Since 2017, the Ethical Fashion Initiative club has hosted two vendor events for students and local sellers to showcase their small businesses, and plan to continue to do more. From jeans to jewelry to shoes, this event has it all. Hosted in the campus’s Steel Plant classrooms, they quickly turn into racks and tables full of thrifted or home-made items that students can purchase. 

The club, founded in 2017 has been spreading their mission of educating students about how relevant sustainability is in the industry, coming up with events, and lectures on how to prioritize sustainability. The turnout for the club has been exponential with four dozen students attending their first meeting this spring semester. EFI events typically see around 200 students in and out of the doors, most leaving with bags of sustainable clothing!

EFI has done multiple collaborations with different clubs on campus to promote their beliefs. Clubs such as Marist Young Entrepreneurs, Marist Seed, and Runway of Dreams have all worked with EFI to further student involvement and their mission.

Melena Russo 27’ has been appointed as the club’s president this past fall. Majoring in fashion merchandising, her mission is to spread awareness on how big of a role  sustainability plays in the industry. “Fashion is the second highest polluter behind oil, and a lot of the club has become unbelievably rewarding in the sense of sustainability,” said Russo.

“My long-term goal for the club is to help educate students on what their major is really about. I love being the person that gets to educate them on their positions, and that they are in high demand,” Russo says. “Fashion houses prioritize sustainability, and people think there isn’t a lot of funding or money involved in it but [that] simply just isn’t true,” she continues.

Sustainability is a growing concern for the fashion industry. Emphasizing social and environmental responsibility throughout the entire cycle of how a piece of clothing lives. The goal is to minimize their negative impact to the world through practicing more sustainably ethical practices. “Every little thing someone does makes a difference,” Russo adds. Eileen Fisher, Patagonia, Allbirds, and Adidas are all fashion companies that pride themselves in reducing their ecological footprint. 

There is a large mix of vendors for the event, students and local, each unique to their own. 

Sweet Heat Thrift, founded by Sterling Grant has had her business for three years, and is planning to grow it even more. Based locally, she has been involved with Marist Eats and now, the EFI vendor events. Grant gets most of her second-hand-clothing from thrift stores in New York City and websites such as Poshmark, DePop and Whatnot. Along with selling her findings, she also creatively upcycles. “I get a lot of inspiration from just being here, I have always wanted to have a business to continue my mission of sustainability and upcycling,” Grant says. Her storefront is full of homemade makeup bags, numerous clothing items, and her own personal designs that she created with second-hand-clothing. 

Marist University student Luke Johnson 25’ has his first table set up, catching many students’ eyes with his bright drawings. His art brand, Harrowlings, is self-taught and inspired by horror films, artists such as Tim Burton and John Kenn, as well as colorful comic-book strips. Johnson wants to share his art to the world, and he loves having pieces of other people’s art in his. He described it as, “ I love having little pieces of people’s lives in mine, and that’s what I hope to do with my work.” It is a big creative outlet for him and very therapeutic. Johnson’s modern horror sketches encapsulate movies such as Donnie Darko and Mulholland Drive with a own twist. 

“It’s so cool because it was all donating to a bigger cause, everything was different and everyone was selling their own creations and creative stuff,” Marlo Ferrante remarks.

Another student, Moses is a sophomore at Marist University and is studying fashion merchandising. Through his love for clothing he found himself thrifting and reselling clothes for six years. He thrifts locally in Poughkeepsie although he describes it as “ a hit or miss,” he continues to dig. Originally from upstate Maine, he often travels to Portland to further his thrifting side-hustle. 

19-year-old Luis Rameriz has been a self-taught entrepreneur since the age of 11 when he discovered his love for shoes. For Christmas he asked for a pair of Jordan 11’s and from then on, he has been buying and reselling clothes and shoes. “ You can make a lot of pieces from just one sweatshirt, and it can ultimately make a difference in the sustainability world,” Rameriz says.And at 19, he dropped out of school to continue his personal successful business. From Poughkeepsie he has his own storefront in Albany and is opening another in the Poughkeepsie Galleria on May 1st. “It’s an avenue for younger people to explore many different career paths and creative outlets,” Rameriz shares. Rameriz heard about the EFI event through a friend and attended his first last semester and plans on continuing his relationship with Marist. 

Another Hudson Valley local, Ginamarie Engles has been a part of the EFI since the beginning. Getting contacted by the first president of EFI, she has shared her crafts and tips since 2017. Ginamarie started her craft early on, since she was little and saw a dead cicada laying on the ground. Unlike any other child, most would have ignored the mass amount of cicada wings lying lifeless on the grass, but Engles had a vision. “I saw the wings and immediately thought of making it a necklace, so I did!” Engles said. Now, instead of just putting her focus on wings, she spread hers to flowers and metals. 

The Ethical Fashion Initiative has made a huge evolvement from just showcasing small business to creating a space where sustainability is embraced. For the spring, the club is planning to have another student/local vendor event in late April with the same sustainability goal.