The time for a new and historic president has arrived: a time filled with change, hope and the promise that the people’s voice will be heard and respected by the country’s new leader, Barack Obama. These sentiments and attitudes are increasingly reflected in different parts of American culture including film, music, literature and even fashion, an industry known for its exclusivity and “holier-than-thou” ability to deem something “chic,” “in vogue” or “stylish”. This world shapes the opinion of young girls who may love an excessively long pearl necklace they’ve recently purchased but a week later decide never to wear again because a short, turquoise choker is now “in”. In a realm that is constantly changing what is “hot or not,” it is difficult to claim whether fashion companies truly echo what consumers want or whether they decide it for them.

Fortunately, this new period of change has affected the fashion community starting with American Apparel Inc., the largest clothing manufacturer in the United States. Based in downtown Los Angeles, Calif., American Apparel Inc. is one of the few U.S. companies exporting “Made in the USA” goods. In 2007, the company sold about a quarter of a million dollars of domestically manufactured clothing outside of America. This vertically integrated notion of “working within the company” explains the natural impulse to ask loyal, fashion-loving customers such as Melissa Atmadja ’09 to model for the company’s new fashion blog social network based in San Francisco, Chictopia.com. Melissa, a California native, was recommended to American Apparel by the CEO of Chictopia, Helen Zhu, as a result of Atmadja’s personal fashion blog, “Sex and Coffee,” which receives hundreds of visits a day and totaled about 30,000 page views last month.

Due to her active participation in Chictopia, Melissa was considered by American Apparel to be an up-and-coming fashion influence. Over winter break, Atmadja officially became a part of American Apparel Inc. by joining its new ad campaign, which features members of Chictopia.com modeling the company’s clothes. Started last April, Chictopia.com has become the biggest fashion social network in the U.S. with over 20,000 fashion bloggers, and American Apparel is the first major clothing brand to find its models by searching fashion network blogs. An active participant at Chictopia, Atmadja selected her own outfits, choosing clothes from both American Apparel and the company’s vintage line, California Select. “I felt like a kid in a candy store going through all of the racks and racks of amazing vintage clothing and pairing them with a variety of different AA basics,” said Atmadja. “After a few hours of shooting, I was able to take a tour of the humongous factory and really understand what vertical integration means. Everything from fabric creation to the CEO’s office is contained within one building. It was a really great experience, and I still can’t believe it all happened even when I see the ad!”

The ad campaigns are now running on Chictopia’s website alongside links to Melissa’s and the other model’s fashion blogs. “It’s the future of fashion, where style is set for the people, by the people,” said Chictopia CEO Helen Zhu. “There will always be value to runway models and glossy prints, but people most often look to real trendsetters amongst their community for fashion inspiration. Some of Chictopia’s trendsetters have over one thousand fans watching their daily style blogs, and our site receives over four million page views per month from fashion enthusiasts. We are happy to be working with American Apparel, a leader in recognizing the value of true fashion influencers.”

This new brand of advertising bulldozes traditional media fashion and beauty standards, giving girls interested in modeling a way to make an impossible dream come true and appreciating an individual’s personal style. So far, this kind of change is good.