Noel Duan

    28 Feb 2012

    “

    One day I happened to be in Lerner Piano Lounge passively eavesdropping on a meeting for Hoot magazine. There she was, decked out in fur coat, head full of curls:

    “Some models have been saying that they’re not getting their schedules in time. Guys, you really need to make sure you email models their photoshoot information the second it is confirmed — their time is as valuable as yours, and we cannot have them missing shoots.” A group of impeccably dressed girls nodded, diligently taking notes. I looked over and smirked; yup, there she was, Anna Wintour in the making.

    ”
    — What my friend wrote about me. I’m embarrassed by myself.
    Tags: hoot magazine.

    28 Dec 2011

    Hoot Magazine Fall/Winter 2011

    Like a proud mama bird, I am pleased to announce (with much delay) the release of the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of Hoot, Columbia University/Barnard College’s fashion magazine! It’s been out for about a month, but I’ve barely had time to flip through it myself. I am no longer involved with the campus publication, but I was the co-founder and editor in chief for two years, and I am so happy to see that it is thriving and still making great strides as a college publication. Not only is the beautiful Kelsey Chow, a current Columbia student on leave and Disney star, the cover star, but also Cathy Horyn of The New York Times (and Barnard alumna) contributed an exclusive piece on what it takes to make it in fashion journalism nowadays. Click here to read.
    I have twinges of sadness when I really miss working on Hoot because this magazine really was my life for the first half of college, but I consider its growth and development to be proof of how extraordinary Columbia students and alumni are, both in and out of the classroom.

    20 Oct 2011

    Kem Walker is now a signed professional model, but earlier this year, he was just another stylish, good-looking, talented, and smart Columbia student that we shot for Hoot, Columbia University’s fashion magazine. See that? Since I co-founded the publication and served as editor in chief for two years, several of the students we featured in the magazine have become signed professional models. And I’m super, super, super proud of my entire staff for discovering Columbia’s beautiful faces before the rest of the world did. Who says we’re just students? I am so lucky to be surrounded by extraordinary people.

    Kem Walker is now a signed professional model, but earlier this year, he was just another stylish, good-looking, talented, and smart Columbia student that we shot for Hoot, Columbia University’s fashion magazine.

    See that? Since I co-founded the publication and served as editor in chief for two years, several of the students we featured in the magazine have become signed professional models. And I’m super, super, super proud of my entire staff for discovering Columbia’s beautiful faces before the rest of the world did. Who says we’re just students? I am so lucky to be surrounded by extraordinary people.

    1 Oct 2011

    My friends threw me a surprise party that I was early to. And that they were late to. Typical. Last week, I resigned in all capacities from Hoot, the Columbia fashion magazine I co-founded. It was unexpected for me, because Hoot had been my baby for the past two years of college, but I just knew it was time to leave. See, I’ve been involved with the publication since orientation week of my freshman year, when my friend and I were joking around about starting a campus fashion magazine. You know how when you first start college, you feel like you’re on top of the world? You feel like you can do anything: graduate magna cum laude, get a great summer internship, impress everyone in the 20 clubs you join, and make lots of friends without gaining the freshman 15? Ha. Well, Hoot was born out of that naive energy that only first-years have when they still think the dining hall food is edible just because there’s an omelet station. Before most of those first-years have become jaded. So, tonight, my friend, the current and new editor in chief, invited me to her suite for dinner. I thought it would just be the two of us, and I didn’t even bother changing out of the yoga clothes I had worn in the morning. Turned out, the Hoot editors threw me a party with Ladurée macarons, cupcakes and prosecco. So, there I was, in sweaty gym clothes and Burberry rainboots, as my friends beamed at me in their fancy cocktail dresses and sky-high platform heels. And there I was, stuck waiting half an hour in the hallway because I was early to my own surprise party, and most of the editors had not arrived yet. “Let’s take pictures!” they exclaimed, as I shrunk away from the camera. I’m going to look back on this in two years and bawl my eyes out.

    My friends threw me a surprise party that I was early to. And that they were late to. Typical.

    Last week, I resigned in all capacities from Hoot, the Columbia fashion magazine I co-founded. It was unexpected for me, because Hoot had been my baby for the past two years of college, but I just knew it was time to leave.

    See, I’ve been involved with the publication since orientation week of my freshman year, when my friend and I were joking around about starting a campus fashion magazine. You know how when you first start college, you feel like you’re on top of the world? You feel like you can do anything: graduate magna cum laude, get a great summer internship, impress everyone in the 20 clubs you join, and make lots of friends without gaining the freshman 15?

    Ha. Well, Hoot was born out of that naive energy that only first-years have when they still think the dining hall food is edible just because there’s an omelet station. Before most of those first-years have become jaded.

    So, tonight, my friend, the current and new editor in chief, invited me to her suite for dinner. I thought it would just be the two of us, and I didn’t even bother changing out of the yoga clothes I had worn in the morning. Turned out, the Hoot editors threw me a party with Ladurée macarons, cupcakes and prosecco.

    So, there I was, in sweaty gym clothes and Burberry rainboots, as my friends beamed at me in their fancy cocktail dresses and sky-high platform heels. And there I was, stuck waiting half an hour in the hallway because I was early to my own surprise party, and most of the editors had not arrived yet. “Let’s take pictures!” they exclaimed, as I shrunk away from the camera.

    I’m going to look back on this in two years and bawl my eyes out.