Sweater Vests as Tank Tops, now officially a CIO, ran its first promotional campaign on the Lawn Wednesday.
The “movement” began halfway across the world in China where third-year Engineering student Shota Ono ran out of laundry and had sweater vests as his only option, Ono recalled. However, Ono said his friends did not approve, and said that wearing only a sweater vest was not appropriate. Ono said he was shocked his friends were so rigid on limitations to fashion and took his campaign to Facebook. After receiving overwhelming support, the group SVATT was born.
SVATT was approved as an official CIO of the University last week, and Wednesday’s Lawn campaign allowed students to come out and tell their story of “Why I SVATT.”
“As a group, we seek to promote fashion confidence, and satirize the homogeneity here at U.Va.,” second-year College student William Slook said. “We want students to be able to express their own fashion preference without any regard to what may be considered as appropriate.”
Joining SVATT is simple, Ono said.
“Our campaign is about making people more independent and not limited to fashion restrictions,” Ono said
SVATT is currently in the process of developing more programs and events. However, members don’t consider SVATT to be a set program, third-year College student Jeremy Kemp said.
“We’re more of an umbrella for individuals who choose to express themselves the way they want to,” Kemp said.
All types of sweater vests for members of SVATT are welcome, Slook said.
“Even the ones with sleeves,” he joked.