Elise Giles and Caro Bush are on a mission to unite college students through garment exchange.
Image via @loop.loyola on Instagram
As recent graduates of Loyola University prominently located in the Rogers Park neighborhood, LOOP founders - and fellow fashion lovers - Elise Giles and Caro Bush feel drawn to cultivate positive change within the university community.
After years of facing the frustrations that come with the fashion industry - namely the increase of fast fashion brands and the decrease of quality clothing - the pair decided to take matters into their own hands; hence the creation of LOOP at Loyola.
"In the realms of sustainable fashion and design you'll hear the phrase 'close the loop' a lot. It refers to challenging the traditional design framework (create, use, dispose) and instead finding ways to make the lifecycle of an item more circular (create, use, reuse or repurpose)," Giles wrote in an email. "To me, secondhand shopping is the only way fashion can be sustainable."
Giles and Bush hope that LOOP not only encourages Loyola students to develop more conscious shopping habits, but also acts as a space for them to come together through a shared passion for fashion.
"College campuses are an incubator for style, creativity, and community - which is exactly what we want LOOP to be," Giles wrote. "Fashion is such an awesome way to express yourself. I think about secondhand shopping as a love language of sorts. When someone purchases an item you love but are ready to part ways with, you've already formed a bond because you love the same piece of clothing. So meeting up to exchange your item should be a great opportunity to make a new friend or just appreciate the fact that you both have similar taste."
By allowing students within the Loyola community to shop and sell their gently used clothing amongst each other, LOOP cultivates a greater sense of awareness and intentionality behind the clothing purchases we choose to make.
"Loyola is full of creative, awesome, and kind students who just need more opportunities to connect, " Giles wrote in conclusion. "So I hope they're able to do so over a vintage graphic tee, a brightly colored knit sweater, or a fressssshhh pair of sneakers."
Interested in learning more on how to buy and sell clothes on LOOP? Check them out on Instagram @loop.loyola
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