Over the past few months, the Andover Edition, a Phillips Academy fashion publication, has made it its mission to inform the community on sustainable and creative everyday fashion. According to Gabby Edokpa ’24, they have done so through club’s unique photoshoots and pop-up campus stores, which have in turn boosted their popularity.
“We had a very successful thrift event that happened in the fall I believe, that was really successful and really got our names around… campus… we found a lot of people that [were] interested in the photoshoot, so we’ve been planning this [as well],” said Edokpa.
According to Carolyn Barbie ’24, the club’s Photo Head, many people have reported feeling more confident after signing up for a photoshoot. Customizing props and aesthetics for each individual, the board has made efforts to help more students feel comfortable showcasing their personal styles.
“A lot of people said that they were scared of going into [photoshoots] last year. A lot of people signed up and then backed out at the last moment because they were too scared, but I think having more people there who are playing music and helping them with posing… [and] a lot more people are signing up, and they feel a lot more comfortable [now],” said Barbie.
Head of Andover Edition Allie Encarnacion ’24, who has found a means to spread her passion in fashion through the club, stated that her favorite part of the club was gaining different perspectives of fashion from various people.
“I feel like as the head, I get to work with so many different people… and I was thinking about the passion that I see them have and how that passion is contagious to different people and different boards and how you can really expand your personal community and create a new drive for this campus just by sharing your passions and doing something to work towards it,” said Encarnacion.
Currently, the Andover Edition strives to make their events accessible to everyone on campus through collaborating with other clubs. So far, the club has collaborated with Andover Business Club, PA Thrift, and the Wings Initiative to host the first thrift store on campus—one of the many ways they hope to start conversations about fashion sustainability on campus. Looking forward, the Andover Edition plans to host a den dance on January 28 and publish a magazine in the spring.
“We’re doing a den dance [because] everyone will be there regardless of how interested you are in fashion, and we’ll make a dress code so that it connects to our club, like come in all black, so that’s connected to faction but we’re still doing it in a way that will be applicable to a wide variety of people,” said Edokpa.
