By: Gracie Wallner, Writing Editor
As ALT Magazine kicks off its first photo shoot, Lisa Heverly, co-founder and one of the Editors-in-chief, speaks with the passionate determination of someone who knows that their creation is capable of creative innovation and instrumental social change.
ALT is UW Madison’s newest premier fashion magazine, focusing exclusively on street style, and the only magazine in Madison that features entirely models who are people of color. ALT’s first issue’s theme is primary colors, and this article introduces members’ primary objectives and initial ideas about the mission of the magazine.
The founders of ALT created the magazine because there was no platform on campus to express their particular style — streetwear. Streetwear fashion began to take off back in the 1980’s and 90’s... born out of Japanese street fashion, California surf and skate style, and the hip-hop movement that had begun to spread across the world.
Streetwear is described by ALT Fashion Team member and model ZJ Pan as, “Something fresh, something new, something that will impress people.”
Hailey Sisk, ALT’s Film Editor, explains that she was inspired to dress this way “because streetwear fashion reflects a lot of hip-hop influences,” and that streetwear “gives people confidence in the way they dress and in their identity.”
Madison now has a magazine that reveals the UW students’ devotion to streetwear, and the city’s need for the style’s representation. Streetwear is different from other styles in that it’s not just a cool way of dressing, or a few certain name brands — it ’s a culture. In the words of Nell Yu, co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of ALT, “Wear your clothes; don’t let them wear you.”
“Especially because our school has such a small population of people of color, they should have a safe space to voice their opinions.” - Nell Yu
The second half of ALT’s mission is to represent people of color, who are so often excluded from mainstream fashion media.
“I wanted to create something catered towards people of color especially because our school has such a small population of people of color, and they should have a safe space to voice their opinions,” stated Nell Yu.
Other ALT contributors and models voiced similar desires to see more diversity in Madison’s fashion community, and the fashion industry as a whole.
Jocelyn Huey, a model for ALT, says that she has been dealing with the media’s scarce representation of people of color for her entire life.
“Growing up and not seeing Asian Americans in magazines, when I’m Asian American, was kind of hard. I thought beauty standards sort of rested on ethnicity,” she explained.
Lack of representation is something that people of color face on a daily basis, and the students of UW Madison are no exception.
Livvie Van Lanen, ALT’s makeup artist who has been professionally trained at New York’s Makeup Forever Academy, says that one of her main reasons for joining the team was to aid in the magazine’s mission to, “bring diversity into fashion because it so often gets lost.”
“Growing up and not seeing Asian Americans, when I’m Asian American, was kind of hard.” - Jocelyn Huey
ALT model Bevan Alomepe describes his vision for the magazine in the future as a publication that “shows the diversity we have on campus that people aren’t really seeing and bring out the special qualities of each culture on campus.”
The ALT team is united in their desire to bring streetwear fashion into the Madison media scene and to represent people of color. The creative and social implications of ALT are exciting and unstoppable.
“Dreaming big, I want ALT to become its own brand,” said Lisa Heverly, looking out across the first photo shoot venue, where photographers, stylists, and models stand shivering in the fresh autumn breeze, excited to be a part of what is bound to be a fashion revolution on their campus.
The creative and social implications of ALT Magazine are exciting and unstoppable.
ALT is dedicated to bringing its readers original outfits and styles that showcase streetwear fashion in an avant garde manner, created and curated by talented UW students and Madison residents.
Integrating articles and interviews that center on cultural identities and the voices of people of color on campus with a signature artistic vision, ALT Magazine vows to change campus one outfit at a time.
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