The gloss of a new generation: How Ukrainian Vogue has become so cool
In February of this year, the March issue of Vogue Ukraine came out with a proud takeaway on the cover of "5 years in Ukraine." In 2013, when the magazine first appeared, the glossy media already existed successfully on the media market: Elle, Harper's Bazaar, Marie Claire and L'Officiel. Each of them occupied a niche and found an audience, but many Ukrainians who are interested in the fashion agenda looked forward to the main fashion publication in the country - and waited.
Masha Tsukanova, who had worked for Kommersant-Weekend for six years, became the editor-in-chief of Vogue Ukraine, while fashion director was Philip Vlasov, who began his career in Russian Vogue, Elle and InStyle Man. In March 2013, the first issue of the Ukrainian version of Vogue went on sale, and after a few days a scandal broke out: many Ukrainians were outraged that the magazine was published in Russian. Let then such a decision was publicly condemned, today we can safely say that this risky, but strategically correct step allowed to expand the audience far beyond the borders of the country.
Tsukanova made a moderately conservative publication with strong journalistic materials, focusing on readers' requests - and they were primarily interested in local fashion. Thus, the magazine wrote about the first victories of Ukrainian designers in the Pitti Guest Nation project, made materials with the founders of the two main fashion weeks in the country, Darya Shapovalova (Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days) and Irina Danilevskaya (Ukranian Fashion Week), actively using things from local designers in fashion shootings. The editor-in-chief herself did great interviews with important local designers Svetlana Bevza, Lilia Pustovit, and Vita Kin — at that time all the world's retailers were queuing up for the latest embroidery.
“Five years ago, almost all glossy foreign media were present in the Ukrainian market, the competition was high. Of course, a brand like Vogue has a big advantage over the others - it’s a dream of many, a fashion bible and a brand that needs no introduction. For example, Alyona Doletskaya, the first editor-in-chief of Vogue Russia, told how they had to struggle at the start with the fact that the public did not know the brand.It seems to me that Ukrainian Vogue was much easier - the ground was already prepared by the Russian edition, by the same Alena. There were completely different challenges: to find your voice not only in your own country, but in the context of the entire Vogue international family and to justify the trust of readers in Ukraine. It seems to me that the team succeeded both. And Masha Tsukanova and Olya Sushko are high professionals in their field, "- says Daria Shapovalova - founder and creative director of Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days, as well as co-founder of the showroom More Dash.
Under Tsukanova, materials appeared in the magazine that were bold for the glossy, like an article about freezing eggs and a photo story with ONUKA singer Nata Zhizhchenko, for whom the editors went to Chernobyl. Those who were in the avant-garde of local culture: playwright Natalia Vorozhbit and President of the Odessa Film Festival Victoria Tigipko, TV presenters Olga Freimut and Masha Yefrosinina, as well as promising writers, music videomakers and artists constantly came to the attention of the publication. Many, even far beyond the borders of Ukraine, still dream of getting a collection of the “black” November issue of 2015 and an art number with Marina Abramovich on the cover.
In November 2015, Yulia Pelipas, the stylist and favorite of street-style photographers, took the place of Philip Vlasov, who had collaborated with Ukrainian pop stars and with Harper's Bazaar Ukraine before joining Vogue. Almost a year later, the editor-in-chief also changed - she became Olga Sushko, who worked with Tsukanova at the Kommersant-Ukraine publishing house, and since 2014 she has been responsible for living lifestyle in Ukrainian Vogue. At about the same time, the magazine changed the owners: from October, the right to issue was transferred to the media holding Media Group Ukraine. It is difficult to say how much the recent changes have influenced the content of the publication, but it seems that the team received carte blanche from publishers for free expression.
Unlike the previous Glavred, Sushko put at the forefront of a strong visual component. Thus, the updated Vogue has consistently collected eulogies from foreign colleagues, and its covers scattered across forums and social networks. “It seems to me that the secret here is that the chief editor of the magazine has assembled a strong team with a unified and modern vision, and the management of the publishing house trusts them and allows them to create without focusing on what they believe will be commercially successful,” Vogue editor, Interview, The Blueprint and Good Morning telegram channel creator, Karl Katya Fedorova.
It seems that today Vogue Ukraine is really a story about a strong team that feels the spirit of the times and understands what is lacking in gloss. "Maybe we just felt changes in the air before the other sister publications, we realized that the local Vogue is not one of the main five (US, UK, Paris, Italy, Japan) and with small budgets can also produce a quality, artistic, focused on the new generation, an international product. We before the rest began to make poster design and digital covers, themed and art numbers, to work with a new generation of photographers and stylists with a fresh look, thanks to whom one hundred percent made their visual content, "says art-di Rector Sergey Kovalev.
The aesthetics of the magazine is truly commendable. In an era when media is going online, the team has focused not on speed, but on quality; they purposely choose such covers so that they would like to keep the issues as artifacts. A classic formula formula with a large number of headings, a conventional star of a large caliber, or a successful heroine from the A-list, photographed only from a certain angle, is not a story about Vogue Ukraine. Here, everything is exactly the opposite: the minimum of the caverlines and their non-standard location, a non-beat selection of heroines and models, a neutral background, muted color correction. For example, this is what the May issue of 2017 looks like with the only removal - “Feminism of a new generation”.
It was here that the model of African origin Alek Vek appeared on the cover (an extremely rare case for Ukrainian gloss, except that Naomi Campbell was in Elle and L'Officiel), Vita Filonenko with eyes closed and Doutzen Cruz in sunglasses, and even b / w At the Fashion Spot they are discussing that the issue with Anna Rubik can be easily confused with Vogue Paris, famous for its provocative style.
Most importantly, for five years, the Ukrainian version of the magazine has never forgotten about its native culture, its unique cultural codes and heroes. This is not only about fashion - here you could read an interview with the curator of the museum complex "Mystetsky Arsenal" and the exhibition organizer of local artists abroad Alisa Lozhkina, the leading actress in the "Pacific Rim" Ivan Sakhno, director and owner of the Golden Palm branch "Marina" Like or the leader of Cardiomo startup and creator of a device that helps detect heart disease in time, Xenia Belkina. Vogue UA, in conjunction with the Ukrainian Institute of Fashion History, made a video about a male and female folk costume from the late 19th - early 20th century. They have written more than once about ethnic projects and cultural initiatives in the country, and used traditional costume items in filming, mixing them with things from the latest collections.
Today, follow the small, fresh on filling local versions of Vogue much more interesting than the parent publications. The magazine with Gigi Hadid on the cover of Vogue Arabia will be commercially successful, but does that make it visually meaningful? “I noticed that the“ small ”Vogue has recently become steeper than its large counterparts. Besides Ukraine, an excellent magazine for poor Portugal, and Poland looks promising. It seems to me that the Russian Vogue lost its identity at some point because The advertiser’s desires and top managers didn’t try to build their voice and unique visual style. Of course, it’s more difficult because the circulation and the opportunity to earn more, therefore more attention from management and more . Derzhko I very much hope that with the arrival of a new chief editor Masha Fedorova this will change, "- complements Fedorov. Let Vogue always remain the flagship of the world of luxury, expensive, but faceless product today is losing its competitive advantage. Win those who are not afraid to take risks and do something of their own, original. At Vogue Ukraine while it turns out.
