Fashions may come and go but UQ Journalism/Economics graduate Madeline Veenstra hopes she may be able to keep the trends alive in the online world.
Ms Veenstra, whose passion for fashion stems from working as a retail sales assistant while completing her degree, has created Wikifashion – a site containing information about style icons, blogs, fashion shows, brands, writers and models.
“I created Wikifashion so that there would be a place on the Internet to collaborate and compile images, information and videos about fashion and I really loved the idea of creating a site that others could edit and contribute to,” Ms Veenstra said.
“The fantastic thing about the site is that it can include anything that the users want it to, provided it has something to do with fashion.
“The site also has pages for specific garments, users have edited these pages to include images of the garment, colourways, size, price, material and fit.
“So for example if you were to come across a dress that you liked, you could search for it on Wikifashion and it would have its own page.”
Ms Veenstra has big ambitions for Wikifashion, with hopes that it becomes a picture-intense Wikipedia-like resource.
However, the success of the database is dependent on the quality of the content, and Ms Vennstra is calling upon all fashion lovers to contribute to the site.
“We'd like for it to be a depository of clothing images,” she said.
“I'd also like to continue building a solid community around the site, so that it can become the best source of fashion information on the web.
“If there is anyone that enjoys fashion and writing or feels that they could contribute to the site in anyway, that would be fantastic.”
After graduating in 2008, Ms Veenstra began working as an economist for the Government, but is now working full-time on developing Wikifashion.
In the future, she hopes to continue building Wikifashion and possibly dabble in freelance fashion journalism.
If you would like to contribute to the site, please visit wikifashion.com.
Ms Veenstra is one of the 181,000 alumni who have graduated from The University of Queensland in its first 100 years.
Media: Penny Robinson at UQ Communications (07 3365 9723, penny.robinson@uq.edu.au)
