Amid the rising popularity of sustainable fashion, Unravel at UCLA is stitching together a vibrant community.

Blending a vivid aesthetic with social justice advocacy, the club – which was founded in 2018 – launched its first fashion magazine this summer. President and fourth-year ecology, behavior and evolution student Sam Trezona said Unravel aims to spark conversation on the issues of consumerism and environmentalism that hide beneath the seams of clothing manufacturing. The club was recently restructured to promote sustainability through community events and projects, he said.

“There’s not one box that sustainable fashion fits into,” Trezona said. “Any style, any type of clothing, any gender, any identity can fit within the realm of sustainable fashion and find joy (and) community.”

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Vice president and third-year microbiology, immunology and molecular genetics student Zoe Yee said the fashion industry contributes to a myriad of public issues, including increased greenhouse gas emissions, textile waste from fast fashion and a rise in consumer culture. Trezona added that in previous quarters, Unravel focused on making its events economically accessible and environmentally friendly. Moving forward, the club hopes to bring political action to the spotlight with the creation of a social justice committee, Yee said.

Through the launch of Unravel’s magazine, the organization is aiming to encourage social change, Yee said. While the project was originally planned to be held as an in-person fashion show, the Unravel board decided to switch to an online magazine format to stand in solidarity with the Palestine solidarity encampment at UCLA, Trezona said. The magazine, which boasts a vibrant array of colors, designs and models, allowed readers to engage with sustainability and the UCLA community despite being away from campus, Trezona added.

“Something that can happen a lot with sustainability is it’s looked at as dull or pretentious. … It can be very repetitive as well,” they said. “I think why we want to be so colorful is to completely combat that narrative and show the complete opposite and how it can still be really fun and inviting and almost homey in a way.”

Ava Hymes, the club’s social justice chair and a third-year environmental science student, said Unravel also carves a space for students to hone hands-on skills such as sewing. She said the club previously hosted a workshop series where teams of students designed outfits according to different themes – with the event intended to culminate in a runway show that ultimately did not take place. Hymes added that Unravel’s welcoming environment stems from its community. Whether they are interested in learning how to upcycle clothing or attending social events, members enter the club with different goals and different backgrounds, she said.

Beyond craft, Yee said Unravel provides resources for students to access sustainable fashion – such as a storefront where students can donate and buy clothing on campus. In the realm of marketing, Unravel strives to integrate social justice into the field by publishing quarterly zines that discuss social issues in the fashion industry, both artistically and through the written word, she said. Within the social justice committee, members will focus on sustainability research and public education while exploring their intersections with art, Hymes said.

“Fashion doesn’t necessarily mean whatever is trending,” Hymes said. “Some of our design teams who are featured in the magazine use things like plastic and found objects.”

While it can be difficult to reconcile a political message with the club’s artistry, Trezona said reaching a balance involves making sure people learn something from their projects that can be implemented in daily life. He said Unravel will expand on themed editorial shoots in the upcoming year and include concrete quotes and statistics relevant to current events. While still being a fun and inviting space for students, Unravel’s ultimate goal is to improve UCLA’s sustainable fashion infrastructure, Trezona said.

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Most crucially, Unravel’s heart lies with its community, which invites anyone regardless of fashion sense or familiarity with sustainability, Yee said. Hymes added that Unravel’s workshops create an environment where the same students return, forming unique bonds as their skills progress. As Unravel is always evolving, Trezona said it is important that the community reflects this unceasing change by having a broad range of perspectives and identities.

“We don’t really want someone to think, ‘Oh, there’s only one thing that comes to mind when I think of Unravel,’ or, ‘Oh, I know exactly what someone in Unravel looks like.’ … I feel like it’s captured in our magazine, in the sense that it’s eclectic,” Yee said. “Maybe not everything matches, but that’s what our community is like.”