated, no matter what your contribution, in making this semester a reality. Here’s to always innovating.

Aidan Zola

6

7

With so many models, we experimented with shots from above — playing with the geometric structures in the skatepark and the silhouettes of the clothing.

8

For this photoshoot we wanted to focus on color and form.

9

10

11

Largely streetwear inspired, we were excited to take Contrast off campus and into Poughkeepsie.

12

Emphasizing the utility aspect clothing, this shoot aimed to take an innovative approach to skatewear. — Style Team

13

15

14 “I don’t feel like I have more fun but it does feel different to be referred to as ‘a blonde.’”

BLEACH E C N A S S I RENA

By: Hindley Wang

Since arriving at Vassar, you may have felt a pressure to stand out in one way or another, whether that be through academics, relationships, or otherwise. It’s no news that fashion and style—embedded in the fabric of identity, expression, and personal beliefs—determine crucial aspects of sociability at Vassar. Students observe each other constantly—from the abrasively open Deece to the awkwardly spaced-out paths connecting campus traffic.

You can’t help but notice other people’s style as they notice yours.

Of all the stylistic choices that have come to represent the token Vassar kid, it’s not hard to notice the culture of bleached hair on campus, especially the do-it-yourself kind.

The yolky yellow color and withered, lifeless texture raise suspicions of one’s attempt to be clouty, but more often, are connoted with a personal dilemma.

Commonly referred to as a crisis control, or the crisis control, bleaching is a practice followed by many in order to regain a sense of style or self. It seems to have evolved into a competitive sport at Vassar, though one with weak competitors—for lack of expertise in bleaching never seems to stop anyone from initiating such drastic changes in their appearance. Oscillating between admiration and disdain for such courage and boldness, people who have not experienced the possibilities of bleach are quick to criticize the style as an assimilation to campus culture.

The general prejudice concludes that bleaching is just an attempt to be cool. But the distinction between “having a crisis” and “trying to be cool” is very blurred. The paranoia of not feeling accepted by others—and above all, yourself—is pervasive among individuals who take drastic measures to alter their appearance.

The complete erasure (or at least, the attempt of complete erasure) of the natural pigmentation of your hair is nothing short of a radical reinvention. It exposes you to the public eye in a state of stylistic vulnerability—either you pull it off or you don’t. What’s more, bleaching your hair not only alters your outward appearance, but may also sink into your own internal perception. It’s never just about the hair, is it?

What about bleaching is so appealing to some and so off-putting to others? Why do we tend to be harsh on those who are just being harsh on their own hair?

I know that my skepticism partially comes from my lack of courage to pull off such a bold change in my self-presentation, but also from my difficulties with the gendered, politicized, and racialized connotations that accompany blonde hair. It seems to me that bleaching is an unnatural attempt to be someone else, inauthentic even. Is the process an innovation of the self or just a negation of the old?

I first approached Sarah Chapman ‘20, an art history major with a platinum blonde bob that accentuated her thick, dark brows nicely. “I mean, it definitely makes me feel violently femme,” responded Sarah. “I first thought about doing it back in high school, but I didn’t want to dye my hair yet. I finally decided to do it after study-abroad because I wanted a change—and had gone through a breakup. I researched how to do it yourself online and just kind of learned as I went.” Happy with her first result, Sarah has maintained her desired state of blonde ever since. I couldn’t help but question the infamous myth: do blondes have more fun?

Her remark of feeling “violently femme” stuck with me even at the end of our conversation, for reasons I could not quite explain yet.

“You mean you want to talk about how it is often gross and yellow? Yeah!” Diego Scala Chavez ‘22 replied with a self-mocking brush over his blonde buzz cut. His openness surprised me. “So I actually bleached my hair for the first time this semester. It’s something that I’d never done but I was always curious… [about] how I would look, so at the start of this year, I figured that if I were to do it at any point, it was going to be then.” Confident after watching the successful transformation of a YouTuber from a darker brown similar to his hair, to a greyish blonde, Diego caved and went on his way to Sally’s Beauty Shop for the recommended bleaching kit and appropriate toner. A close friend dyed his hair for him. The orange-yellow color of his hair after the initial bleach was corrected with the second round of bleach the day after, resulting in a pale-yellow. The residue of yellow was eliminated finally with the help of the toner.

