Many students at Carolina are known for one thing or another. Whether it's a passion for fashion or a need for speed, G&B searches out students for these types of superlatives and more.

Most Likely to Be the Next Alexander McQueen: James Teague

The skull tattoo on his leg isn’t a signification of his allegiance to a cult – well, not in the “blood brother, candles burning, chanting solemnly” sense of the word at least. Instead, it’s a nod to a man whose trajectory he seems soon to follow; it’s an ode to late fashion designer Alexander McQueen.

Fourth-year fashion and retailing student James Matthew Teague is a designer — not just an aspiring designer, but the real deal. The predominantly self-taught James began designing at the age of 17.

 

Last semester, James received much acclaim for Spring 2012 collection, which was featured at USC Fashion Week.

“It was a reflection on the male role in the 17th and 18th centuries,” he says. “I wanted to do something that would empower women as much as men were empowered.”

The collection was of such a quality that it piqued the interest of local retailers and even the judges on the Student Designer Showcase panel. Their encouragement and interest for seeing his work developed further spurred Teague to pursue his passion.

“I would absolutely love to design for someone else,” James says of his future plans, referring to a major fashion house, a path many designers, including McQueen, follow in order to fund their namesake labels. “It’s one of my goals to work under the house of Chanel or McQueen.”

He is currently finishing up work on a collection to show this fall and is already planning for his spring line, sketching designs, working with a team of seamstresses and making plans for garment production. Well on his way to establishing himself and mastering a competitive industry, James Teague is on the rise.

Least Likely to Care about the Five-Second Rule: Joshua Rainwater

When asked if he eats meat, fourth-year media arts student Joshua Rainwater shakes his head as he pops a curly fry into his mouth.

“That just weirds me out, even though I’m eating out of the trash can,” he says.

Welcome to freeganism.

You would think this was just another tactic in a litany of short-term solutions college students employ to save money on food, and while money certainly does play a part, it’s not the end-all for freegans.

“The ultimate enemy is consumerism and waste,” Joshua says of his diet and lifestyle. He abides by the same guidelines as vegans except in the case of food that will inevitably go to waste. For example, if yogurt is being discarded, a vegan would not be able to eat it as it is composed of dairy (the byproduct of an animal), but a freegan can break vegan code to save the yogurt from being wasted.

A “diver” of two years, with no maladies from his dietary habits thus far, Joshua started simply by eating foods his friends weren’t planning on eating. From there, his activities led to “diving,” more or less just pilfering, through Russell House trash cans.

“There are two things about doing this: You can’t be a germaphobe, and you can’t care what people think of you,” says Joshuua, who has no problem rummaging through a trash can while talking to a friend. When asked whom he wouldn’t dive in front of, he says, “Not with my family and not with my girlfriend and probably not a professor — it depends on what’s in the can.”

Most Likely to Get In A One-Car Wreck: Jordan Osborne

Phillipe has served fourth-year visual communications student Jordan Osborne well for six full years.

It’s quite a feat when those six years have included a total of five accidents, one of which involved an unfortunate dumpster incident on Ocean Boulevard while en route to her summer job. Jordan admits that the morning was an early one. Driving in unfamiliar territory, she passed her destination and simply wasn’t paying attention. Turning around went from just veering off the road to hitting the dumpster and popping it up into the air. The accident, or more accurately the incident, as there were actually no other drivers involved, ended up costing about $5,000.

“I’m just bad at driving,” Jordan says. “I’ve been pulled over for speeding four times, I’ve rear-ended a car, sideswiped a car ...” the list goes on. Surprisingly, Phillipe has fared through it all.

Jordan currently serves as the editor-in-chief for Garnet & Black, so it’s not as if keeping her focus is an ongoing problem. But if you ever happen to pass a silver Jeep Commander on campus, keep your eyes peeled and make sure to buckle up.


Think you or a friend could be a superlative in our next issue? Let us know!