Chelsi Banks: Trussville Native and Auburn Student Wins Vogue Fashion Competition

By Ameera Steward | For the Birmingham Times

In addition to being a junior at Auburn University and a dedicated member of four Auburn organizations, Chelsi Banks recently became one of two finalists for this year’s American Style x Vogue Magazine competition.

When considering what American style looks like today, Vogue Magazine collaborated with Biz Sherbert, a writer who, in her newsletter American Style, surveys how young people dress. Sherbert found 50 young people, ages 18 to 30, across the country who represent current American style.

After rummaging through submitters’ photos, short videos, and four brief questions, Sherbert met only two in person, one of them being 20-year-old Banks.

“It made me feel a little bit more confident in myself and the trajectory that my career is going in so far, because of course, being a fashion major, there’s obviously a lot of pushback from people that think it’s a little frivolous or not a smart decision,” Banks expressed.

“But I feel like getting recognized by a publication like Vogue for my interest in fashion, it’s really validating, and it makes me silence out the voices…Because…things like this are happening while I’m still in college, imagine all the things that’ll happen after I graduate.”

The Value of Fashion Journalism

Banks, a native of Trussville, said her love for fashion stems from her mother’s hands.

“She sewed a lot of my clothes growing up…and also, she would always watch Project Runway [a design competition reality television series] so I would start watching it with her some days,” Banks said.

Her mother Theresa taught Banks how to sew, and she’s been sewing since the fourth grade. But Banks isn’t looking to launch a career in design.

“Knowing how to sew is really valuable as a fashion writer because if I go to a fashion show and I’m looking at the clothes, I understand the work that went into it while making a critique or telling the audience what’s going on with the garment or how it’s constructed…it’s a really valuable skill,” she explained.

In addition to her mother introducing her to the makeup of a garment, her father Clifford also sparked her interest by teaching her the value of dressing well. She described him as a man who was always dressed in a suit.

Banks attended Hewitt-Trussville Middle School and Hewitt-Trussville High School. She graduated high school in 2024 and then to Auburn University.

“I chose Auburn because I knew I needed to go in-state … and Auburn gave us [Banks and her parents] a really detailed, planned out itinerary of what they could give me and how they would craft journalism and fashion together for me,” Banks said.

She is currently studying apparel merchandising with a minor in journalism, hoping to become a fashion editor after graduating in 2028.

“I always loved to write,” Banks said. “English has always been my favorite subject in school…I like intersecting fashion with everyday life.”

For example, in her latest piece called ‘Beyond Game Day: The Intersection of Sports and Fashion,’ Banks explored the intersection of fashion and sports for Auburn’s fashion magazine Swatch’s online blog, focusing on how dressing for game days is a tradition at institutions like Auburn. She expounded on the subject by exploring the NBA, the players’ tunnel walks, and the coaches’ attire.

“I connected it all with the personality of the sport and the personality of the person, and how fashion connects all of that into one,” Banks said. “I’m interested in writing [pieces]…that make fashion more of something to be thought about [rather] than just clothes that you put on…I want to connect it to everyday life and make it known that fashion is for everybody.”

In addition to being the managing editor of Auburn University’s fashion magazine Swatch, she is also a member of the Apparel and Design Association (AMDA), a member of the Black Student Union (BSU), and on the Lifestyle editing team for the newspaper The Auburn Plainsman.

American Style x Banks

Although Banks has always known fashion and journalism were in her future, it wasn’t until the pandemic, during her 8th-grade year, that she realized she wanted to make a career out of her natural interests.

“I started getting into online fashion spaces, and I got really into modeling,” Banks explained. She noticed there were several modeling group chats on Instagram.

“It was girls around 10 to 14, and we would pretend to be models signed to different agencies. We would have runway tutorials, take digitals, and even submit them to agencies just for fun,” she said. “I started to take leadership roles in them and make people take fashion tests [about brand names and runway shows] before being able to join.”

The online group chats eventually ended, but Banks said that being a leader in the groups boosted her confidence and pushed her to learn all she could about the fashion industry. During this time, she also began subscribing to Vogue magazine, buying vintage magazines online, and buying fashion books.

“I just really wanted to be involved in the industry in any way I could, and the group chats really fueled that,” she said.

Soon, Banks realized she wanted to do more in the fashion industry.

“I realized that I could write and also be in the industry; that’s when I really started getting into fashion journalism,” she said.

She then set her eyes on creating space for herself in the industry. After two years of making strides and a name for herself on Auburn’s campus, Banks saw the American Style x Vogue competition on the Vogue App.

After submitting her application, she went on with her studies and college education. And then, one day in May, while moving out of her dorm for the summer, she got the email.

“It went really fast, but it was such a great experience. It was awesome, and getting to talk with [Sherbert] was probably my favorite part because we have a lot in common, and she has the exact job that I want to have…it’s so surreal,” she said.

Participating and winning the competition made Banks more confident in herself and the trajectory of her career.

As for her American style, Banks draws inspiration from the 1960s, saying it communicates the fact that she loves vintage fashion.

“I just really love the 60s,” she said. “I love everything that it stands for [regarding] all the women’s rights movements at the time, and some of my favorite fashion icons…like Audrey Hepburn, Twiggy, Pattie Boyd, Jane Birkin and Donyale Luna.”

Banks added that she believes there’s a lot of value in standing out and being different because personal style communicates a person’s values in fashion.

“I value fashion as more than just a frivolous subject, and I think that it’s really important that we study art forms like this, especially in a time like now when the arts are being devalued,” Banks expressed.

“I think it’s important that we put an emphasis on all of it because the arts are just as important as STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics] majors and careers, and I think they all hold a lot of value in society. With fashion, I think it holds the most value because everyone puts on an outfit every single day.”

Follow Chelsi Banks on Instagram @chelsibethbanks.