“I think originally it was pretty wild for me to see myself with a different hair color than the one I had for 19 years. I would sometimes catch my reflection on car windows or doors and be taken aback for a second because my mind had still not processed that that was me.

I think for most people at Vassar, bleaching your hair or seeing someone with bleached hair is nothing surprising. You always see new people with different hairstyles.” Diego, who is an international student from Mexico, went on to detail the differences in his personal experience. “I guess it was a bit different on a personal level because I felt like I was defying so many expectations that my friends and family back in Mexico had for me, and I was preparing myself for all the drawbacks and criticism that comes with that.”

As an international student myself, I understood the limits and resistance from different home cultures to some practices at Vassar, or in the States overall, but I wasn’t sure about what kind of criticism Diego would get for bleaching his hair.

“Mexico has gender roles that are set in stone, revolving around very antiquated ideas of masculinity and femininity,” Diego explained. “Anything artistic, or that might lean closer to the ‘feminine’ side like painting your nails, dyeing your hair, and anything that isn’t made for your gender is very frowned upon. In fact, I don’t think I know a single male-identifying person in my city with dyed hair. Coming to Vassar, I saw it as an opportunity for me to explore my gender expression in ways that didn’t conform to the ones back home.”

“At Vassar the expectations are much less intense. You might hear people saying that bleached hair looks bad and messy… so I think I was anxious but nowhere near as much as I was for the criticism I expected back home,” Diego admitted. “In fact, I accidentally uploaded a picture to my Instagram story where I had painted nails and dyed hair, and the first thing I got was a very frightened message from my mom asking me if I was ‘a drag queen.’ [Dyeing my hair] put me out of my comfort zone, but it was healthy in the end for me to be able to, even if accidentally, show my family how gender roles are stupid.”

From my conversations with Sarah and Diego, I realized there was a strong sense of time and place that emerged from their individual decisions to bleach their hair—it couldn’t have happened in high school, or back home, because there’s simply more possibility and playfulness when it takes place here and now. Self-reinvention is as much about defiance as it is about innovation; a renaissance as much as an homage to your past. Bleached hair has come to define Vassar in a refreshed way rather than mere stereotype—it embodies a space of the in-between. Bleached hair is adaptable to any color of choice, but it maintains the unapologetic rawness of reclaiming your identity. It anticipates revolution.

40

VOLUME

cream developer

PERÓXIDO EN CREMA CRÈME RÉVÉLATEUR

17

16 So, if fast fashion is detrimental in so many ways, why do we keep it around?

The truth is, the appeal of fast fashion is vast. There is more value in the idea of new, readily available products that meet your current desires and demands than there is in the desire to thrift everything.

The accessibility and reliability of fast fashion brands is a pull that can’t be ignored.

THE FATE OF FAST FASHION

Still, these are no reasons to maintain a status quo of disposability.

There is a serious issue that exists in the overproduction of clothing, and large retailers are obvious culprits.

Multiple levels, hundreds of racks of organized clothing, live DJs spinning out reverberating beats— welcome to one of the largest H&M stores in New York City. From its open layout, to impossibly high ceilings, every customer feels small in this shining beacon of the global fashion industry.

BY ANASTASIA KOUTAVAS

And yet despite the enticingly

cheap prices that jump out from tags, the impact you create when you buy from a store like this is far greater than you might care to believe.

Stores like H&M and its competitors represent fast fashion at its finest: clothing companies that mass produce trends, expediting not only the process from runway to market, but from the consumer’s hands to the trash. With locations around the globe, these chain stores use their international market to diversify their inventories and produce a high volume of products, and fast—so fast, even, that the description for ZARA’s New Arrivals page reads, “WEEKLY FASHION TRENDS FOR WOMEN.” Fast fashion brands are criticized for their methods on a variety of fronts.

They’re most notably called unoriginal for “stealing” couture designs and stripping them of their innovation.

Instead of illuminating fashion as an artform, these brands convey the message that fashion is, well, disposable.

Fashion, as we all know, involves keeping up with trends. What we choose to wear helps define us, showcases our changing interests, and, of course, reveals our methods of expressing ourselves. Being able to change what we wear, and fast, is a token of our generation—fast fashion has made this process a coveted reality.

