Haus of Style, a fashion club at the University of Arizona, recently underwent an entire rebrand in an effort to combine their love for fashion with giving back to the Tucson community..
“All we want to do is just spread happiness and joy throughout Tucson,” said Haus of Style President Julia Gray.
At their weekly meetings, students gather to complete a project aimed at doing just that. Their most recent project was decorating tote bags.
“We are actually going to be donating them to a local food bank, so that they can use them as grocery bags,” Gray said.
These small acts of kindness are something they hope will have a big impact on the community.
Tori Ziegler, who is the assistant to the president said, “It’s uplifting and it doesn’t necessarily have to be something you pour money into just to make people happy.”
Club member, Ainsley Wells agrees, saying, “To be able to help people feel good and have fun – it’s just really great.”
Gray came up with the idea of “fashion for philanthropy” while on winter break. The club had already existed, but had been centered around portfolio building for its members. As president, Gray realized the club was not serving members in the best way possible which led to the rebrand.
Club members hosted a pop-up shop to sell their old clothes and raise money to get things rolling.
“We used that money to buy more materials, just so that we could give back,” Gray said.
One of their first projects was making blankets for animals at the Humane Society of Southern Arizona.
“I know they were very happy to receive those,” Gray said. “It’s just so cute watching the animals lay on the blankets that you decorated.”
The club hopes to continue to grow and give back to Tucson, in a fashion-forward way.
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Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She has lived in Arizona her entire life and grew up in Douglas. Madison is thrilled to share the stories from the community she grew up in. Share your story ideas and important issues with Madison by emailing madison.thomas@kgun9.com or by connecting on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook.
