Student Erica Lim’s photography project captures different styles of clothing from people all over the world

By: Mariana Schuetze

Over the summer, Erica Lim, a third-year business student at McMaster University, started working on an exciting fashion project. Soon after, she went on exchange in Amsterdam, and the newest FILMEDFITS volumes came to life.

Lim was born in Malaysia and moved to Canada at the beginning of 2021 to study. Coming from Malaysia, Lim was used to a much more closed-minded approach to fashion, where people usually dress in a much simpler way. Here, Lim found herself in a very creative fashion environment that saw people proudly expressing themselves through clothing.

During this summer, Lim spent four months working and living in Toronto. There, she noticed that people dress up a lot more to do seemingly boring errands. The way Toronto residents express their fashion daily inspired Lim to further explore her self-expression through clothing.

 “I just started wearing things that I maybe wouldn’t have worn back home,” Lim told CanCulture. “I’ve gained confidence coming to Toronto. I was inspired by it.”

Living in Toronto for the summer also motivated Lim to start FILMEDFITS. Drawing inspiration from the fashion ecology around her, Lim decided to “start this thing where I would go around and ask people to take a picture of their outfits. Just like a collection kind-of-thing,” she said.

These are a few of Lim’s favourite snapshots from her first FILMEDFITS volume from her summer in Toronto in 2022. (FILMEDFITS/Erica Lim) (Copy)

The pictures for FILMEDFITS, as the name suggests, are all done on a Kodak film camera. “Photography isn’t the main thing I do,” Lim said. She wasn’t a photographer before this project, “it just so happened that I got myself a film camera to capture the moments from my summer, and it then turned into this.”

Lim’s relationship with fashion – her curiosity about what people are wearing – is behind the birth of this project. As a business and marketing student, Lim’s interested in the logistical side of the industry, ”how certain brands get to become so huge all of a sudden.”

Being in business school also functioned as a different kind of inspiration for Lim. “They don’t really offer a lot of opportunities in the creative realm,” she said. With this project, however, Lim used what she learned in school to further her creative endeavour.

“The most important thing I learned was just to approach people, approach companies,” she said about lessons learned in her studies at McMaster. “You never know what they are going to say.”

The biggest challenge for Lim on this project was overcoming her anxiety when it came to approaching people on the street. She still feels like she sometimes misses many opportunities when she is too scared to approach strangers in the street.  

“It’s been nerve-wracking, especially since I would consider myself pretty introverted,” Lim said. “For me to go up to a stranger and ask: ‘Can I take a picture of you?’ That’s pretty out of my comfort zone.” 

But so far, Lim has only had great responses from her sources.

“I think nine out of ten times, everyone’s been so happy to do it,” she added. Most people feel pretty flattered by Lim when she asks them if she can capture their outfits for her project, she said.

As for her favourite part of all of this: the conversations. One time, Lim approached two girls in Montreal and asked for a picture of their outfits. “They just got so excited. And I got excited too.”

Sometimes these “short and sweet” picture moments grow into something much more special for Lim. “This happens almost all the time,” Lim said. “They ask what [the project] is for, and then you tell them, and it sparks a conversation on our similar interests.”

Initially, Lim was planning on only taking pictures of people in Toronto and possibly Montreal. But soon after she started FILMEDFITS, Lim got the opportunity to study in Amsterdam for an exchange program. 

There, and all over Europe, she captured an even greater range of styles.

Sometimes these “short and sweet” picture moments grow into something much more special for Lim

“During my exchange abroad, I get to travel to different cities. My idea is to try and go to a new city and take the opportunity to take pictures of people. I can have different volumes and different series of what people wear in this city and what people wear in this other city.”

Recently, Lim was in Greece on a trip with friends. She wasn’t planning on producing a FILMEDFITS volume there but she says she couldn’t resist.

 “I didn’t think of, you know, pulling my camera out and asking people randomly for pictures because I was with people,” she said. “But I just saw so many opportunities; I just couldn’t help myself. So when my friends were having dinner, I just snuck out of the restaurant for a bit and quickly took a few pictures.”

Now, these Greece pictures have turned into the newest FILMEDFITS volume: “VOL III. SANTORINI.” (Copy)

Lim is still studying in Amsterdam and working towards putting out more FILMEDFITS volumes of other places she’s travelled to. Her Instagram page includes pictures of every volume, showcasing special moments from her life and projects.