For the first time in history, Iowa State’s premier student-run fashion magazine, Trend, welcomes three new editors-in-chief. Emma Hassemer, Reed Barron, and Sarah Paul have been selected as the magazine’s next editors-in-chief for the magazine’s 24th and 25th issues.

Up until this point, Trend has only been led by two editors-in-chief. But the previous editors-in-chief of Trend, Destinie Phomsouvanh and Alisha Humiston, decided that having three editors-in-chief would be better for the organization as whole, as being a Trend editor-in-chief is a full time job

“We chose three editors-in-chief because Alisha and I would have benefited so much from an assistant,” Phomsouvanh said. “We didn’t want to see Sarah, Emma, or Reed go. We were like, ‘hey let’s try something new and it’d be interesting to see what three can do to the magazine.’ They’re all great candidates and we just really wanted to give them the opportunity.”

Emma

Emma Hassemer, a junior journalism major, has participated in Trend since she first came to Iowa State. She first found out about Trend when she saw Trend’s booth displayed at club fest and was immediately drawn to it. Hassemer, being from Illinois, didn’t expect there to be anything fashion related in Iowa, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that Trend existed. She has now participated in multiple different committees of the magazine and has been a director. Emma has always been passionate about beauty and fashion so this role seems to be the perfect fit for her. She looks forward to expanding her leadership capabilities as EIC.

Sarah

Sarah Paul, a junior in Apparel, Merchandising and Design, has also participated in Trend every semester of her college career. She started off as a committee member for ‘Read-to-Wear’ and has since taken on various director roles throughout the magazine. Paul has known she’s wanted to be an editor-in-chief of Trend magazine since she was a freshman so she could have more say about what goes into the magazine. Because she wants to work in magazines in the future, she thought this would be the perfect experience to have under her belt for companies to see how dedicated she was.

Reed

Reed Barron, a senior in Apparel, Merchandising and Design, has been in Trend since last semester and was a committee member on Trend for men. He fell in love with the magazine and the entire process and he really wanted to help take it to the next next level. He was attracted to role of editor-in-chief because of his drive and his desire to grow as a leader and to take himself outside of his comfort zone to take on new responsibilities and he saw Trend EIC as that next step. 

“I really did fall in love with Trend and that entire process and just the magazine, and I want to continue to grow with the magazine and really just take it to the next level in terms of responsibilities and just the influence on the magazine,” Barron said.

For Barron, this role is much more than just a magazine. It also means being able to work with and help grow the next generation of employees going out into the workforce, and that to him is a task that is not taken lightly.

“I’ve always been someone who has really valued the opportunity to grow the next generation of leaders and foster that growth,” Barron said. “So for me, it’s very exciting to be in an influential role where I have the task, of not only putting together a magazine, but also fostering and developing the growth in leaders that will eventually take over and eventually be out there in the real world.”

In terms of change, the three agree that they really want to continue Trend on the path it is on and build off of the changes that the previous editors-in-chief made. But there is minor changes the three want to bring to the magazine. One, is the fact that they are changing the design and photo committees by having committee members apply to be on the committee so that the EICs know that the members really want to participate in those committees. Previously, in those committees, there has been members who don’t care, don’t really want to participate or learn any new skills.

“I don’t think that Trend has ever peaked or will ever peak in the future,” Barron said. “So I want it to keep growing with its creativity, its originality.”

Reed would also like to see mens fashion incorporated into other sections of the magazine, to put riskier styles into the magazine, and to make the magazine more relatable to students in terms of the prices of clothing in the magazine. And Emma also wants to expand Trend further than just Iowa State and for it to be on the radar of other colleges and universities.

All three new editors seem to be thrilled about the change in the number of editors-in-chief. With editor-in-chief of Trend magazine being such a time consuming job, it makes the process easier for the three and helps them to get more things done. The three say that they all work very well together and very effectively. All three are very different in terms of leadership styles, but they are able to put that aside and come together to make the best decisions for the magazine.

“It is also a plus because if two of us don’t agree, there is always a third person to be the peacemaker,” Paul said. 

Barron will only be editor-in-chief until he graduates this Spring in May of 2018. Then Hassemer and Paul will continue on to be EICs until December of 2018. Their magazines will be published at the end of each semester, with online issues coming out monthly on issuu.com.