Albion Fashion: Drawing Out the Drip

Students’ trending Instagram feed features a running display of self-expression through sartorial fire and ice.

September 16, 2021

By Jake Weber

Albion College Drip on Instagram, as shown on a student’s mobile phone.

If you’re over 30, you may be working with an outdated definition of “drip,” says Irene Corona-Avila, ’22. “It’s like fire and ice—your clothes are the fire, but your accessories are the ice. Someone may say, ‘You have an icy watch,’” she explains. “When fire and ice get together, the ice heats up. That’s when you see the drip.”

If this definition is still a bit confusing, a scroll through the Albion College Drip makes things a lot clearer. The Instagram gathering spot attracts hundreds of “Drippers” each week, checking out photos of students sharing their own “fire and ice” sense of style. From pearl earrings and silk ties to custom-made sneakers and T-shirts, Albion College Drip brings out Albion’s diversity through fashion.

Current Drip owner Corona-Avila notes that Drip founder Wisdom Morris, ’21, saw the Drip as a way to bring students together, even as COVID-19 pulled them apart. Morris chose a successor to run the page and maintain Drip culture, and the successor will choose another student to run the page after they graduate from Albion.

“Drip is very inclusive of every sense of style. It’s a way that people can be involved on campus, even when they can’t go to club meetings or join a certain group,” Corona-Avila says. “Drip is about self-expression. People like to see how other people express themselves. They’re inspired by what they see.”

Nearly 1,000 students and young alumni currently follow the Drip feed, which usually consists of three photos of Drippers posted each week by Corona-Avila. A “Dripper of the Week” is chosen by popular vote, and the winner is added to the “Look Book” created each semester.

What makes a winner? Corona-Avila insists it’s not the labels.

“It’s not about where you get your clothes or how much they’re worth,” she says. “It’s about: ‘Can you put them all together? Can you match, and can you express yourself so that we know that’s who you are?’”

And while Corona-Avila is currently the only person working on the Instagram feed, she has her eye on the future. Growing the number of followers is well underway, and she hopes to bring in photographers who might use the Drip as a way to find portrait and commission work.

But mostly, she’s focused on the style, the fashion, the “fire and ice.”

“Even if you’re not sure you have drip, send your photo, because we look at everything,” she says. “There’s no right or wrong answer when it comes to yourself. This is a place where you can show it.”