People from Northwest Ohio and beyond gathered at Toledo School for the Arts to celebrate the launch of a new Toledo-based magazine Saturday evening.
Aptly named eMPWR, the magazine honors women with a special focus on women of color. Toledo-native Taylor Shine started to develop the brand in December 2023. Little more than a year later, she marked the end of Women’s History Month with the release of its first print issue.
“Every single woman who touched this is amazing,” Shine said.
While she directed and designed eMPWR Magazine, the final product is a collaboration of creatives from Toledo and Detroit, Shine said. Those who worked on the magazine were excited to see their hard work in physical form.
“It’s surreal to see it published in a magazine. This is the first time I’ve ever been a part of something like this,” said Raiza Ham, the makeup artist for the campaign, ‘Wired for Power.’
In addition to print copies being available for purchase, individual photos from 10 of the magazine’s campaigns were displayed throughout the Portal Gallery. Six focused on the power and resilience of Black women, including ‘Silent Megaphones,’ which Shine credits as inspiration for the magazine’s overall aesthetic.
“All of those colors looked like so well together that I was able to make my brand colors based off that photoshoot,” Shine said in a previous interview. “That’s my baby. It was my first photo shoot where everyone really believed in me without seeing anything beforehand.”
Other cultures represented in the magazine include Brazilian, Bengali, Hmong and Tamil.
“I think right now, when we want to make ourselves into the best versions of women and especially women of color, I feel like we have to work 10 times as hard,” said Justice Hird from Artistry Unbound, a multimedia event held in Detroit. “It makes me emotional thinking about how we are building something that’s bigger than us.”
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Additionally, several local designers and stylists paid homage to cultures from around the world during an immersive fashion show.
Lia Massey, designer of the Detroit-based label Lia Gabrielle Atelier, shared designs from her August collection titled ‘Born Winner.’
“A lot of the motifs are dice and trophies, so that’s something that I want to present today to honor women as being winners of our own lives,” she said.
Model Ambika Sood wore a dress from her friend’s label, svarini.
“Essentially, it’s Sanskrit. And in the past, it meant women who were doing ‘bad things,’ like sleeping around,” Sood said. “But she wanted to reclaim it and make it more about empowered women. You can wear ‘scandalous things,’ and you can still be a wonderful Indian, South Asian girl.”
The event closed with a screening of behind-the- scenes footage from the creation of the magazine and closing words from Shine.
“It’s not just mine. This is all of ours,” she said.
Attendees expressed the hopefulness events like this give them for the future of Toledo.
“We need to start seeing ourselves the way that we can be as a city,” said Isabella Weik from Toledo Mindfulness Institute, one of the event’s sponsors. “And Taylor’s at the forefront. She’s a visionary.”
Those interested in learning more about eMPWR Magazine can find the publication on Instagram.