Even more, fast fashion producers can easily reflect their ideas of what they believe to be in season onto their shoppers. With last season’s clothing on messily displayed sale racks, you, as a customer, are encouraged to engage with (and purchase!) new pieces every time they are displayed in the front of the store. You would think that with so many options, fast fashion brands were allowing their shoppers a voice. And yet, increasingly, customers don’t feel like that’s the case.

It’s not that people no longer rely on fast fashion brands—they’ve instead chosen to supplement their wardrobes with other distributors like thrift stores. For obvious reasons, selling recycled clothing removes one of the major culprits in disposable clothing: surplus.

In large part, what has also made thrifting more appealing than shopping at chain producers is the ability to be innovative. With fast fashion, you know what you are getting, how much you should expect to pay for it, and how long you expect it to last.

And, because of continuous efforts to phase out old clothes for new ones, fast fashion brands actively limit the futures of their products. In direct contrast, clothes bought secondhand are often timeless. Without the overbearing influence of explicit trends in chain stores, secondhand clothing is oftentimes chosen more carefully.

The ideals promoted by fast fashion chains can affect the way that we shop at other providers. While it is more sustainable to shop at a secondhand store, if these clothes end up thrown away quickly after we purchase them, little difference has been made.

We shouldn’t have to pick one or the other, fast fashion or secondhand shopping. In the end, both work to give customers agency in expressing themselves. What clothing distributors need is a new, innovative way of viewing our relationship to fashion .

We’ve already seen several brands take baby steps towards this goal.

Madewell, for example, offers discounts to customers who bring in old jeans, which are forwarded to organizations that use denim to help insulate houses. H&M provides coupons for clothing donations, encouraging people to recycle old pieces in their wardrobes. Yet, although these brands’ efforts are a step in the right direction, they also deflect responsibility for hazardous production practices.

Only a revolution in the fast fashion industry will ultimately make a difference.

Clothing distributors play a critical role in deciding what’s in and what’s out. The value of each and every article of clothing needs to be reintroduced to the shopping experience.

Fast fashion entities need to make clothes to be worn, not to be thrown out, and to remind thei r customers of this. By encouraging large consumer bases to reimagine the essence of fashion, sustainability will become industry’s objective.

So, next time whether you decide on a shirt from H&M or score big in your local thrift store, think critically about where it will lead you.

Fashion’s ability to be innovative lies in your intentions, and especially so once fast fashion brands have envisioned a brighter tomorrow. ¶

19

18

Preserve

The concept behind this photoshoot is the incorporation of rapidly developing technology into fashion. We question traditional conceptions of "technology versus humanity" and explore the ways in which technological innovation can be incorporated into our lives to encourage self expression and inter-/intra-personal connection. — Beauty Team

Mary’s makeup depicts a circuit board overgrown with foliage

20

21

Their makeup was heavily inspired by the integration of natural and manmade elements found in the shoot's setting below the Bridge building on campus.

22

23

25

24

Ella’s look imitates the combination of organic and mechanic life seen in cyborgs

26

THE FENTY EFFECT

By Charlotte Gong

From high fashion runways, to the pages of glossy magazines, white women have always dominated the fashion industry. While major magazine covers have slowly begun to include more women of color, and models like Naomi Campbell, Iman, Duckie Thot and Winnie Harlow have added diversity to the runway, change in the world of high fashion can feel frustratingly slow.

With that being said, diverse representation at New York Fashion Week has improved significantly in recent years. In a study by Elon University, the number of black models increased by 11.6 percent between 2013 and 2018. Latinx models increased by five percent during the same period.

These changes are apparent in other realms of high fashion, too. Between 2012 and 2016, Vogue covers featured 23.6 percent non-white subjects.

In comparison, between 2017 and 2018, 43.5 percent of these covers centered people of color.

A similar evolution has happened across other magazines, including Vanity Fair, GQ, Glamour, Elle and Marie Claire. Yet for years, these changes have seemed superficial. Could more significant transformation finally be underway?

Something’s clearly happening in the makeup world. Certain brands, including Kim Kardashian West’s line—KKW Beauty—have come under fire for lack of effort in the creation of an inclusive shade range. Then along came Fenty Beauty, headed by music and fashion icon Rihanna.

Fenty responds in a fresh, innovative way to the historic bias of cosmetic lines towards white women. Rihanna released her line with a foundation that included a wide shade range, and the results have been incredible: $100 million in sales in its first 40 days on the market.

