By Shelisa Melendez

Fashion cannot be explained nor defined; it simply is.

It is the love of fashion that draws thousands of industry executives and celebrities to different cities and countries to watch models walk down a runway sporting the newest trends, all in celebration of a week that revolves around nothing short of just that — fashion.

It is through the love of fashion that one can express his or her innermost personality and convey it to the world without feeling like a product of convention.

It is the love of fashion that causes thousands of editors, photographers, reporters and stylists to get paid a lot less than they probably should for the amount of hours spent in meetings, photo shoots and run thrus.

And it is due to the love of fashion that I decided to start a fashion column at the Kernel.

Three years ago, I decided to share “the love of fashion” with UK’s campus; and despite what you may believe, fashion is incorporated into our everyday lives.

My purpose for Common Thread has always been to share the many different facets within the industry and show that it consists of more than Versace, Louis Vuitton and Prada.

Although major designer labels are responsible for mass amounts of press during fashion week, it is the Targets and H&Ms of the world that are making fashion much more affordable and buzzworthy.

Throughout these three years, Common Thread has addressed the latest in fashion news — from the royal wedding to fashionable sponges that add flare to your kitchen sink.

No matter if you’re from a small town in eastern Kentucky, or a major city like Chicago, fashion is what you want it to be.

Trends come and go each season; eventually making their way back around just a few years later.

But, it is the true fashionista who walks to the beat of her own runway song and creates her own trends.

The greatest trendsetters don’t care what others think when they get dressed in the morning, just ask Betsey Johnson!

As I prepare for graduation and the start of the next chapter in my life (working for a very fashionable company … exciting I know), I hope that in both your remaining years at UK and years to come after, you allow yourself to try new and even old trends.

But I ultimately challenge you to find the common thread in it all.