Fashion Club promotes sustainability at MC

As Fashion Club celebrates a successful year, leadership looks forward to another year of fostering inclusivity through a shared love of sustainable fashion.

Led by Molly Bailey (‘26), president, and Lily Little (‘27), vice president, Fashion Club has made significant strides since its inception, focusing on the impacts of fast fashion and encouraging sustainable practices among its members as well as the broader Maryville College community.

Bailey, the founder of Fashion Club, envisioned a space where students passionate about all things wearable could come together.

“I had been wanting to make a club for people who are interested in creating textiles and garments in different ways, and after talking to other people about the things that they wanted to see, the ideas kind of came together and fashion club was born,” said Bailey.

Throughout the 2024-2025 school year, the club has organized a multitude of events aimed at raising awareness about the importance of sustainable fashion. One unique event among these was the Costume Creation Station on Oct. 22, where members crafted costumes resourcefully by using thrifted materials and scrap fabrics.

This event was one of many that center around Fashion Club’s major goals of educating Maryville College students about the importance of ethically-sourced and environmentally friendly approaches to fashion.

Both Bailey and Little are passionate about inclusivity within the fashion club, expressing want for the wider campus community of Maryville College to know that the club is open to everyone, with Little specifically noting that “it’s about being comfortable dressing how you dress, not dressing within a certain box.”

Little especially wanted to highlight the Fashion Club’s role as a connector both within and outside of the Maryville College community. “We bring together every part of campus, along with community members from off campus,” she noted.

Through collaborative efforts with Fit.Green.Happy. and Mountain Challenge, Fashion Club engaged with the Maryville community to help initiate the Knoxville Vintage Market, which attracted record-breaking numbers of attendees both in the fall and spring. 

Additionally, the club also hosted Stuff Swaps, allowing for members to exchange their ill-fitting or ill-worn clothes for newer ones. The Knoxville Vintage Market and Stuff Swaps have proven successful in fostering connections and promoting collaborative exchanges among students and outside community members.

In relation to Fashion Club’s goal of education, Bailey also mentioned the introduction of a Repair Workshop that teaches students how to mend and alter their clothing. This monthly event illustrates the importance of keeping garments usable, thus reducing waste and promoting sustainability, a goal within line of the Fashion Club’s mission.

“This is a monthly occurring event where you can learn how to repair and mend your clothes. We also are showing them how to hem and do other simple alterations,” Bailey said. “The goal here is to keep the clothes you already have in play by keeping them usable which helps keep things out of landfills.”

The next repair workshop will be hosted on April 24th at 2 p.m.

Looking ahead, the Fashion Club has exciting plans in store. They aim to continue their successful initiatives while also introducing a fashion show featuring student-created designs. Furthermore, there are plans for a monthly makers circle, offering workshops on various textile and garment-making techniques.

When asked about future plans for Fashion Club, Little stated, “Fashion club has some big ideas for the future! Of course we will continue Knoxville Vintage Market and the Stuff Swap, but we also have some cooking ideas!”

As Bailey emphasized, “Fashion isn’t about being on trend; it’s about being yourself and expressing that!”