Breaking Fashion News: The Indie Spirit trend is making a comeback.
While researching current and previous fashion trends on sites like Seventeen and Marie Claire for their DECA FIDM Challenge, Sophomores Candace Tan, Katelyn Wong and Nikki Woo couldn’t help but notice a reoccurring trend of styles that emphasized individuality and had a bubbly aura, which they named Indie Spirit.
The trio found out about the challenge through the Distributive Educational Clubs of America, a club that focuses on preparing students to become leaders and entrepreneurs in the fields of marketing, finance, hospitality and management.
Every year, DECA teams up with The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, and hosts competitions such as this one exclusively for club members.
“I found out about the challenge through the website www.decadirect.org, which is the official online DECA magazine,” Club President Junior Melody Lin said. “We encouraged club members to try out because the challenge process provides students with hands-on experience in marketing their own product and also ties together fashion and business.”
Although there was no limit on the number of submissions each DECA Division is allowed, Tan, Wong and Woo were the only ones who decided to represent Temple City in the contest. The task was simple: research both current and previous fashion trends, and predict a trend that is likely to make an appearance next fall. Then, style some outfits that fit the look and make a Youtube video showcasing the project and process.
“The entire project had to be done with a $20 budget,” Wong said. “So we had to go to a bunch of different thrift shops in Pasadena, which was interesting.”
After obtaining all the materials needed, the team had to sew things together to construct their own masterpieces. They styled a total of three different looks, called The Candace, The Katelyn and The Nikki, each reflecting the Indie Spirit trend. Once everything was put together, Tan, Wong and Woo hit the streets of Old Town Pasadena to model, photograph and film their creations.
The team first heard about the Challenge in September 2014, and had around five months to work on the project.
“The contest was time consuming but we worked hard on it,” Wong said. “The most challenging part was editing the video and making sure that it flowed.”
When the video was complete, it was uploaded to Youtube to be evaluated by FIDM executives and instructors, who later picked 11 finalists and ultimately the top three. Tan, Wong and Woo were recognized as finalists in the overall challenge and given special recognition for their entry highlighting Indie Spirit.
“I feel really psyched about the overall experience,” Woo said. “It was pretty fun and interesting predicting future fashion trends and I am looking forward to doing the challenge again next year.”
TCHS School Newspaper