Wearing your identity: Ala Mohamed and Jocelyn Pai

University of Iowa students and Walk it Out Multicultural Fashion Show leaders Ala Mohamed and Jocelyn Pai combine East Asian style with their own fashion sensibilities to present a confident but culturally-rich look.

See also: Walk it Out’s hip-hop group discuss black identity and style.

Ala Mohamed

Ala Mohamed calls herself observant. Her wardrobe is based on the styles that have caught her eye over the years: cultural clothing from Sudan, where she was born; fashion spreads in the West Side Story, the student newspaper at her alma mater, Iowa City West High; East Asian fashions sported by Chinese students at the University of Iowa; fashion tips from blogs run by hijabi (Muslim women) and much more.

“I know the whole point is ‘Oh, don’t be a follower; be your own person.’ But sometimes it’s OK to follow someone else, you know?” Mohamed said. “If that person inspires you to do something or be better or try something new, I think it’s a good idea.”

A freshman business and Chinese major at UI, Mohamed is also the head choreographer for the 2018 Walk it Out Fashion Show and vice president of Brand You, a largely Instagram-based fashion and media organization.

Mohamed likes to shop thrift stores like Plato’s Closet, where she used to work, and Goodwill. She gravitates towards Topshop, ASOS, Nikes, Jordans and “simple” garments from Forever 21, such as orange bomber jackets and fishnet bodysuits. She loves black and sports a “street style” while observing Muslim modesty.

“I am always trying to find ways to come back to my culture, a way to [combine] modernized clothing styles with cultural clothing.”

“I try to stay as modest as I can while trying to explore my fashion senses,” she said. “Some people judge you just based on what you wear, or what you have on your head. A lot of people would be like, ‘Oh, she’s dressed like a Muslim.’ But then if I actually express myself with my fashion it becomes, ‘Oh, she’s got style.’”

Mohamed will present a poem at the Walk it Out show, which will focus on worldwide activism. She plans to live in China one day and work in the fashion industry. While at UI, she hopes to see Iowa City fashion better represented on social media, especially cultural fashion.

“It’s very daring,” she said of wearing your identity. “I just want to show people no matter your faith, no matter your background, you always have a home in fashion and fashion can always be there for you.”

Jocelyn Pai

Jocelyn Pai’s friends call her suave, a classification she doesn’t quite accept. She would label her look “tomboy-ish,” “lesbian-ish” and K-pop-inspired — but she sort of gets where the “suave” tag comes from.

“It’s a look and how you act with the clothing you wear, right? I have that trait and portray it very well, I guess,” said the UI senior. “When we go out, I would have a nice shirt, nice pants, nice shoes — head to toe. I take it quite seriously.”

Pai lives for a crisp, button-up shirt. When she has the money to shop — “My style is kind of up there, so I save up money and then go.” — she’ll head to Express or browse Asian retailers online.

“I have a really, classy side, and I’m a hockey player so there’s an athletic side and a comfortable sweatpants side,” she said. “You know how when professional players go to games, they’re all dressed up? Definitely like that. Me being a Leo helps, but we’re so egocentric.”

Pai was born in New York but grew up in Taiwan, where she first started playing hockey (she currently competes with UI’s intramural hockey team). She was drawn to Iowa for the UI biology program, but switched to studying human physiology with a minor in American Sign Language. She plans to return to New York to be closer to family after graduation.

Though Pai adopted some of the chicness of New York City fashion, she said her style was formed while living in Asia. K-p
op is her primary inspiration, though K-pop stars’ skin-tight jeans are not always compatible with a hockey player’s muscular build.

Like her roles in Walk it Out — she’s been a model for the LGBTQ group and is now leader of the East Asian team — Pai’s style doesn’t fit in a single category.

“If you look at the Chinese, Korean or Japanese traditional outfits, they’re glamorous and elegant. When men and women put them on, they’re a different spectrum of beautiful. But I think LGBTQ style is more free. There’s a huge range of fashion in LGBTQ itself. Being a lesbian definitely leans me towards LGBTQ. Look at Ruby Rose — wow. Look at Ellen DeGeneres. Like that.”

“I’m in the middle,” she said.

Emma McClatchey was photographed for a West Side Story fashion spread when she was a junior at West High, and it was the peak of her modeling career. This article was originally published in Little Village issue 240.