According to Forbes, Fenty Beauty generated $570 million in sales in 2018 alone. The wider shade range has been dubbed “The Fenty Effect,” as other brands have jumped on board to make their own brands more inclusive. According to Women’s Wear Daily, the customer base for Fenty is mostly comprised of black women, followed by significant numbers of both Latinx and Asian customers. White women, on the other hand, make up the smallest group in Fenty’s base. Finally—a company that doesn’t just use women of color to advertise, but that actually caters to a non-white customer base.

As a result, the brand was named a Top 50 Genius company by Time Magazine for 2018. And although Rihanna was not the first person to target women of color in the cosmetics industry, Fenty Beauty taken off, evolving into a super moment through social media excitement.

Racial diversity in fashion has long felt like tokenism: people of color are used as a marketing tool, but nothing in the underlying power structure changes. Now, many women of color are turning things upside down and defining the rules themselves.

27

In an interview with The New York Times Style Magazine, Rihanna explained how she was taking the challenges head on: “You’re going to be black wherever you go. And I don’t know if it’s unfortunate or fortunate, because I love being black. So, sorry for those who don’t like it — that’s the first thing you see before you even hear my voice. Those factors do come into play, but I will not apologize for them, and I will not back down from being a woman, from being black, from having an opinion. I’m running a company and that’s exactly what I came here to do.”

The mainstream fashion and beauty industries have failed women of color for too long. The tide has started to turn, but the work is far from done. Magazine leadership needs to include women of color, makeup artists need to be trained to work with darker complexions, and products need to be designed for a wider range of people. Some brands are capitalizing on this “wave” of inclusivity in their advertising because it is a trend; they are often motivated by profit and a desire to be cutting edge. Lasting change, however, will require a new definition of beauty standards, away from historically accepted norms.

It won’t happen overnight, but lines like Fenty provide a glimpse of what a more inclusive, innovative fashion world would look like. After all, the fashion and beauty industries are a mirror, reflecting the historical and systematic racism that has defined every part of our society. Maybe it’s time for us to take a more critical look, and demand that our most beloved brands live up to the future.

“Racial diversity in fashion has long felt like tokenism”

28

Much like history, fashion repeats itself. We live in a culture of nostalgia, observing trends of the past, admiring styles associated with specific periods and bringing back looks to satisfy our own personal tastes. Nowadays, as new fashion trends show up on social media just as quickly as they disappear, it can be hard to fully curate your own unique style and commit to it. Because of this, I find it quite useful to use the past as a way to reinvent and innovate. Although there’s always space for fresh, new ideas, it can also be fun to bring back the old and style it in your own way.

One trend that I’ve given some thought to as of late are utility, uniform type clothes, such as cargo pants, jumpsuits and fanny packs.

Cargo pants were first used by the British military during World War II, and then introduced to the U.S. military shortly thereafter. Their intention was very much geared towards practicality and function, rather than style and fashion. Despite the fact that cargo pants are still routinely used as uniforms for the army, police forces, firemen and some medical services, they have very much permeated the fashion world. The first noticeable appearance of cargo pants in fashion came in the mid 90s and lasted into the 2000s. They were first worn by big name hip hop artists, and were very quickly picked up by both high fashion and fast fashion brands. Even now, utility clothes never truly left the scene and have definitely made a comeback in recent years.

IN

What’s changed, however, is that cargo pants have now gone truly mainstream.

They are no longer limited to just hip hop fans, but rather everyone. From influencers, to models, to self-proclaimed e-boy/girls, to Vassar students, everyone seems to like cargo pants.

We see them in everyday looks and on the runway. Just look at Prabal Gurung (Spring/Summer 2019), Monse (Spring/Summer 2019), Tibi (Spring/ Summer 2020) and Fendi (Spring/Summer 2020).

Utility wear isn’t just limited to cargo pants, though. Other items of clothing and accessories that have made a comeback that are worth briefly mentioning include jumpsuits, utility vests and fanny packs. Much like cargo pants, most of these items were created for function over fashion. Since then, utility clothes have been reinvented and no longer exclusively serve their original purpose.

The fanny pack came back in the 80s and 90s, and they were worn by tourists and rave-goers. The utility vest became a favorite within the fishing and hunting community, and the jumpsuit, while always having a space in fashion, was quite popular during the 70s disco era.

