On Feb. 7, members of the Picture Perfect modeling club unpacked several boxes of secondhand clothes to be sold in the Conaway Center at Columbia College Chicago.
Picture Perfect held the event during their spring semester model auditions, in order to communicate with potential and current models and raise funds for the modeling club.
The used clothing varied from varsity jackets, Carhartts and other warm clothing to help people bundle up for the late winter, as well as an introduction to spring fashion with bright dresses, light and dark jeans and more.
Amy Fisher, a sophomore music major as well as vice president of Picture Perfect, is grateful for the club since joining it in her freshman year.
“Picture Perfect is a community to me. In my freshman year I didn’t know anybody or anything about Chicago,” she said. “I have roommates, which I love, but this is an additional thing that’s just for me.”
Picture Perfect models are chosen to present student artists’ clothing designs and help their creations come to life. Club members also expand and build their own wardrobes in an ethical, sustainable and affordable way for both their art and fashion.
“A lot of the models and our generation are very into thrifting,” Fisher said. “So we wanted to have a fun way to have an event with our models or anyone who was interested to have space for clothes and one-on-one interactions.”
Lucas Zakutansky, a sophomore majoring in fashion who’s treasurer and a creative member of Picture Perfect, says fast fashion is destructive in the world of fashion.
“I think fast fashion defiles the fashion community in ways that affect not just the fashion community but the world as a whole,” Zakutansky said.
When planning on where to collect the clothes for the event, Zakutansky collected secondhand clothes, mostly from Goodwill bins. He also gathered donations from the Picture Perfect Executive Board members, models and his own closet.
Zakutansky says people like him, as well as artists and designers in and outside of the club, value clothes based on their own creations or unique pieces that feed their creativity.
“Fashion has always been a very big outlet for me,” he said. “I never really had a chance to do it before I got to college. I always enjoyed styling and altering but I never got a chance to express myself fully just based on my environment.”
Fisher finds happiness in not only wearing the used clothes but also in finding her own personal pieces that she finds joy and confidence in.
“I feel like a little treasure hunter when I go thrifting, so when I find something I feel much more accomplished than if I just walk into a retail store and pick something off the rack,” she said.