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Ryerson’s new online fashion community

By Hayley Adam

Three Ryerson students are the founders of Ryerson’s new online fashion community, RU Street style.

What started as a first-semester assignment inspired co-founders Lauren Hildebrand, Nalani Pratas, and Jennifer Spiteri to create their own online street blog. Their interest in fashion drove them to take cameras to campus in search of students’ outfits of the day.

“It was a class project to start with and we had to do a social media campaign. We were all inspired by fashion and noticed that RU street style hadn’t been done before, so we thought it was a good idea,” Hildebrand said.

The three photograph fashionable students on campus and then document it on social media – whether that be on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or WordPress – for others to see and take inspiration from.

The co-founders said RU Street Style’s purpose is to create an online fashion hub for students.

“Our goal was to start something that would create a community.” Pratas said. “Fashion is important because it’s something that unifies a lot of the students. It’s a sense of one’s expression and something that everyone can relate to and get involved in.”

Now, more than two months from their start-up in November, the page has already received a multitude of positive feedback.

By their second day, they had over 300 likes and soon had a feature on RUtv News.

Since then, retailers such as the Hudson’s Bay and Topshop have reached out to them to collaborate. Their Facebook page has also reached more than 600 likes.

“It kind of went viral.” Pratas said.

However, the group still views the page as a hobby. The three founders of RU Street Style are content with their success so far and are eager to find styles at Ryerson deserving of an honourable mention.

To keep up with RU Street Style check out their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and blog. To be featured yourself, make sure to post your own outfits with the hashtag #RUStylish

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Photos courtesy of RU Street Style

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