One of the main reasons that make the West High student body such a joy to be a part of is the variety of clubs the school offers year-round. With the numerous communities, students can join, there’s always a little something for anybody to explore their interests and find new friends. 

One such club includes the newly formed Sustainable Fashion club, founded by Emma McPearce ’23 near the end of last year. Inspired by a program on sustainability taken over the summer and discovering very few high schools tend to offer a sustainable fashion club, McPearce is determined to show everyone at West that everybody deserves accessibility when it comes to being sustainable and fashionable. “—in terms of sustainable fashion, I really want to focus on everyone having access to the things that we’re doing, which is creating our own stuff, engaging in slow fashion,” she expressed. 

The Sustainable Fashion club aims to let everyone interested experience all kinds of creative workshops, from crocheting to jewelry-making and provide a lesson on how one can express their resourcefulness through fashion. At the moment, there are countless clothing brands out there that are wasteful with their materials and leave considerable damage to the planet. Sustainable fashion is about looking for other options and considering where people’s clothes might be coming from. Are the materials environmentally friendly? Does the corporation treat its employees well? Are the factories contributing more to the greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere? Of course, it’s impossible to avoid all of these complications altogether, but the best part about slow fashion is being able to take it one step at a time.” The goal of this club is to promote slow fashion in a way that is sustainable for the general population— for people who don’t have like $100 to spend on one piece of clothing for their wardrobe” said McPearce. 

On top of expanding students’ opportunities to have more control over their wardrobe, the club also plans to hopefully give back to the community through projects such as clothing drives and other service projects. As of now, the club is in the middle of gathering funds to continue activities, and plans to go forward are still in discussion. Meetings are every Wednesday at 4:15 in room 126. Contact Emma McPearce at [email protected].