V127’s Thought Leaders Issue is available for pre-order now.

“If there’s anything that you want to challenge, it’s important to vote. I remember growing up feeling like I didn’t have the capability to create change, and voting gives you that power. [Causes] like health care, climate change, racial inequality, immigration, gun control, criminal justice, workers’ rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, reproductive rights, taxes, foreign policy, college affordability—all these things you have control over [when] you say, ‘This matters to me, and I want to do something about this.’ I feel like the fashion industry has been very understanding of [its] power in a time like this. We’ve acknowledged that voting is so important and it’s a privilege to have so many eyes on us, so [when we] say ‘This is the time when you need to vote’, it feels like a duty more than anything.

“Someone once told me that when the world feels like an unbearable and chaotic place, go inward. That’s something that I practice [and try] to uphold. I find [that] meditation, exercising, and taking breaks from social media [are] really [necessary] for my mental health right [now] because it’s important that we don’t get fatigued—when we take care of ourselves, we can help other people be hopeful and stay positive [because] there [have been] so many [figures] in the past, if they had not stayed positive or vocal, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X—we’ve had and have so many incredible leaders, and I really believe there’s a big spiritual awakening happening. There’s a lot of looking at the man in the mirror and [asking], ‘What can I change?’

“With social media, we see the power that we have on such a huge scale. There is a big group of people out there that want to create actual change, and I think it’s really incredible [to see that]. Educating yourself and understanding what you’re learning is so important—that way when you speak on behalf of those things, you know what you’re talking about. Exercising your right to speak up, and saying when something is right or wrong [is] a good way to start [fomenting change].”

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