If you’re anything like me, you’re exhausted by the relentless trend cycle the fashion industry relies on. Every year, we’re bombarded with the “ins” of the season—many of which completely contradict previous popular styles. This forces many people to radically shift their entire wardrobe to match the current styles. Not only is this wasteful, but it is also an incredibly tiresome process—and I’m not the only one that thinks so. As problems within the fashion industry arise, like lack of sustainability and overproduction, many people are stepping out of the trend cycle and forging their own paths, making fashion work for them instead of constantly playing catch-up with the latest trends. One of these rising risk-takers is Avry Joiner, a fashion influencer that has fully embraced fashion outside of what’s currently trending.
When I first stumbled upon Joiner’s Instagram page at the beginning of this year, I was in awe of the way that she mixed bright colors and unique accessories to make every look incredibly unique and eye-catching. Joiner found her passion for fashion as a child—she says, “I loved dressing all my Barbie dolls up, then when I could finally dress myself as a kid, I would always care what I looked like for school at a super young age.” Influencing the way as we know it today is a very recent phenomenon, so when Joiner graduated high school, she opted to go into retail to gain more experience. Still not fulfilled, Joiner decided to go into influencing in 2020: “I realized that there was a way to monetize my brand and influencing became a full-time gig. I’ve never looked back since then!”
For Joiner, finding her personal style was not easy. She started her journey in 2019 and was overwhelmed by the trend cycle: “I kept following trends and it felt like there was a new trend every other week. It was tiring but it happens when you aren’t completely comfortable in your style.” After some trial and error, she stumbled across Danish influencers that focused on incorporating lots of color in their outfits—a style called “Dopamine Dressing.” She started to slowly incorporate elements of this style within her own wardrobe, and slowly but surely, she made it work. Gaining confidence allowed her to fully embrace her style, and she says that “before [she] knew it [she] loved getting dressed again.” Not afraid to mix bright colors with unconventional patterns, Joiner was successfully able to define her own style outside of the typical fashion conventions.
When it comes to influencing, there are highs and lows. While many think that influencing is a low-effort job, the reality is that it requires a lot of behind-the-scenes planning and effort. Joiner enjoys the fact that while she does have a lot on her plate, she can do work from almost anywhere: “It’s one thing to work from home but if I’m on vacation I can still do what it is I need to do. It also makes it easy for me to pick up and move if I ever wanted to!” Despite the freedom in her schedule, there are drawbacks to working on the Internet. One is having to navigate this new form of content creation as a black woman—black people, in general, are not well represented in fashion, and it’s an added pressure that Joiner has to face. Joiner says that she copes with this pressure by “creating. My goal is and always will be to be my authentic self and keep creating content.” As she is rising in popularity, amassing over 46 thousand followers on Instagram, her advice to other minority content creators is “There’s no such thing as overnight success … I don’t care how many people promised you this. Slow growth is the best growth. Community is everything.”
Aside from influencing full-time, Joiner also runs an online store. She states that she’s “always sold items online. Back in 2018 [she] started doing a lot of vintage shopping and sharing [her] finds online.” After encouragement from her followers to start an online store, she finally did in 2019. She now does weekly drops on her online store. Within the alternative fashion movement, there is also a huge emphasis on buying second-hand. Thrift and vintage shopping are great ways to help the environment, as it ensures that clothes no longer in use won’t end up in a landfill where they will take years to decompose. Joiner enjoys selling clothes online, and almost everything in her personal wardrobe is from vintage or thrift stores.
Joiner’s future in the fashion industry is incredibly bright, and she’s well on her way to becoming a top influencer. In the future, Joiner hopes that the fashion industry as a whole will become less judgmental: “I think fashion should just be fun. If you’re comfortable with wearing something, opinions or rude comments shouldn’t matter.” In terms of her personal career aspirations, Joiner has recently signed with an agency that will partner with her to advance her career—one that will definitely flourish in the coming years. Joiner represents a growing movement to make fashion an individualistic art form that doesn’t rely on trends to be considered stylish. While we still have a long way to go, Joiner is an inspiration to many to step outside of their comfort zones, find their personal style, and define what fashion means to them. Life outside of the trend cycle seems very promising.
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