LUSH, Alternavox, and our "Word of Mouth" Campaign!

Article by Melody Li

Melody Li understood fashion defined who a person was from an early age. When her father presented her with a tacky t-shirt at age 7 with the picture of a weird banana strutting away from the other bunches of bananas bearing the slogan “Why be part of the bunch?”, she understood what a person put on their body could mean disaster or success. This was of course an attempt for her father to help her fit in at school. She of course wore the t-shirt once to school (inconspicuously under a sweat shirt) not to hurt her father’s feelings, but understood that inspirational slogan laden t-shirts were not the answer to fitting in, or better yet, finding her own groove within the microcosm of society - that is school. Fashion is an expression of identity which is unique to each individual’s preference and taste. A simple piece of wardrobe possesses the ability to communicate confidence, mood, power, freedom of self expression, or simply “this is me take it or leave it!” The tools of self- expression are boundless when it comes to fashion. When Melody is not fighting the good fight advocating for freedom of self-knowing and expression, she is busy working on social justice projects and teaches a specialized gifted alternative program in the public school system as well as teaching students with special needs. She is currently writing her Masters Thesis at Simon Fraser University on social-emotional learning and its implications on identity development.