Starting Sustainablly

Hi.

Out of my bedroom in New Jersey, at the age of 13, I entered the fashion industry through the start of my blog, How Fitting. Though there were definitely background issues, it overall was an exciting time- I was in one of those phases of being in fashion where everything is shiny and new and pretty and mesmerizing, you know that one phase where you're able to fully embrace how incredibly cool everything is before having to seem jaded and as if the cool stuff you're doing is a drag. Sometimes it is. Most of the time I just pretend as though it is to seem mature and jaded. At the age of 14, I gained my first internship, a position on the BP Fashion Board, a program by Nordstrom in order to prepare clueless teenagers to become sales assistants in suburbia for the rest of their lives. Or that's at least what it felt like. I eventually left due to a really out of control bullying issue. I might have deserved it for being in middle school, the youngest of the group, and thinking I was the ultimate ambassador when it came to merchandising, a title I do not wish to yield anymore. Things picked up at 15, after what I think to be a life changing meeting with the head of social media for Converse's concert series. I completely switched my destination from merchandising to marketing, at Fashion Institute of Technology's Precollege Programs. I was still excited and had my eyes wide open, taking all of the glamor I'd been promised in. Along with this, I began my writing career at Mimp Magazine , a toronto based publication focused around building a strong community of empowered women, in their fashion and personal entry department. My first piece was about Christmas window displays in SoHo, it was lost when the website revamped which wasn't all that upsetting since it was pretty awful. It was exciting nonetheless. By the time I turned 16 and had been working at Mimp for roughly six months, I was promoted to head fashion editor, a position I've held ever since. It's easy to get comfortable as fashion editor since you're not really producing anything and just have to say the word "vision" a lot even if you don't really have a vision. I loved the job from first sight and it still Mad Sounds, Written Citizen, and Crybaby Zine all writing about my love for fashion and self. At 18 years old, t's been five years since I started that blog, and ultimately, my career in fashion and I'm still excited, my eyes still become saucers when I attend NYFW, I still scream and jump up and down when I land my latest gig. Even if I act a little jaded sometimes.
hasn't gotten old. I think it's just because it appeals so well to my ego and previously mentioned overconfidence. By the time I turned 17, I was on the staff of

shot of an outfit I'd very proudly styled during an odd phase at 15

Though my story may seem unique, there are plenty of others who've entered the fashion industry at my age, or even younger. And the wildest part is that they're all over the world! From Los Angeles to Bangladesh, TONS of my generation and younger have taken part in the beloved industry. Take the roughly 170 million children, who at varying ages, entered jobs in factories owned by companies such as Zara, Forever21, and H&M, making garments at unlivable wages. Though I range pretty closely to these people in age, our experiences in the fashion industry couldn't be more different.

Before being introduced to the countless victims of fast fashion, the current state of the industry I have held so close to my heart, I was a constant shopper of popular brands such as Urban Outfitters, H&M, and my personal favorite, Forever21 (think about any mall store, all of these use this method). Unlike most higher class writers on the subject, I fully understand the experience and appeal. But I also understand the impact. And even if you choose to continue to promote and patronize such companies, everyone deserves to, and should, understand the impact of their actions and choose after posessing such information.

I've heard far too many accounts from those inexperienced/non dependent on cheap fast fashion and I'm over it. Make no mistake, I will demonize fast fashion because it deserves to be, but I'm looking to provide an equally as low cost solution for modern girls with a love for personal style and big wardrobes. Though I will undoubtedly touch on this subject later on, my closet, wallet, and self have felt so much more confident since cutting out this vice and I hope to promote the same.

I've dedicated my entire teenage career to fashion, I've grown up with fashion, it's nearly impossible not to think so, it has become such a solid theme in my life. It's hard knowing something you love so dearly causes such harm (fashion is the 2nd most pollutive industry in the world but we'll get into that later...) but that hasn't deterred me, only made me want to elicit change if anything.

I'm Annie Louise LeMonnier, I love fashion, and welcome to The Sustainable Diaries. 

-Annie Louise