{"id":5396,"date":"2026-06-03T04:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/03\/umich-student-launches-fashion-magazine-oueton\/"},"modified":"2026-06-03T04:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-03T04:49:12","slug":"umich-student-launches-fashion-magazine-oueton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/2026\/06\/03\/umich-student-launches-fashion-magazine-oueton\/","title":{"rendered":"UMich student launches fashion magazine, Ou\u00e9ton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Drawing inspiration from the University of Michigan campus, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ouetonmagazine\/\">Ou\u00e9ton<\/a> \u2014a student-led fashion magazine \u2014 published its first issue Feb. 26. The issue highlights troubles in women\u2019s fashion, and the influence of societal expectations on the art form. In preparation of the publication\u2019s second edition, the magazine seeks to continue exploring ideas of self-expression through fashion.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In an interview with The Michigan Daily, LSA rising senior Ezra Mazza, founder and editor-in-chief of Ou\u00e9ton, said the project began with his desire for a physical collection of his photography.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThe magazine idea kind of really started last February when I did a photo shoot with my cousin,\u201d Mazza said. \u201cI\u2019d been doing like a dozen portrait model shoots by then, and after that I really wanted to do something physical with the photos I had.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mazza said while the magazine\u2019s name has no inherent meaning, he believes the open interpretation of Ou\u00e9ton has become an artform in itself.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-1    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI made the Instagram, started on the marketing, came up with the name Ou\u00e9ton,\u201d Mazza said.\u00a0 \u201cIt really is just a made-up word, which was really important to me, because I really wanted people to feel like they could project some meaning onto it, the same way art and fashion identity work.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the project grew, Mazza reached out to LSA lecturer Geertrui Moerkerke, a communications professor with a background in fashion journalism. In an interview with The Daily, Moerkerke said Mazza had a strong initial concept for the magazine, something she believes has greatly benefited its development.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAs a journalist, you write within a format, you know what to expect or how to write in what style,\u201d Moerke said. \u201cBut if you put yourself (to work on) a magazine, if you do that yourself and you start from scratch, there are a lot of choices that you have to make \u2026 When I talked to Ezra, he already had a very firm idea of what he wanted to do with the magazine: Not in the commercial sense, but really a magazine about discovering yourself and expressing yourself. I think he did that in a very original way.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After financial difficulties prevented the magazine\u2019s first print-edition\u2019s initial fall release, Mazza said this added time allowed him to build relationships with the University\u2019s communications department, and further develop Ou\u00e9ton\u2019s final print product. Funds for Ou\u00e9ton have been provided by LSA\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/lsa.umich.edu\/comm\">Communication &amp; Media Department<\/a>, alongside the <a href=\"https:\/\/lsa.umich.edu\/bli\">Barger Leadership Institute<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mazza said the magazine\u2019s core purpose is to serve as a space for self expression, inspiring Ou\u00e9ton\u2019s slogan, \u201cour way of seeing things.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-2    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI would plan out outfits the night before class, and then in the morning, I would just go with the safe option,\u201d Mazza said. \u201cSo I really wanted to create a space for people that feel something alongside that \u2014 that they just have that space where they can dress how they want, and it can be as weird as they want.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently, Ou\u00e9ton\u2019s staff is composed of Mazza and a few collaborators. Business rising senior Elena Shaheen, Ou\u00e9ton collaborator, told The Daily the magazine plans on adding more creatives to the project and continue experimenting with print media.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cOftentimes, people look at the surface when it comes to fashion,\u201d Shaheen said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve always believed from the very beginning that fashion is special, and it has a way of communicating who we are and who we\u2019d like to become. If you can understand that fashion is a story that\u2019s constantly being rewritten, written, edited, changed, marked up, then I think there\u2019s something there that can be grown and just completely expanded as you continue to work within print media.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ou\u00e9ton\u2019s second issue is scheduled to be released before the end of the summer. Physical editions of the magazine are available for purchase at\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sandysboutique.com\/\">Sandy\u2019s Boutique<\/a>, or can be accessed digitally through communication with Mazza. Mazza said he hopes the magazine will grow beyond Ann Arbor, and follow his own ambitions outside the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c(Ou\u00e9ton) was founded in Ann Arbor, but I don\u2019t intend it on staying here,\u201d Mazza said. \u201cI eventually want to move to New York and have it grow more there after college \u2026 A year from now, I am hoping to at least get seven more issues out.\u201d<\/p>\n<aside class=\"scaip scaip-3    \">\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Daily Staff Reporter Audrey Shabelski can be reached at <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigandaily.com\/news\/campus-life\/umich-communications-student-launches-fashion-magazine-oueton\/mailto:audres@umich.edu\"><em>audres@umich.edu<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n<aside>\n\t\t<\/aside>\n<p><h3 class=\"jp-relatedposts-headline\"><em>Related articles<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Drawing inspiration from the University of Michigan campus, Ou\u00e9ton \u2014a student-led fashion magazine \u2014 published its first issue Feb. 26. The issue highlights troubles in women\u2019s fashion, and the influence of societal expectations on the art form. In preparation of the publication\u2019s second edition, the magazine seeks to continue exploring ideas of self-expression through fashion. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5397,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[513,160,1234,4847,87,341],"class_list":["post-5396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-fashion","tag-launches","tag-magazine","tag-oueton","tag-student","tag-umich"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5396"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5396\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5398,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5396\/revisions\/5398"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tmbglobal.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}