Letter from the Editor

Photograph by Jessica Nunn

Entering my third year with Concrete Catwalk marks the beginning of a new chapter as Editor-in-Chief. When I first joined, as a clueless second year who had given much more thought to biweekly 601 nights out than extracurriculars, I found myself desperately searching for a way to get more involved in St Andrews’ bustling society scene. Concrete Catwalk, with its enticing mission of documenting the town’s most stylish, seemed like the perfect place to start, given my passion for journalism and everything fashion-related.

Each month, I poured my creative juices into flowery blog entries, bringing my writing and vision to life through photoshoots –usually after roping in my friends as impromptu models. More than a creative outlet, it became a way for me to really look around and notice how wider fashion trends trickle down into the small coastal Scottish town we call home. Something in my anthropologically coded brain became addicted.

During this time, my fashion also evolved: from the boring uniform of a slightly insecure and timid girl, I began to branch out. I became more confident in my outfits, experimenting with different styles, colours and silhouettes, inspired by the creativity of those around me.

I think this is the beauty of St Andrews’ fashion scene, which Concrete Catwalk perfectly captures: it’s fun, it’s eclectic, it’s experimental. People enjoy dressing up to express themselves, to try out new things, to look and feel their best versions. If the infamous Bubble is known for something, it’s a good and diverse fashion sense. And from the glam of black-tie balls, to the boho style of music events, to everyday streetwear, Concrete Catwalk documents it all. After all, the streets of this town are indeed concrete, or rather cobbled, catwalks.

And over the years, they’ve seen a myriad of outfits. The world of fashion is one in constant change, and I think this is what our organisation best captures. While luxury fashion houses are being overturned and creative directors impose their new visions of the world, St Andrews is no spectator. The town’s streets offer a showcase of latest trends, reinvented and reworked to fit the personal styles of the unique student mix that inhabits them.

I am excited to document just this: change and evolution. Especially in fashion, looking back at the past is the best way to move forward, so for this year’s theme we’ve decided to go back to roots of Concrete Catwalk, evolving its foundational concept further.

“Concrete” is a mixture of stone, sand, cement and water but also defines something that is real. Our focus will be to capture St Andrews’ fashion by placing its building blocks at the forefront, showcasing the importance of materials within the clothes that we wear but also as external elements that influence style. We want to explore materiality as a way of understanding fashion, with the town as a living presence within this vision.

I am excited to work with this year’s executive team as well as an amazing team of writers to continue to expand Concrete Catwalk. Following in Jackie’s footsteps, I want to shape the blog into a space that documents the intermingling of local character and global influences, while also leaving room for personal style and experimentation.

As Blair Waldorf rightly pointed out in one of her many iconic Gossip Girl one-liners:“fashion…shows the world who we are and who we'd like to be". And I believe Concrete Catwalk to be the ultimate embodiment of this powerful message. Watch this space!