Photos Courtesy of Gray Area Magazine
In July 2020, soon-to-be EIC Kendrick Hawkins was flipping through options on what to name a new campus style magazine, a seemingly lofty imagination which was then just blossoming. In her head, she landed on Gray Area Magazine, a name she thinks captures what the creative ambiguities of fashion lay bare.
GAM had a slow burn of a first year, moving through a labyrinth of COVID restrictions, but managed to produce an impressive Fall 2021 debut edition – cleverly and colorfully shot at the arcade at Ocean Beach boardwalk – and published its sequel in the spring. The club now has garnered a sizable, dedicated layout and operations team with an excited campus following to fuel their work.
Their newest creative landscape entitled COMMUTE is a visually magnetic and eclectic “zine,” showcasing a melange of curated moments stretched out across a funky accordion fold. The ‘zine is something different from the typical 8.5”x11” editorial publication; it is an inventive and eye-catching layout that intends to build momentum for GAM’s final issue of the academic year, which is set to release in May 2023. It discusses travel fashion in both its trends and its pasts, alongside patchwork graphics of models hauling suitcases, awaiting their trains, and lounging on the classic Shoreline East imitation-leather. They shot at the downtown New London train station and on the ride itself, to Old Saybrook and back.
“By introducing a zine to our publication cycle, we hoped to bring in more students who may not know what they want to do in the club,” Hawkins shares. “Oftentimes modeling can be very scary, but COMMUTE gives the models an opportunity to have fun with the theme and with themselves. Each layout team member had a unique vision for their 1-3 page spread and worked hard to create this awesome collage of community. I think it came together perfectly.”
The intent of Gray Area is to make fashion media and creative projects more accessible, foster meaningful conversations on style and design, and support eager writers, artists, and models in this new vision. By reaching more corners of student life and working with brands like Generation Conscious in their latest photoshoot, Hawkins is hoping to continue deepening the GAM influence on campus and using it as a tool to forge community.
Outreach and accessibility was a priority for the magazine. Hawkins’ original intent for Gray Area was to create something meaningful in the wake of Conn’s past two fashion publications.
Excited to play a part in The Look as an eager first-year, Hawkins immediately volunteered herself into its frenzy; she enthusiastically attended club meetings, showed through at photoshoots, and wrote a couple articles. The Look was tight and stylish, visually impressive cover-to-cover. The social dynamics, though, were intimidating to many and its lack of inclusivity limited the overall creative potential of the magazine. Hawkins didn’t want a rebrand of The Look – or its second iteration, the long-retired Bespoke – but to instead start an entirely new vision to accompany a new set of principles.
“I wanted it to become a brand – literally – that people could rely on. Where someone could say, ‘I have an idea, let me send it to Gray Area, and we can make it happen with them.”
GAM seeks to serve the ebbs and flows, ambiguities, and eccentricities that lay within fashion’s vast landscape. It asks, what are current trends that we see? How are these trends heightened within digital spaces? Upon what is fashion predicated?
The popular GAM merch, designed by Gemma Savitz-Vogel ‘25, ties together some loose financial ends: a much-needed source of funding for a magazine unwilling to skimp on the visual details. Hawkins, a senior, will tie a bow on her hard work on May 11 when the Summer 2023 issue releases, and leave Gray Area in the hands of the talented team who she confidently credits getting the magazine up and off the ground.
She has plenty of faith for the future of the magazine. “I’m excited for hopefully having a website, I’m excited for the incoming leadership team because we have a lot of creative people with creative ideas coming in.”
Gray Area is still in the early stages of defining itself, but similar to its take on fashion, the power is what will come and go in its future.
You can check out GAM’s zine floating around campus, or visit https://issuu.com/grayareamag/docs/commute_zine.
