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"  Photo: Youngjun Koo As the fashion director of STYLEBOP.com, an online hub whose daily new arrivals include laser-cut Cavalli blazers and Jil Sander Mary Janes, Iranian-born Leila Yavari has to be on the cutting edge of style. But a decade ago, the 35-year-old former model was one dissertation shy of earning her doctorate in political science from UC Berkeley. What if she had stuck with academia? Here, Yavari engages former classmate, George Ciccariello-Maher, now an assistant professor at Drexel, on the road not taken. To hear more from Yavari\u2014including the polymath&amp;#039;s favorite films and long reads\u2014visit ELLE.com all month long. Related: Jennifer Meyer Gave Me a Crash Course in Entrepreneurialism We went to school together almost 10 years ago. Did you know I was modeling? Do you think people judged me? I knew\u2014especially at the end. But I was fascinated with the fashion industry. There was probably more jealousy than judgment but that&amp;#039;s because we were a group of political theorists who were kind of wild and crazy\u2026 And free thinking\u2026 Certainly free thinking. Among political scientists modeling was not taken seriously. And perhaps this gets back to some of the debates about fashion. And maybe back to some of the platitudes about fashion as a source of repression? Sure, you&amp;#039;ve got a whole series of one-dimensional approaches to fashion. One is the more liberal celebration of fashion as the expression of individualism, or the celebration of the freedom to engage in fashion such as the unveiling of women in Afghanistan. In this way, fashion is trotted out to support the pro-humanitarian agenda. Related: Shiza Shahid&amp;#039;s Top 10 Inspirational Women Similar to the case you were telling me about girls in Illinois who fought for the right to wear leggings\u2026 Yes. Essentially you had a school district that attempted to forbid young girls from wearing leggings because it was considered to be too distracting for the boys. Very spontaneously, these middle schoolers began protesting. On the surface, it&amp;#039;s about an individual&amp;#039;s right to wear whatever clothing they like as a matter of self-expression. But it was a resistance against the school&amp;#039;s attempt to control women&amp;#039;s bodies. You begin to see the complexity of the way fashion plays out in our society. Thanks for getting deep with me, George. But do you think mules are making a comeback?  (...Silence...)  George?  (...continued silence...) "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/fashion/news/a24786/leila-yavari-june-guest-blogger-interview/>