OHS boasts over 100 clubs and societies, with topics ranging from intensive games of strategy to upbeat kpop music to the solving of sectioned multicolored cubes and figure skating. One student group, the Fashion Enterprise and Innovation Society has distinguished itself through promoting particularly unique and engaging events and competitions,

Led by Athena Shih (‘29), the club meets on Fridays at 1 p.m., and discusses everything from microtrends to brand comparison, and hosts their own fashion and product-related competitions (like their Thanksgiving-inspired turkey runway competition).

This month, the society will launch their February Madness event, a rapid-fire pitched-based competition that requires participants to sell the judges on a new product idea in less than a minute., Shih  describes the competition as one where  “where your random fashion thoughts finally become useful.” She adds that “Yes, it’s February Madness. No, it’s not March. Blame midterms.”

But this isn’t the only exciting fashion-related initiative the society has On January 23rd, Shih dropped Fashion Pulse, a website that includes fashion-related articles, quizzes, and weekly “pulse drops”–spotlighted trends that viewers can react to with their honest first opinion. “You’re able to share your takes on the latest fashion trends, post articles, and read articles about the latest fashion trends,” Shih says.

The goal of the website, says Shih, is to allow “like-minded people to think about fashion and business,” as well as to increase participation in the society. She and Marie Perederii (‘29), a co-leader, are in charge of the website’s upkeep, and both contribute articles, pulse drops, and other content, like book and movie recommendations and “aesthetic” quizzes.

Shih and Perderii carefully plan each event, and Perdirii explains that their typical week begins on Wednesday, where they meet virtually to “create slides and plan an activity for Friday.” They then “post ads in Bulletin throughout the course of the week,” to boost participation and awareness, and conclude on Friday, when the society meets through Pronto’s call feature.

While the society itself is a hub for business and fashion-related debate and conversation, Shih and Perderii have other exciting plans in mind. The pair are interested in pursuing leadership outside of fashion, and Perderri revealed that the two will be “running [for class president and vice president] next year.” Shih says that the society acts almost as a stepping stone to this goal, allowing the pair to “meet more people who share similar interests… make friends, and also connect with people.

While the group certainly has a fashion focus, Shih and Perderii also stress the business side of their society. “A big question,” says Shih, “is how do you make money doing fashion? And if you’re really passionate about fashion, how do you turn it into a career or a sustainable idea you can actually use in the future?” Their society, she says, tries to “balance” these two ideas by “asking business-related questions: [for example,] if you could change something about fashion, make it 10 times better, what would you do with it?”

“Join the Fashion Society,” Perderii says, “We do a lot of fun stuff, and we talk about business ideals, so it’s not just about fashion. We talk about statistics, [and] we talk about numbers and math. So if you’re interested in business, also join the Fashion Society!”