Fashion is and remains an international preoccupation today. Millions are invested every year: from manufacturing plants, wholesale, retail, stores, fabric industries, media, magazines, online website, blogs, to customers. If we stopped purchasing and stuck to the strict minimum, it'd be an industrial catastrophe and affect our society. Fashion seems to run completely contrary to democracy, where all the citizens supposedly have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives; this is not because of the fashion industry itself, but due to mass media. The media has covered fashion as long as we can remember (not always as we'd like them to); but it's really easy to forget that mainstream media is not the only source for fashion. Due to a lack of funding and exposure, gifted designers are continually squeezed by established designers and big fashion houses. At Okayafrica, we strive to defend individuality and "fashion freedom" and encourage our readers to look beyond the end of their noses. Let's reverse the exposure, emerging designers vs. mainstream!