Matteson, Ill. - Illiana Christian High School student Chloe Graham, 16, has created her own fashion magazine because she wants other girls to look at a photo spread and actually see themselves reflected back.
That's not something she found in other magazines like Vogue and Cosmo.
"I would look at the magazine and say yeah, 'I'm not gonna be wearing that bikini. I'm not gonna look like that,'" Graham said.
So she started uStyleu, a magazine that represents teenagers' real beauty, not the latest fashion trends. It's 12 pages and you won't find the hot new handbags or red-bottom shoes. Instead, you'll see clothes that real girls actually wear, representing their own styles.
"It's not what everyone else is wearing," Graham said. "I'm not committed to one style, one look or one genre. Fashion is more than fabric on the skin, it's about loving the skin you're in. That's what's hot."
The high school senior and honor student is the creator, editor and only reporter for uStyleu. She's already interviewed a number of celebrities, including Nikki Giovanni and Common, who told her to always think of herself as an entrepreneur.
Her mother said that since then, she's been working non-stop. She won a contest and used the $200 prize money to create the magazine.
"She's just always been one who wanted to express herself even as a child," said Teresa Graham. "A lot of confidence. She has endured a lot of criticism because she never wanted to look like anybody."
