The Black Fashion Society at the University of Mississippi is a confidence building club for all students with a passion for anything and everything fashion.
“The Black Fashion Society is about empowering minority students to be real with themselves and follow whatever passion they may have,” Caroline Sanders McCollum, society president, said.
It was with this spirit in mind that McCollum and Jordan Wells founded the Black Fashion Society in 2019.
“We saw on campus that there were no groups that were for minority students that had a common passion for modeling, fashion or even photography,” McCollum said.
In addition to this, Wells and McCollum noted the overwhelming number of students draped in sweatshirts and sweatpants every day of the week.
“We saw a lack of people dressing up on campus. It’s always a hoodie/jogger pants kind of thing, it’s not a dress up type of campus. So we wanted to first start by picking a day of the week and that was the day we would dress nicely and take pictures,” McCollum said.
And the Black Fashion Society was born. Extending beyond the title of “club,” the society aspires to be the ignition for a movement. With approximately 45 members, roles in the Black Fashion Society range from modeling to photography to graphic design.
“We just wanted to establish this movement, a movement of bringing fashion to campus,” McCollum said.
The Black Fashion Society not only welcomes individuals belonging to every area of fashion, but also strives to include students from diverse backgrounds, cultures and gender identities.
While the club was created in hopes of forming a safe space for African American and other minority students, McCollum said that anyone is invited to join.
“I think that it would be just awesome to expand (the Black Fashion Society) to everyone. I don’t ever want to be exclusive. I want to be inclusive, so I would love to see that,” McCollum said.
Quay Williams, a Black Fashion Society model, wishes for exactly that.
“The club has so much more potential to have more of a presence on campus,” Williams said.
Williams believes that minorities need more representation in the fashion world and on UM’s campus. He advocates for Black male models in particular.
“Male models are underrepresented in the modeling industry just because the world of modeling itself is a female dominated industry. Black people in general do not receive the same representation in mainstream media,” Williams said.
Williams believes that many Black male models are unable to receive jobs from agencies because of this.
“A lot of the time modeling agencies look for people with more Eurocentric features.
Because of that, I feel like a lot of Black models, especially male Black models, aren’t always chosen to do certain things,” Williams said.
Williams aims to recruit additional minority male models to generate further inclusivity.
Several members of the Black Fashion Society believe expansion for the club is prevented by lack of exposure. McCollum said that if knowledge of the club increased on UM’s campus so would membership, particularly among minority groups.
Azaria Wiggins, a senior and model for the Black Fashion Society, expressed her take on why more people should join.
“I would tell students to get out there and just join the Black Fashion Society because it was the best decision I ever made,” Wiggins said. “It gives you more confidence, and you get to know other people and help build their confidence as well.”
Wiggins’ statement checks out.
Once their runway practice begins, each member transforms from a student to a supermodel. It’s clear that the Black Fashion Society is a safe space for members to be bold without fear of judgment.
Williams said the club also offers important exposure to the fashion industry.
“In a way the Black Fashion Society can also be used for professional development depending on how seriously people want to take advantage of the resources it provides,” Williams said.
While career opportunities are a major pull to join, McCullom explained that part of the reason for forming the club was to create a community of minority students.
Currently a senior, McCullom will graduate and leave the family she has carefully created in the hands of the younger members.
McCullom has high hopes and dreams for the future and success of the society.
“I really want it to grow in numbers. I want it to be a known organization on campus. I want people to take what they learn from practice and walking in shows and use that experience in their life after the Black Fashion Society,” McCullom said.
