CUNY Outfits: Anonymous Student Rising to Fashion Fame
Words by: Haileny P Carvalho
Image by: @CUNYOutfits Instagram
New York, NY
Last May, a twenty three-year-old college student from Baruch came up with an idea that turned into something bigger than he could have imagined. The student who asked to remain anonymous, created a fashion instagram page called “BaruchOutfits” —a fashion page he decided to create randomly one day at school.
“I had just gotten out of Spanish class and the idea came up in my head. I thought, ‘what if I created a fashion page and posted students and their outfits?’ That was a Thursday and by Monday the page was created” he said.
The Instagram account took a surprising turn in popularity, and in two months the account had already gained one thousand followers and many interactions. One user commented, “This is amazing. We love to see Baruch students succeeding.” Another wrote, “The most amazing group of people right here, CunyOutfits till the day I die.”
After amassing a huge following, the anonymous curator decided to upgrade the name “BaruchOutfits” to “CunyOutfits,” in hopes that the number would keep growing.
“Once I hit a thousand followers I decided to change it because many accounts created by Baruch students never went above 1K. So I wanted to come up with a way to upgrade my page and fast, which is what led me to expand beyond the Baruch community,” he said. “That’s how CunyOutfits was created.”
The creator of CunyOutfits comes from a Puertorican-Italian background. He majors in international marketing with a minor in communications. Born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx, he remembers never caring about fashion growing up, but rather taking an interest in science. He discovered a passion for the arts four years ago, when he found himself stuck at home during the pandemic during his freshman year in college.
“I was obnoxious, I used to say things like, ‘I don’t care about fashion’” he chuckled.
Trying to keep himself occupied during this sudden change in the world, he developed an interest in painting. He began to use old cardboard boxes as canvases and paint from Michael’s to create paintings that now hang on his bedroom walls.
“When I graduated from high-school, I started getting into art, film, and painting. And over-time I began to grow more and more artistic,” he said. “I always knew I was a creative person, so I wanted to explore my creative side in art.”
A popular instagram page that he looks up to is @Hidden.NY. He first found out about this account through an old friend back in 2020. The two immediately became captivated by its content and it became their fashion role model. He continues to look up to @Hidden.NY for inspiration, and hopes CunyOutfits can achieve the same success.
“The whole idea behind Cunyoutfits is to build a community for kids. I want it to be a place for inspiration and confidence. It’s why I choose to remain anonymous,” he said. Occasionally he runs into people that have heard that he's the creator of the account and ask him if it’s true.
“Some people know who I am, and it’s hard to hide it when they ask. Ultimately, I don’t say no, but I don’t want the attention focused on myself. I want it to be focused on building a community.”
The creator of CunyOutfits is the only person signed into the account, though he has a team that helps him run the account which consists of stylists, graphic designers, photographers and journalists. He also works with small clothing brands and partners with students who are aspiring models. The photographers and journalists rotate frequently to allow different people to showcase their creative taste. The anonymous curator decides on the photographers and journalists for each project based on their aesthetic and artistic direction.
In five years he hopes to continue to run the page, not as a hobby but as a career. One of his goals is to create merchandise for CunyOutfits that isn't trademarked, and for the content to be rooted in the larger NYC fashion world.
“I actually am planning a small merch drop that’ll look like CUNY merch, but instead of saying CUNY it’ll say ‘c—t’,” he said.
He also hopes that his Instagram page continues to grow and inspires confidence in people to express themselves.
“I have had people message me and express the inspiration the page has given them and telling me to keep it up. That’s always been the goal, and I hope that it continues to do that for others.”
If you would like to keep up with @CunyOutfits follow them on Instagram, and DM for personal inquiries.
