UO Short Stories

We meet up with four inspiring creatives in New York City to discuss career journeys, when they feel the most fulfilled and the evolution of their styles. Meet Eva, Imani, Simone and Lauren: these are their Short Stories.

Eva: "I started dancing when I was six or seven, and my mom put me in ballet class. I knew when I was 11 that it would be what I wanted to do for my profession. I think the most rewarding thing about dance is the feeling that you have, because most of the time, 90% of it is dancing and the work and only a little bit of is the performance. So, you really have to love the work and the feeling that it gives you."

"I think what's nice about dance is that it's a universal language. So, if I'm in Paris, if I'm in London, if I'm in LA, you just go find the dance studio and you can be with a new teacher and different dancers. And everyone's talking in the same language."

Imani: "The thing I love about New York is that you never know what the day will bring. Every day is a surprise."

"I collect a lot of inspiration for when I get dressed, whether it be from movies and films or just walking around New York. Whenever I'm getting dressed, I'm constantly trying to check off these lists in my mind of different combinations to try, different color combos that I didn't think of. It can be anything."

"One thing that I remember when I'm feeling insecure is that everyone's so caught up in their own stuff that they're not thinking about you. So just do what you want."

Simone: "I've been singing since I can remember, but I've recently started making music. About two years ago, I started taking a production class and I've just been teaching myself. I'm usually inspired to write a song when I'm feeling very emotional about something. It could either be super happy or super angry or sad, heartbreak is definitely something that inspires me."

"When I'm getting dressed in the morning, my style really just depends on my mood. Oftentimes, I'll pick a character to be for the day and then I'll just open my closet, stare at all of my clothes and something randomly calls to me. Then I just choose the rest of my outfit based off of that character and that one piece that I chose."

Lauren: "The plus-size fashion industry has always been here. We've always had models. We've always had designers. We've always had our own publications. I think that what's happened in the past 10 years that is history-making, is that it has broken through the mainstream. And not only has it done that, it has become part of the fiber of mainstream fashion. It's very normal for a supermodel to be above a size two. It's normal for a major clothing brand to have an extended or plus-size range. It's so important."

"When do I feel the most powerful? I feel the most powerful when I see women wearing my clothes and I know they feel powerful and I know they've been missing that. And I know that that piece of clothing helped them level up that day in some way."

"My summer style is very this. I wear denim shorts every day. I love a mid thigh or knee length short right now a stiff vintage kind of inspired looking denim. I wear a button down almost every day. I get crazy if I want to do a Hawaiian short sleeve one."