Trading Pages Honors Women’s Legacy Through Print
Bound In Beauty — Trading Pages Celebrates The Black Women Who Made Magazine Covers Iconic — From Whoopi Goldberg To Beyoncé [Exclusive]
In the heart of Times Square, where bright lights meet even brighter energy, something refreshingly analog took center stage. On Friday, March 13, Trading Pages hosted VOL.003 at the Times Square EDITION, turning the sleek venue into a love letter to print, culture, and the women who’ve shaped it all. MadameNoire’s Managing Editor Danica Daniel was on the scene for the festivities.
In honor of Women’s History Month, VOL.003 — held in partnership with Team Epiphany, LOBOS and Complex — brought attendees back into the nostalgia and history of print magazines from across decades, with an interactive gallery, marketplace, and cultural time capsule. Think vintage magazine covers, rare issues dating back to 1979, and a visual tribute to icons like Nina Simone, Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Michelle Obama, and Beyoncé. It wasn’t just about looking, it was about feeling the legacy.
RELATED CONTENT: Lori Harvey’s New ‘PLAYBOY’ Magazine Cover Has Us Gagging
Guests floated from table to table, flipping through pages, trading prized finds, and snagging collectible issues from legacy publications like Ebony, Essence and Vibe Magazine. At its core, the night reinforced Trading Pages’ mission: celebrating how print media has shaped identity, storytelling, and community, while reminding us that some stories just hit different on paper.
Meet Reggie Singletary and Kamari Spence, the founders of Trading Pages.
Founded in 2025 by Reggie Singletary and Kamari Spence, Trading Pages is more than just a brand, it’s a movement. Built as a physical alternative to digital archives, it centers Black storytelling and preserves the tactile magic of magazines in an increasingly screen-dominated world. Their immersive, gallery-style experiences invite people to reconnect with the pages that helped define culture as we know it.
“We really created this company because we saw with the rise of digital media, how quickly we can use the stories through print media that was recorded physically. We thought that was really, really important,” said Spence during an interview with Daniel about why print media matters in 2026.
Singletary echoed that sentiment, adding:
“We live in a digital world. We see the transactional nature of the news that we see every day. Print is timeless, and we wanted to bring the time into the format bag and bring it to the people.”
That passion runs deep. When asked about the magazines that shaped them, both founders lit up. Spence reminisced about exploring “the entire world through National Geographic,” while Singletary dove into gaming and hip-hop titles that defined an era.
“So my first magazine ever was gaming magazines. Game Informer, Nintendo Power. When you were a kid and you wanted a supplemental story to the game, those magazines were it,” Singletary gushed. “But in terms of Black owned magazines — Blaze magazine. I loved Vibe. I loved The Source, I loved XXL, but Blaze kind of added another dynamic to it. It had a lot of southern hip-hop, I’m from the South, one of my favorites.”
What’s next for Trading Pages?
And this is just the beginning. The Trading Pages team already has plans lined up, including a Juneteenth celebration that promises to continue blending culture, history, and community in their signature way. Their vision? To create what Singletary calls “a living art gallery” of magazines.
“Usually, when you go to an art gallery, the art is on the walls. It’s static. You can’t interact with it. Here, you can pick it up. You can feel it, you can read it, you can trade it, and you can exchange art in your hand. There’s so much art within those pages, and we want you to feel it, hold it, and ultimately own it for yourself.”
Spence added, “You can also exchange stories just like this with other people to figure out people’s history, figure out where they come from, and gain deeper connections.”
In a world that scrolls endlessly forward, Trading Pages is inviting us to slow down, turn the page, and rediscover the power of print, one story at a time.
RELATED CONTENT: Fantasia Barrino Graces Cover Of Elle Magazine’s Women In Hollywood Edition
