Western gets fashion famous

When Amy Levin started snapping photos of well-dressed students on her college campus, she had no idea it would turn into a full-time job.

“I kind of saw a void in the college fashion space,” Levin said. “Other publications were all geared to people in their late 20s, so I started by photographing street style at Indiana University.”

That was back in August of 2009, when Levin was still an undergraduate at Indiana. By fall of that year her street style site, College Fashionista, had expanded to five campuses.

Levin, now 25, has since graduated and runs the website full-time. She said running the multi-platform website, including advertising and editorial is a much bigger commitment than a personal blog, but she loves the challenge. Now, College Fashionista covers 300 campuses over 14 countries—including Western.

“It was pivotal that we expanded internationally,” Levin said. “What’s interesting with college students is that everyone is in the same 18 to 22 age range but trends vary so much from campus to campus.”

The Western section of the site was launched June of last year after fourth-year nutrition student Emma Nicholson saw the site and pitched the idea.

“I realized Western wasn’t on it and though that was crazy because Western is a pretty fashionable school,” she said.

Now she’s an editor, photographer and “style guru” on the site, scoping out the campus for the fiercest fashionistas. Since College Fashionista is based in New York City, Nicholson has had the opportunity to travel to the big apple for fashion events, including one last week with Victoria’s Secret Pink.

Though she studies in the faculty of science, Nicholson has always had an eye for fashion. She hopes to pursue a career in lifestyle journalism and said she loves the variety of styles that she finds on Western’s campus.

“Contrary to the stereotype, I really don’t think there is one single look that can define all of Western because we have so many people,” she said. “There are people from all different countries, all different cities and I think having people from all over the world definitely influence’s London’s style.”

If you’re hoping to get your photo snapped for online fame, you have to take risks. Nicholson said she looks for students who stand out from the crowd and have a distinct sense of style.