Cultoure Magazine celebrates third issue with Unplugged release party

Cultoure Magazine, a print publication that represents people of color through creative expression, celebrated the release of its third issue, “The Culture of Couture, Fashion Around the World,” with a house party called Unplugged on Oct. 3. 

Founded in 2024 by senior economics major Gabrielle Felix, the magazine’s first issue focused on fashion and visual arts, followed by a second issue on music and performance arts. This semester’s edition, “Fashion Around the World,” dropped Sept. 12 and sells for $15.

The house party ran from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and featured live performances with a DJ and local artists. At the check-in, attendees could purchase previous issues, tote bags and preview the newest edition.  

“The DMV can become a mecca of Black music,” Ayo Seriki, an Afrobeat artist and University of Maryland alum. “There are a lot of people emerging in this area.”

The backyard was lit under lanterns and outdoor string lights, where guests purchased food and drinks and Cultoure’s signature beverage, the Cultoure Cocktail. In the sunroom, a photo booth was set up featuring a couch and a backdrop . The wall was covered in a collage of torn magazine pages from the third issue. It was decorated with artificial ivy vines, flowers and on top hung a pink sheer arced drape. 

Inside the house, the living room was cleared to host live performances. Performers included FLATOUTBRIAN, The Overlook, DJ Sleepy, Sean-Michael, Ché From Yesterday, CloeMP3, iiiLuvKB, Jorddell and Panasi.

This semester’s theme is “The Culture of Couture,” focusing on where couture started. “Culture and couture combined,” said Felix. “We have people who are different heritages, backgrounds and we really wanted to talk about where our clothes come from and what it means to have style and fashion outside of America.”

Cultoure’s first launch party was held in the Art and Sociology Building on campus. This semester, Felix and her team wanted a house party instead.

“We kind of just wanted to expand, do something different,” Felix said. “We wanted something a little bit more intimate. We wanted something that we could decorate more, that we have more control over. The Art and Sociology building is a beautiful building, but there’s only so much that you can put the Cultoure touch on it.”

She added that this edition took the longest to create. “There’s a very specific vision and it was worth taking the time,” she said.

One of Felix’s favorite works in the issue focuses on Indian weddings, featuring her cousin’s ceremony. “It’s about real love. That one feels the most about the fashion around the world,” she said.

Millan Faulkner, a senior information science major and Cultoure’s director of operations, described the magazine’s creative process. 

“We pick a theme for each issue and then from there we decide what photo shoots we want to do, what potential artwork, articles we want to have. We do the photo shoots, we get the articles, and then we figure out how we want to put it in the magazine, what looks best together, what sounds best together.”

Faulkner said her favorite piece to work on in the issue was a photo shoot featuring traditional Indian clothing worn in everyday spaces. 

 “We went to a grocery store, gas station and library. It was fun to shoot,” Faulkner said.

One of the guests, Charlotte Singh, a senior psychology major and ballet dancer from New York, has supported Cultoure since its first issue. Singh was featured in the second issue’s Music and Performance Arts, where she modeled in a “white swan, black swan” concept. 

“For most of my life, I was in a pre-professional ballet program,” Singh said. “I usually was dancing six days a week…I stopped dancing when COVID happened because I not only had a back injury, but everything was shut down.”

When Felix asked her to participate in the Cultoure’s shoot, it meant a lot to her. “At that point, when I did the photo shoot, I hadn’t put on a pair of pointe shoes in like four years. It was really weird and hard for me because it was such a big part of my life.”

“Everyone sees ballerinas and they’re so beautiful and pretty and graceful, but a lot of people don’t know what goes on behind the scenes,” Singh said. “You don’t see the blood, sweat and tears that go into what’s behind the curtain.”

The night’s opening act, Christian Maffei, known as Jorddell, is a senior at New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music. His genres are R&B, pop, hip-hop and soca.

“It was super fun to come back home and perform because all my performances are in New York,” said Maffei.

“There’s not a lot of places that accept Black people, especially being an NYU student and being in New York City,” he said. “You would think that even in the city, there’s more opportunities for Black performance and Black voices.” 

His best friend, Daisha Smith, a senior family health major, was there to cheer him on. 

“We met in middle school, we were both theater kids. We’ve been inseparable ever since seventh grade,” she said. “Just being able to come somewhere like this where people look like me and we can have fun and celebrate together feels so good.”

Ryan Jaikeran, a master’s student in information systems and bass guitarist, also performed at the event.

“I love playing. This is my escape from my day-to-day,” he said. “I play in the rock scene a lot. It’s a very white-dominated space, especially the DMV. Rock is not just stereotypically white. It was invented by people of color and will continue to be a part of the scene and play a big role in it.”

According to Felix, Cultoure Magazine’s next issue is already in production and will focus on literature and film. It is set to be published during the spring semester.