Today, all of these items are back in a whole new way—it’s not just skiers or embarrassing dads that wear fanny packs and cargo pants. It’s young people who style utility clothes in a new way and high fashion brands that create sleeker designs.

THE

29

WITH In men’s Spring/Summer 2019 fashion weeks across the world, we saw brands like Off-White, A-COLD-WALL* and Louis Vuitton do their own versions of utility vests. Especially in the Dior Fall/ Winter 2019 collection, we saw new versions of all forms of utility wear— fanny packs, jumpsuits and utility vests alike.

Finally, some food for thought—up until this point, all I have actually done is bring to light the fact that these trends have come back in new iterations.

However, it is also valid to dig a little deeper and think about why it is these particular items have come back and what that says about our society. Cargo pants and jumpsuits both come from working class uniforms, but in their second or third iterations within the fashion world, they were used almost entirely for style rather than function. It is then interesting to think in terms of class and economic appropriation. I’m not saying that cargo pants or jumpsuits coming back is a bad thing; it’s just interesting to think how a piece of clothing that used to say so much about a person’s lifestyle now says something completely different. People still wear cargo pants in the military, for example.

Policemen and hunting aficionados still wear utility vests, factory workers are sometimes obligated to wear jumpsuits and tourists still wear fanny packs.

So, why are they also so prominent in current fashion trends and give off an image of style rather than function?

OLD

It’s hard to say how anything becomes popular, but it might be interesting to think about how today, we are living in a technological era. Everything around us seems to get sleeker, as if that is equivalent to modern, but that doesn’t have to be true. Perhaps wearing chunky, oversized items that are full of pockets and compartments goes against the idea that simplicity is best. Utility wear defies the idea that technology must get smaller and faster, or that we as people must also do the same. There is a constant incentive for everything and everyone to get smaller, but there’s a breaking point, and with that comes the rejection of skinny, tight clothing, and the acceptance of oversized wear with more layers, pockets and compartments.

I don’t know how long this trend is going to last. All I know is that from now on, I’m going to try and think about where my sense of style or fashion preferences come from. Part of innovation in fashion is accepting that old trends can come back and have new lives and new meanings, but it is also thinking about how these new lives differ from the old ones and why.

By Malka Fleischman

31

30

RETRO FUTURISM

32

33

34

35

When Noyes was built in the 50s, the Jetson was designed to reflect what they believed was futuristic; high, curved ceilings frame the room with a minimalist design and conversational sunken floor.

37

36

Shooting in the Jetson allowed us to pull inspiration from the now seemingly outdated representation of what it means to be cutting-edge and innovative and use it to forge a new visionary definition. Not only is this shoot representative of our theme of Innovation, it is indicative of Contrast’s innovative nature as a whole -- crowdsourcing articles of clothing, scrounging for interesting spaces on campus to conduct our shoots, and making the most of our limited resources and surroundings with solely the creativity of the student body. — Photography Team

38

(UN)EXTRA ORDINARY

By Jeanne Malle

I nn O V ATIO N

I’ve always expected fashion to evolve exponentially into unusual or complex territories. Growing up, it seemed as though every season, models wore more—more color, more fabric, more volume. Even in the past few years, innovation and creativity have been habitually associated with excess. We saw this in Met Galas year after year, when the press raved about Rihanna’s layered sculptural Comme des Garçons piece in 2017, Blake Lively’s ornate Versace gown in 2018 and Lady Gaga’s bright pink Brandon Maxwell dress in 2019. Based on how I’d seen fashion advance, I was fairly certain that innovation could never be associated with the ordinary.

I recently realized I was wrong. We are in the midst of

a crucial moment in fashion history wherein minimalism is replacing excess. Look at Miu Miu’s Spring 2020 Ready-toWear collection. Or Valentino’s. Or Issey Miyake’s.

unknown element has been introduced—one that rejects the notion of eccentricity. I question why this change is happening now, and why it’s happening at all.

