Cool Girl, Cooler Dreams: The Rise of Haley Burton’s Creative Space
MSU advertising student, Haley Burton, turns classroom creativity into a fashion media brand
By: Sophia Jundy
One thing becomes clear when you meet Haley Burton: her creativity shows up in every corner of her life at MSU.
Burton, a junior at Michigan State University studying advertising management a leads campaigns for VIM Magazine, directs photoshoots for her own media space, Cool Girl Creative, and brings passion and purpose into everything she does.
Burton says she has been interested in the fashion industry for as long as she can remember. With a modeling career in Detroit starting at 16, and eventually developing her own brand, Burton strives to make her big dreams a reality.
“I started to have an understanding of how photo shoots run,” she said. “And I was like, wait, I want to be a creative… I want to bring my own visions to life.”
This realization led her to start the brand Cool Girl Creative: (link here) an online media space where she combines fashion, design and storytelling.
“It’s Cool Girl Creative right now,” Burton said. “It’s currently like a creative media space on Instagram, but I’m looking to make it into a publication. Right now, I’m just kind of doing photo shoots, building out my concepts, and then once those photoshoots are done, I’m going to put those into a magazine spread that I’ll design myself.”
Aesthetics are fun, but for Burton, that’s not all this project is about. She’s passionate about empowerment. Her brand strives to build confidence, skills and a stronger creative identity.
“My whole vision with Cool Girl Creative was to give people an understanding that you can be a multifaceted person and be successful in each realm,” she said. “It’s cool to do many things. You don’t have to limit yourself.”
Burton proves that inspiration doesn’t have to wait until graduation. For MSU students with big ideas and bigger dreams, the time to start creating is now.
Check out some of Burton’s creative endeavors on campus directing photoshoots for VIM magazine (here), where she serves as creative director.
