Eleanor Davis is no ordinary Fairfield University sophomore. She is the creator of Fairfield’s latest fashion and lifestyle magazine.
“My name is Eleanor Davis, I’m a sophomore Communications major, I’m going to minor in Graphic Design and I am from Short Hills, N.J. I have three brothers, two dogs — Millie and Rosie, and they’re very important to me.”
Titled “The Point,” Davis started the magazine during the Summer of 2018. What began as an Instagram of the same name with a few followers became an account with over 500, a website and a staff of 30 students and growing.
“We weren’t associated with the University until about two weeks ago. We wanted to create our own platform separate from them and see if we could build our own standing, seeing who we could discover without the University on our backs. We also wanted to take it to the University and say ‘we want you to do this with us because we have done x, y and z and we can show we have all this,’” explained Davis.
Davis and her core team have already have met with and been approved by Council of Student Organizations, and now only need the signature of the dean of students, William Johnson, Ph.D., in order to be a University recognized club. They hope to get funding and go into print in the coming year.
For Davis, fashion is more than just a hobby. An avid follower of major fashion magazines, she commented that for her, “Vogue” is like her very own adult picture book. However, she found that by the end of her first year, she was lost.
“My freshman year I was really focused on friends, trying to stay healthy and getting good grades. When I finished I found that I had no creative outlet for the first time in my life. I was lacking a purpose. Nothing was driving me to be different,” continued Davis, with her face alight with excitement, “but I’ve loved ‘Vogue’ for my entire life. I am one of those people who gets a ‘Vogue’ issue and doesn’t talk to anyone for the rest of the day.”
Davis wanted to give Fairfield students an outlet to talk about some of the things that truly matter to them.
“I just wanted to give people a relevant voice on things that matter to people our age like — what to wear to a party, what to wear to a job interview — nobody really cares about that stuff except for us,” explained Davis. “And because of that no one has come out with a way that we can come together and talk about things that we actually care about.”
She smiled. “The things we care about are what makes us, us.”
Her passion for “Vogue” also influenced her decision to become affiliated with the University with the goal in mind to go into print. She talked about her love for the design of “Vogue”’s layout, complete with perfume samples that make reading it an experience that uses multiple senses — touch, see and smell.
But running the magazine has been no easy task.
“I run the Instagram, two girls run the VSCO, one girl runs the Spotify account. Me and my best friend Liza [Rozenberg ‘21], who is the co-creative director, we run the site. So there is a core team of about six people,” she continued listing her responsibilities. “I run the Instagram because its my baby and i don’t want to give it up. I approve articles and the VSCO and the spotify account. I run all of the meetings, I do most of the recruiting — I get no sleep. I come up with most of the new ideas too.”
One of her latest ideas was implemented for Valentine’s Day and premiered in the format of a column on “The Point”’s website, thepointm.com. In honor of the holiday, she had student’s submit anonymous love letters to be displayed on the website.
The website has various sections such as Lifestyle, Beauty and Wellness, Culture, Food and Fashion. She explained that soon they will be launching their Destination Guides.
Check out the website and Instagram for what Eleanor Davis and her staff can be found doing next.
Great job Eleanor.