The Eye, the Columbia Daily Spectator’s weekly features and arts magazine, celebrates its 100th issue today — and in celebration, they decided to ask various figures around campus about the state of journalism at Columbia University. They asked me to contribute a piece, and they were also awesome enough to include an embarrassing illustration of myself (see above). Thank you, Helen and Devin!

Anyway, I really loved reading what all the other campus journalists had to say. Makes me love my school even more. Happy 100th!

College Catwalk: Hoot Magazine and the print debut of Columbia’s fashion scene
by Noel Duan, CC ‘13, co-founder and editor in chief of Hoot, founder of Miss Couturable, style blog

Miss Couturable arguably represented the future of fashion writing: A high school student starts a blog and generates a worldwide following. So why did you start a Columbia-specific fashion magazine catering to a more limited audience?

I started fashion blogging in high school, since no one at my Silicon Valley high school was as serious about fashion as I was, and I wanted to connect with fashion enthusiasts around the world who shared my undying love for the sartorial. It was great—I made friends and connections with people who worked in the fashion industry or who just loved art and fashion, which would not have happened without the Internet.

However, when I arrived at Columbia in my first year, I started to meet a lot of students who, like me, read fashion magazines as frequently as, or maybe more frequently than, they read Lit Hum books. I realized that I didn’t need to write a fashion blog in order to engage with fashion-savvy individuals anymore—they were right on campus with me.

I mean, sure, Hoot serves a “limited” audience, but a powerful one, nonetheless. After doing some research, I found out that Columbia alumnae in the fashion industry include Cecilia Dean, BC ’91, founder and editor of Visionaire magazine, to Kelly Killoren Bensimon, GS ’98, former editor of ELLE Accessories magazine, to Cameron Russell GS ’10, model and entrepreneur, to Tina Chai, another CC alum and freelance stylist for brands such as Thakoon. Hoot co-founder and Beauty and Health Director, Jina Lim, and I wanted to bring the fashion community of our school together—and what better way to do this than to work on a collective project such as a fashion publication?

A lot of other colleges and universities, like UC Berkeley and Northwestern, have established fashion magazines, so it only makes sense that Columbia should have one too. Hoot is unique because of the resources that New York City offers; we work with and learn from experienced professionals, book celebrities for our photo shoots, and borrow clothing samples from the same showrooms as major fashion magazines. Hoot educates students about the nuances of fashion publishing, from learning how to properly steam designer clothes at photo shoots, to interviewing fashion designers, to dealing with demanding public relations officers—that’s something that not many campus publications can offer.

That said, I’m always going to love blogging, but blogging is more personal to me. Hoot is a collaborative project for Columbia, by Columbia.

Also this makes me even more excited for Hoot’s Fall 2010 issue, launching in just a few more days.