FLEEK
A Tale of Two
BY SAVANNAH MUÑOZ ’ 21
For over a decade , not one but two student-run fashion magazines have captured the look and outlook of Tritons on campus . Ever-evolving in form and format , the magazines change as steadily as the students who make it their own every year .
FASHION QUARTERLY has had perhaps the most dramatic transformation over the years , beginning very much in a newsstand vein and morphing through a variety of conceptual leanings in the years since .
In its current mode , every issue of FQ ( as it ’ s known for short ) feels like an experiment , a reinvention of itself , and an exploration of what “ fashion ” entails . Former editor Zach Roberts ’ 19 explained the reasoning for the shift last year in an interview with The Guardian campus newspaper : “ We ’ ve been slightly turning away from fashion and abstracting ourselves to general visual culture , so art , photography , and fashion is involved , but it ’ s not the main thing . […] It ’ s flipping fashion on its head .”
And as for a stated mission , “ FQ ’ s chief aim is to tap into the often-unrealized creative energy that exists within UC San Diego , to push the boundaries of what a ‘ fashion magazine ’ can be .”
Their motto , “ create the content you want to see ,” applies to their print magazines as well as online offerings , which is where both magazines seem to be investing heavily . In the days before the coronavirus , both Fashion Quarterly and its fellow campus mag Trend had lively Instagram and Facebook feeds , posting behind-thescenes shots of their photoshoots on campus and around all parts of San Diego , as well as recaps of magazine launch events and previews of upcoming issues .
50 TRITON | WINTER 2021