Fashion & Jesus

I recently shopped at the Forever 21 store on 14^th Street and Union Square in New York City and as the guy who was cashing me out put my items in the bag I noticed there was a small print on the bottom that simply said John 3:16. Now for those of you who are religious know that is a scripture and its “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life." Now I don’t know about you, but how many retailers do you know of that have stores worldwide that are indirectly spreading the word of God? I’ll wait….

Yeah I can’t come up with any either. Not only are the owners of Forever 21 devout Christians, they give millions back to their church, they encourage their consumers to give back to the environment as well by having them reuse their bags when they shop. Another way Forever 21 brings Jesus and Fashion together is by their new crop tops that have “Jesus <3 Me” on the shirt, most t-shirts that I see in stores like Urban Outfitters and such have tees with a “Jesus is my homeboy” on it with a picture of God but that’s more of a humorous kind of shirt if you as me, but having a shirt with something simple as Jesus Loves me is so powerful! I proudly wore my new crop top with Jesus <3 Me on it today because I am NOT ashamed for everyone to know that I am a Christian and how much God means to me. I only wish my voice was big enough to make an impact or have some meaning to people to let them know the wonders of God’s Love.

Forever 21 was always a favorite store of mine and I have even more of a love for them because I feel like they get what the world is missing, they get that in order to reach the people you have to go to where they are and that’s fashion. We may be in a recession but you better believe Jane and John are still going to go shopping before they pay that Con Ed bill. I personally think the founders of Forever 21 Do Won Chang and his wife Jin Sook Chang had the right idea when it came to spreading the word of God, even though it is something that may go overlooked, may get thrown out after you get your clothes etc, but the message is still there and it will spark curiosity into those who want to know more about Jesus and what John 3:16 means…

Jeremiah 29:11