These three labels were not conveniently chosen. Their designers are known for using bold textures, patterns and colors. Looking to the outrageous and the complex always seemed to be their motive, yet they’ve all experienced a simultaneous shift. Each of their collections feels quieter, perhaps due to their prevalent use of greys, browns and whites. In these collections, we see creative layering and surprising proportions, yet the products overall appear minimal. Of course, creativity and innovation remain at the core of these designs, but an

The growing importance of street style has played a pivotal role in this transition into minimalism. Whereas photographers and fashion journalists used to focus on the action occurring on the runway, they are now giving equal attention to what is taking place off it. In the many emails I receive from Vogue Runway during fashion weeks, half of the headlines discuss designers’ collections while the other half examine the clothes donned by those attending the shows.

This has given buyers a much greater voice. Yes, the pieces

that models, influencers and celebrities purchase are created by designers, but they choose what to buy and how to style it. Through street style media coverage, people pay attention to these figures and more importantly, their clothes, which serve as walking advertisements. Designers, therefore, must curate their collections to the tastes of popular opinion. In other words, the growing importance of street style has given average people enough power to determine the direction in which fashion will evolve next.

The increasing popularity of Japanese style exemplifies this infiltration and influence of streetwear. In an article called, “Tokyo Street Style Awoke Me From a Nap I Didn’t Know I Was Taking,” Haley Nahman,

the Deputy Editor at Man Repeller writes, “There were t-shirts stacked on top of each other (sometimes three), collared shirts under dresses, blouses under sweaters under vests. Lots of structure and crispness and tailoring, and not just from the most intentionally dressed people but from nearly everyone.”

What she describes is exactly the type of minimalist maximalism I noticed in the previously mentioned Spring 2020 Ready-to-Wear collections.

Tokyo residents have developed a specific and innovative take on fashion. They buy what people all over the world are buying, but style it in a way nobody has seen before.

And we’re now seeing it not only reproduced in designer collections like that of Valen-

tino, but in stores like COS, & Other Stories and A.P.C— none of which are Japanese brands.

The need to constantly produce excessive clothing lines has come to an end through the emergence of minimalism. I don’t know how long this will remain, and I recognize that many designers are still producing lavish, over-the-top collections (take Pierpaolo Piccioli’s most recent Haute Couture collection in Beijing), but I still find it important to recognize how much greater of a voice the public has since street style has become so significant. Because despite how long a trend might last or how little designers may seem to change their approach, style will never stop metamorphosing.

39

40

SUSTAINABLE REVOLUTION

BY GINA PEPITONE

L ately, there has been

a buzz around shopping sustainably, with words like “biodegradable,” “eco-friendly,” and “ethical” being tossed around by the media and name brand companies. With ethical consumerism and sustainable living becoming such a fad, there are both benefits and drawbacks to consider. Larger corporations, moving to capitalize on this trend, end up defaulting to misleading advertising and “greenwashing,” a marketing ploy that deceptively makes products appear environmentally friendly. At the same time, however, attention to this issue brings the idea of sustainability to the forefront of consumers’ minds. They know to be more thoughtful with their purchases and consider the resources and labor that are exploited in order to supply our never-ending demands.

The Underground is a new organization on Vassar’s campus that raises awareness of human trafficking and promotes ethical consumerism as

a means to combat the exploitation of laborers.

“A lot of people think that human trafficking is either forced movement across borders or poor working conditions, which it is to an extent,” founder Grace Roebuck ‘20 explains. “But the main point is that [human trafficking] forces individuals into labor, sex work, or organ trafficking. They are unwillingly compelled to live in horrible conditions and are psychologically or physically abused.”

The Underground first started when Grace brought the Red Sand project to campus. Connecting communities all over the world, this artistic, activist project fights modern slavery by filling the cracks of pavements with red sand in order to raise awareness of the trafficked victims who have fallen through the cracks of society. Eager to expand on this initiative, Grace and her friends fought to establish The Underground. The ultimate goal of this organization is to educate peo-

ple to recognize human trafficking and encourage them to fight it. One way of doing so as a consumer is to buy from fair trade businesses.

Co-president of The Underground Lindsay Irwin ‘21 adds, “Companies like Nike and other huge corporations typically use labor trafficked individuals to make their products because it’s cheaper...

41

when products are way cheaper than they should be, that’s when you know a company has probably cut some corners.”

It is our job as consumers to take control and be more conscientious about what businesses we are supporting. “[Ethical consumerism] is a form of empowerment,” Grace says. “Recognize that spending a dollar here versus there gives you so much more power and has such a larger ripple effect in the world... I think people are starting to realize that

their actions are more consequential than they think.”

