Fashionista speaks on body inclusivity
By Emilee Mae Struss
Silver Creek High School junior Antonia Avery is on a very specific mission. Besides taking extra online classes to graduate one year early, she is focused on transforming an entire industry. She wants to change the fashion industry—with body positivity.
“I am a fashionista,” Avery said. “And I want to change the fashion industry.”
Avery was very open during an interview, sharing about her own struggles with the current image of what “beautiful” means in the fashion industry. She noticed that the brands that she likes, including Louis Vuitton and Gucci, have a very specific type of model: 6 feet tall and size 0.
“The brands that I love don’t even have clothes I can wear because they don’t fit my body,” Avery said.
She recognizes her own emotions toward this unrealistic standard and it hits close to home here in the Wood River Valley. She says it has been difficult growing up in the Valley where many of the women do not look like her.
“It’s hard when everyone looks opposite of you,” Avery said. “But I realized that even stick-thin, beautiful women have insecurities, too.”
Avery’s realization that being thin doesn’t bring happiness made her realize that the answer to all of it was inclusivity, and being an outward display of what is on the inside. The actions and personality of a person are what makes them beautiful, Avery says.
“I want everyone to know that it does not matter what you look like,” Avery said. “It’s cliché, but it truly is what’s on the inside that matters.”
Avery is attending the Institute of Michelangelo in Italy next fall for two months. She is on track to graduate this spring and currently works at the restaurant Enoteca, in Ketchum.
“I love working at Enoteca,” Avery said. “It’s so nice to be at work and only there. It’s actually like therapy for me and I get paid to be there.”
She is looking forward to meeting new people and experiencing a new place. Her hopes for this Valley, however, are quite specific.
“It’s a tiny Valley,” Avery said. “And the people here are changing but I just encourage people to keep opening up to accepting people that are different from them.”
Editor’s Note: Anyone who would like to recommend a Blaine County School District student for The Weekly Sun’s “Student Spotlight” feature should contact Emilee Struss at emilee.struss@gmail.com.