Every Monday since freshman year, junior Liyana Bhaiji, Stitched Public Relations and Writing Editor, stepped into Room 1121 to work on South’s fashion photography magazine with her friends. The magazine emphasizes not only collaboration, but that students should feel comfortable wearing clothes that might be out of their comfort zone, Amie Elliott, Photography Teacher and Stitched Sponsor, said.

Stitched focuses on displaying a wide variety of fashion, aiming to help students branch out with the clothes they wear, Elliott explained. The magazine’s members work together to create one booklet biannually that portrays numerous ideas through carefully curated outfits.

When it was launched, Stitched was minimal in comparison to the way it is today, Elliott said. The magazine was smaller with simpler ideas, but it now includes many different aspects of fashion. Stitched takes into consideration the location, makeup, and hair of the photoshoots, Elliott explained.

“We started with [just a] few kids, [Stitched] was very small,” Elliot said. “Members started to challenge themselves more and take pictures in different locations. Some people really liked the idea of high fashion, and some people just wanted to be pretty.”

Over the years, Stitched’s concepts have advanced and evolved. Instead of just focusing on one aspect of fashion, the magazine has featured out-of-the-box photoshoots, Bhaiji said. Bhaiji draws from multiple sources of inspiration to cultivate a photoshoot idea, she added.

“My inspiration for my Stitched shoots usually come from one Pinterest photo and then I’ll go digging and I’ll end up in fashion magazines like Vogue, or someone’s Instagram page,” Bhaiji said. “I’ll put it all in together and have others build off of it with things that they’ve seen.”

One of Bhaiji’s favorite shoots she has done, “Pretty in Possible” from Volume VIII, Spring issue of 2023, involved many different concepts to catch the viewer’s eye. The shoot took into consideration junior Isabel Arranz’s hair, clothes, and makeup.

“As the lighting hit her from varying angles, it drew focus to Arranz’s different features,” Bhaiji said.

After creating their photoshoots, students gain a newfound confidence in their creativity, Bhaiji said.

“Once you get involved in the shoot, you realize that there are so many ideas inside of your head,” Bhaiji said. “It just takes one thing to unlock them.”