Kent State Alum Launches Fashion Magazine

Allison Halco gets to delve into the world of fashion design daily, even though she isn’t crafting clothing.

Instead, the 27-year-old spends her days running Fashionably Cleveland, a website and magazine dedicated to highlighting fashion in northeastern Ohio. 

"I knew I couldn't sew, and drawing isn't my forte, either," Halco said, chuckling. "I have a journalism and graphic design background, so this was kind of a way of fusing my interests with my schooling."

Fashionably Cleveland is ultimately a product of Halco’s education. While pursuing her graduate degree in media management at , she chose to create the Fashionably Cleveland website as her final project.

Although the prominent fashion culture at Kent State did influence her decision, Halco said the real impetus to build a fashion-focused website was her belief that fashion is universal.

“Even if somebody doesn't particularly like following trends and things like that, fashion still affects everybody," she said.

Halco said the older she grew, the more she noticed this effect.

"If you think about personal style and what it can say about you,” she said, “even something as simple as somebody wearing a particular sports jersey — that right there is fashion, even thought they might not realize it.”

Despite her zeal for fashion, Halco worked at a business magazine in Westlake after graduating from Kent State in December 2009. However, she continued to tweak Fashionably Cleveland and officially took the site live in April 2010. Once Halco saw there was definite interest, she decided turn Fashionably Cleveland into a full-time job.

Fashionably Cleveland has grown since its beginning, with perhaps its most notable triumph being the debut of a new quarterly publication. While content for the magazine and website does overlap, the magazine diverges from the website by including a photo spread.

"I think particularly with fashion, there's something about seeing it in print, in glossy," Halco said. "It's one thing to look at pictures of a photo shoot on a website, but to have it in your hands, I think, is a huge difference."

While both the Fashionably Cleveland website and magazine feature stories about national trends, their primary aim is to promote fashion in northeastern Ohio.

“I think the main goal is to celebrate that northeast Ohio has a fashion community, and we have a lot to offer,” Halco said. “I think people's perception is that you have to go to New York, you have to go to L.A., you have to go to Chicago to pursue fashion as a career or interest, and we have a really vibrant community right here."

Copies of the first issue of Fashionably Cleveland magazine can be picked up at libraries, salons and coffee shops in the area. A complete listing of distribution locations is available here.