HC NYU: When was the NYU chapter of Styleta founded?
MS: Styleta was founded in 2009 by Harvard grad, Yifan Zhang.
HC NYU: What are the main goals of the organization?
MS: Styleta is a rapidly expanding nonprofit organization that uses fashion to nurture the next generation of young social entrepreneurs by creating sponsored student organizations on campuses nationwide that allow students to take on leadership positions and gain hands-on experience in the world of business while bettering their community. We work to achieve this goal through our effort to raise both monetary and fashion donations for other nonprofit organizations in our community that provide stylish clothing alternatives to disadvantaged citizens.
HC NYU: What are Styleta’s plans for growing and expanding in the future?
MS: As a further defined goal, by the year 2020, Styleta hopes to actively impact the lives of at least 100,000 students nationwide by expanding their knowledge of the business world, encouraging confidence in their own ideas, and by providing a safe environment in which they can develop the skills they will need to achieve their personal career goals. We hope that by involving this number of students, we can raise $500 dollars per student for our charity partners: a donation grossing $50,000,000 dollars. Styleta hopes to provide the world with a future full of ambitious and socially responsible business leaders.
MS: Last year, NYU Styleta worked with charity:water. This year, we worked with Fashion Targets Breast Cancer, a charitable initiative of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA).
HC NYU: What are some events that Styleta has thrown/been involved with this past year?
MS: Styleta threw a Fashion Show last Spring called Fusion on the Runway for charity:water and MAD for Fashion for FTBC this past Sunday. NYU Styleta is only one year old. In the Fall, we generally do clothing drives and smaller trunk shows around campus. We’re trying to make the Spring fashion show an annual event.
HC NYU: Does NYU’s chapter often work with other university’s chapters?
MS: So far every Spring! Only with columbia, but we’re looking to partner with Pace University as well next year.
HC NYU: Why did you personally want to get involved with Styleta?
MS: I have personally been obsessed with fashion my entire life, but have never found the right outlet for me to really express my passion for it. It’s not something that I want to call “work” at the end of the day, so working the fashion industry hasn’t appealed to me (at least not yet!). I also love doing volunteer work for non-profits, and have been since the 7th grade, so it was kind of a match made in heaven when I learned about Styleta.