Lindsay brings up another point, “Conservation and sustainability is thinking about future generations and not being selfish.” Human trafficking and labor violations are undeniably linked to today’s climate crisis. Working towards a more fair trade motto, whether that be through thrifting or supporting local artisans and businesses, gives you, the consumer, agency over your personal impact on the environment. Taking on a human rights standpoint, Grace declares, “I feel like I don’t have a right to purchase things that were made at the expense of someone else…[I try] to make ethical choices with my purchases so that they don’t have a slavery footprint.”

Cognitive Science major Noelle Morris ‘20 views sustainability as the opposite of consumerism.

“When I came [to Vassar] I had two of everything,” she says with a light laugh.

Within the past year, however, Noelle has learned more about living sustainably and has since made

an effort to purchase ethical products out of necessity.

“I focus on my individual production,” she explains.

“Even if recycling is a hoax, even if it’s all going to a landfill, I try to minimize how much waste I make.”

Lindsay adds to this sentiment, saying, “Not everyone can be 100% an ethical consumer. There is no grade. I think a lot of it is just trying your best.”

As Noelle puts it, “It is so hard to trust Capitalism to tell you the truth about a product.” Because of this, it is important to do some research about the brands and companies you support.

To make this a little easier, there are certain apps available, like GoodGuide and Good On You, that evaluate the production process and sustainability of companies and products at your convenience.

Maybe shopping sustainably isn’t such a fad after all. We are realizing that our purchases have consequences on our environment and on the lives of trafficked laborers. In knowing this, it is worth critically considering the businesses you support and the goods you choose to purchase. Like Lindsay says, not everyone can be an entirely ethical consumer, but in the end, we all have some degree of control over what we consume, giving us the opportunity to innovate and incorporate more sustainable choices in multiple facets of our lives.

43

42

E X E C B O A R D

CONTRIBUTIONS Media Committee Alexia Oerter Leo Derosby Diego Scala-Chavez Jack Pesquiera Phoebe Kinder Janrey Serapio Layout Director

Aidan Zola Editor In Chief

Gina Pepitone Co-Editorial Director

Isabel Urbanski-Farrell Assistant Beauty Director

Simone Rembert Co-Editorial Director

Justin Martinez Secretary

Clara Pitt

Co-Head Photographer

Kanako Kawabe Beauty Director

Lucy Posner Co-Style Director

Stephanie Madonna

Media Director

Hannah Benton

Co-Head Photographer

Yume Murphey Film Director

Yifei (Evelyn) Zhang First Year Representative

Isabelle Paquette Media Assistant

Anna Grayson Co-Style Director

Layout Committee

Models

Brandon Lam Pia Behmauras Jeanne Malle Ivana Qu Jacob Gaines Blake McGee Sophia Pye

Joy Freund Onyinyechi Attah Simone Karuga Dasha Lochoshvili Brandon Lam Zane Eitan Chris Barajas Zaafir Hasan Sylvia Peng Mary Retta Ella Baum Sandra Yu Weipeng Xie Anika McHayle-McNeish Lisa Smart Janrey Serapio Sammy Solomon Kara Lu Malka Fleischman Latoria Bailey Julien Peck Hien Nguyen Nicholas Henckel Kci Archibald Maimuna Touray Dylan Joyner Kenji Nikaido Mojan Farid Marta Candelas Megan Wang Henery Wyand Diego Scala Chavez Luojia Chen

Style Committee

Editorial Committee

Claire Ardnt Emmeline Vickers Batzdorf Yifei (Evelyn) Zhang Iliana Jaime Annika Thorelli Radu Mihai Florea Zayna Khan Malka Fleischman Jacob Gaines Lexi Oerter

Hindley Wang Anastasia Koutavas Charlotte Gong Malka Fleischman Alexia Oerter Jeanne Malle

Beauty Committee

Photo Committee

Seneca Straub Zayna Kahn Sarah Kopp Ruby Chen Claire Arndt Keira DiGaetano Haley Whetstone

Film Committee Andie Berkowitz

Nina Ajemian Andie Berkowitz Alex Garza Haley Whetstone Rivers Liu Grace Rousell Yifei (Evelyn) Zhang

vassarcontrast.com