Carlo Mazzoni: Building a New Culture of Sustainable Publishing

Carlo Mazzoni is an Italian journalist, editor-entrepreneur, and a leading voice in redefining sustainable publishing within the worlds of media, fashion, and design. Trained in Medicine and Surgery at the University of Milan and in piano at the Conservatorio di Alessandria, he later channelled that same precision and lyricism into writing.

Mazzoni’s debut novel, Postromantici, established him as a perceptive chronicler of contemporary sentiment, followed by two more works—Disordine and Due Amici. Named among Milan’s most influential cultural figures by Corriere della Sera, Mazzoni went on to serve as Editor-in-Chief of L’Officiel Italia.

In 2014, he founded Lampoon Magazine, a biannual print and digital platform dedicated to sustainability, craftsmanship, and creative responsibility. As the publication declares, “sustainability is the only form of contemporary culture.” Under his direction, Lampoon has evolved into not only a space for examining how we create and consume art and design—exploring the ethics and accountability of creators—but also a forum for innovation and environmental awareness that bridges culture and conscience.

For hube, Carlo Mazzoni sat down with our Editor-in-Chief, Sasha Kovaleva, to share his thoughts on the responsibilities of independent media, the meaning of sustainability, and the stories that matter most.

Sasha Kovaleva: You have a remarkably unconventional professional background—medicine, music, literature. What kinds of skills or mindsets would you advise the younger generation to cultivate if they wish to follow a similar path in independent publishing?

Carlo Mazzoni: I cannot be a good reference for this, since I studied dentistry. I don’t think there’s a specific professional path to becoming a creative figure in the publishing industry. However, if I had a background in economics, literature, or philosophy, it might have helped me a bit more today. That said, coming from a scientific field has helped me a lot. What you study—more than the actual skills or knowledge it gives you—matters because it shapes your way of thinking, it gives you a method.

In Italy, when we were kids, we were forced—and we didn’t like it at all—to study Latin. We had many hours of it. Some of my friends today say, “My son is lucky not to study Latin anymore,” as many schools have removed it from the curriculum. But I would say that Latin helped me a lot in building, in strengthening my mindset, my method—the process I still rely on today, which comes largely from the logic I learned as a child.

As you grow up, I believe what truly matters today is curiosity. You need to be curious. You need to seek knowledge everywhere. You have to read a lot—even if you think your field is only about images, photography, or styling. A strong cultural background is what will give you an advantage over others. Read literature, read whatever you can. You need to read a lot to keep your mind sharp, focused, and responsive to every input you receive.

SK: Could you take me back to the very beginning of Lampoon? What motivated you to create a magazine at that moment, and what gaps did you feel existed in the cultural landscape that Lampoon could fill?

CM: Before editing Lampoon, I was the Editor-in-Chief of L’Officiel Italia. That’s really where my path in publishing began. When I was twenty-five, I worked in a small editorial studio—we could call it a very indie, niche publishing house. Our mission, our core business at the time, was branded books. We collaborated with brands on their own publications—house magazines, catalogues, and everything a major company might produce to stay in touch with its clients and audience. That was the true beginning.

Then, when I was twenty-eight, I received an offer from a collaborator—someone who would later become my business partner—to join the editorial team of a magazine called Tar, which no longer exists. After that, I was approached by a founder connected to the Jalou Group, who invited me to launch the Italian edition of L’Officiel. While working there, I realised that what I truly wanted was to create something much more independent, much more niche—so I decided to start my own title, one that I envisioned as completely autonomous and uncompromisingly distinctive.

When we started, in 2015, the world was completely different. The industry was driven by aesthetics—the glamour, the excess, the styling, all those dazzling images and layers of fashion that demanded attention. Today, the landscape has changed entirely. I would say the COVID crisis transformed not only the real world, but also ours. From that point until now, Lampoon has evolved profoundly. It began as a glossy, glamorous publication—and today, it has become a much rougher, more tactile title. We even use the word roughness a lot these days.

I like Lampoon to be seen as a kind of aircraft magazine—a publication that moves through ideas and perspectives, searching for sustainability above all else. Lampoon today is, quite literally, subtitled “a cultural magazine about sustainability.” I believe that sustainability is the only possible approach for contemporary culture.

I don’t think today you can define yourself simply by being creative, or by believing you have a vision. That’s not enough anymore. You need a commitment—to the community, to the world—and a message to share. The entire publishing industry must understand that we need meaning, we need intention. We can even be a bit political—not in the traditional sense of parties, ministers, or revolutions, but in the original Greek sense of polis: the city, the community. In that way, publishing today must be political—it must engage with the collective life of our time.