Ding! The familiar Instagram notification banner lights up on Levi King’s phone.
He had recently started a fashion Instagram account and was posting daily outfits of the day with friends, family or just by himself to the latest hit songs.
At first his likes and comments were filled with friends showing their support with fire emojis or other words of encouragement.
But now, now there were other fashion influencers promoting his account and showing their support. He even has become an ambassador for clothing company—AZVA.
This was perfect for him. This was his dream.
Fashion is his form of expression, his art.
With just a shirt and some jewelry, he’s able to encapsulate aspects of himself and shift the way he is perceived.
His account, @fitsbylevi, is his pride and joy. Unlike other fashion accounts, he posts every day, so watching his posts is like looking into his life. Not every outfit may be the most trending fit online, but that’s what makes him so unique.
Being in school, maintaining high grades, playing tennis, and managing his fashion account is a lot, but fashion is what he loves, and it’s always worth the time.
Though there are some who tease him for the account, he could not care less, knowing that he has his supporters and knowing that no one’s opinions about his outfits matter but his own.
It’s been less than two months since he started his account, and he feels nothing but joy watching his account grow and making connections with others who are just as passionate about fashion as he is.
“Art is meant to be taken in,” he says, “but fashion, fashion is meant to be worn.”
And he proves that again today, as he does every day, walking Crockett High School’s brown and gold halls wearing his newest outfit.
Editor’s note: The digital media students wrote 300-word stories that emulated the feature profiles written by Brady Dennis for the St. Petersburg Times in the mid-2000s. Shield co-editor in chief Alice Scott prepared a master class on Dennis’ stories for the newspaper staff, and adviser Dave Winter was so impressed with the lesson that he changed his feature profile assignment based on what Scott taught the staff about Dennis’ stories. As a result, we have a collection of wonderful short profiles—including this fashionable profile of Instagram influencer Levi King—that are well-crafted, powerful and straight from the heart.
