Six months ago in March, Demon media expanded to having their very own website updating students of DMU each week with sections such as news, music, lifestyle, film and TV and of course fashion.
Demon fashion has grown immensely in the past six months with its very own twitter and Instagram pages, regular fashion features, a team of fantastic contributors and of course winning best online section back in May at the Demon media awards.
When we realised that we were coming up to 100 articles in this short time period we knew we had to make the article a special one.
With 99 articles updating not only DMU students with the latest fashion trends, styles, celebrity fashions and fashion advice we realised that fashion means a lot to many people.
Fashion is a hard word to define as it means a lot to so many different people. So we thought we would gather our regular contributors together and tell you what fashion is/means to them.
What fashion is to the contributors:
Anna Landi:
To me, fashion is about standing out and having this universal tool to say what you want about who you are without opening your mouth once. For years, fashion has been on the top of my priority list about me. It’s helped me to understand that this grunge/subtle-Goth style I possess – plus a wardrobe full of black – might not be considered everybody’s normal style, but it’s me and it’s how I present myself. Fashion is about confidence.
They say that if you’re not 100% confident about what you’re wearing and how you wear it, chances are, nobody else will see your confidence. It’s about mixing up textures, patterns, colours and styles and saying ‘to hell with it, I look awesome!’ and then walking the walk.
It’s about your own body shape, your taste in designers, art, photography, aesthetics, music and icons that shift, mould and shape how you see the world in the eyes of a pair of fashion glasses.
Orla Wallis:
I’ve been interested in fashion for as long as I can remember. For me, fashion is an art form. It’s a unique combination of ideas, creativity, movement, beauty and architecture.
People from all walks of life, for centuries, have come together to appreciate and celebrate this art form. It is also a means of self-expression. What a person wears and how they choose to style it, sends a message to the rest of the world about who they are and how they’re feeling.
I love fashion. I love the way it creates icons – both people and items of clothing. I love its ability to synthesize people, decades and emotions. I love its ability to transform, it is constantly changing, reviving and re-birthing. I love its underlying simplicity and surface complications. And, most importantly, I love the way that fashion makes me feel. Fashion helps me express the person I am on the inside, in a way that is both literal and visual, for the rest of the world to see on the outside. It is because of fashion that I have found a way to be comfortable and confident with myself. Fashion is art.
Lauren Harvey:
To me, fashion is expressive. It’s a way of showing people who you are without saying a word and I love that!
My favourite season for trends would have to be autumn and of course winter, I refer to it as boot season. I find it’s much easier to express yourself through your outfits when it’s cold outside, layers layers layers! My favourite trend at the moment would definitely have to be Chelsea boots and the use of tartan on everything. It’s brilliant because the two pieces work well with a number of different outfits.
Tay Williamson:
Fashion is everything. If I’m wearing what I deem to be fashionable then I not only look good but I feel great too. I think about fashion before I go to bed each night, planning out each days outfits, and as soon as pay day comes it’s definitely the one thing I spend the most money on! My fashion sense is inspired mainly by a combination of vintage pieces and high street bargains.
Shoes are definitely a key part of my outfits. I love to spend as little money as possible and get vintage bargains when it comes to clothes, but a good pair of shoes is essential.
Katie Meadway:
Fashion should be an effortless and integral aspect of everyday life. It often borders on obsession for me. The way that it allows anyone to express who they are, what they’ve been through and how they are feeling on a day to day basis is something that many other forms of art fail to succeed in. Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion is not something that exists in dresses only. Fashion is in the sky, in the street, fashion has to do with ideas, the way we live, what is happening.” It is because of this, that in today’s society, it becomes a release for many people, including myself. There has been many times that I have used fashion as an escape route, a method of coping and often a defense mechanism against paradoxical emotions and conflicting relationships. Without fashion, the world would be a monochromatic illusion of normality, conformity and de-individuation.
What fashion is to the editors:
Sidumisile Mlotshwa:
Fashion is something that is questioned constantly and in my opinion there isn’t a right or wrong answer. It means something different to every individual. It’s not just clothes and accessories, it is everything around you. For me fashion is a way to create an identity for yourself. I use fashion as a statement to show people parts of my personality that I sometimes can’t explain. I guess you can say fashion is an uncoloured canvas where you can add your own colours and create yourself. I like a bit of everything and that’s reflected in my clothes. Personally I like the idea of ‘minimalist’ meets ‘androgynous’ as it’s so casual but also looks stylish.
Ben Walker:
A few weeks ago whilst treading an article in GQ’s Style magazine I came across a quote by Miuccia Prada stating that ‘Fashion is its own art form. It’s another medium that’s infinitely deep’. The way fashion has grown and adapted over the years it has become an art form in its own form. It is a platform which is ‘infinitely deep’ and without the fashion industry and fashion as a general term I wonder what the world will be today.
Fashion is more about the clothes but an expression of the person who wears them. The best way to express yourself nowadays is through what you wear and how you wear it. Every trend, every item of clothing has a meaning and you choose to follow a trend or wear an item of clothing because the meaning behind it best represents you. Often the choice I have found is not always a conscious one. The way the fashion industry constantly changes mimics that of someone’s life. You are never the same person as you were the day; month or year before now you like fashion is constantly changing.
Fashion is not just its own art from for me but a vital part of our lives, even if you are aware of it or not.
More personally fashion to me has been a life line. It has become a way of life for me and to be a part of the fashion world is a dream that is worth fighting for. It is not just about the industry it is the way it forces you to express who you are on the inside onto the outside, not in an exposing way but as a form of expressing individuality and confidence of who you are.
In the past 99 articles as a collective we at Demon fashion have wrote articles about their own personal style, various trends, celebrity icons, high street and high end fashion, as well as most importantly student fashion and style.
We hope we can express more of what fashion means to us in the next 100 plus articles.
So where can Demon fashion go from here?
Our goal is to expand as a sub-strand either further by working with DMU’s fantastic fashion department, working with students and tutors to showcase students work, focus more on men’s fashion and establish ourselves in both the media and fashion industry as one of the best platforms for student fashion.
Last note…
Sid and myself would like to thank everybody who has contributed to the site, read the articles, gave us feedback, and supported us immensely.
We also want to hear from you, our readers what fashion is and means to you!
To be a part of Demon fashion…
Join us on twitter @demonfashion
Join us on Instagram @Demonfashion13
Join us on Facebook at Demon fashion online
