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Dasha Zhukova Is the New Editor-in-Chief of Pop, But She Doesn’t Know Much About Fashion

At the beginning of the year, the legendary Katie Grand abandoned her editor-in-chiefdom of Pop for Condé Nast’s new Love magazine. She took most of her Pop staff with her, leaving Pop’s very survival uncertain. Then Russian socialite Dasha Zhukova was randomly installed as Grand’s replacement, as though every experienced stylist or editor that might have had a shot at filling Grand’s shoes had joined the Peace Corps. Prior to the appointment, which the fashion world blatantly scoffed at, Dasha was arguably most famous for her relationship with Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. But Dasha’s fist issue of Pop is due out September 1, so it’s time for her to start doing damage control. You know, reaffirming her talent, credibility, and fashion expertise to the fashion industry. Perhaps that’s why she agreed to do an interview for Interview, which obnoxiously waxes on for four pages before even getting into Pop.

She told Derek Blasberg:

I’ve wanted to do a magazine for years. In fact, my friend Olympia Scarry and I had worked on a magazine concept before. We did up a dummy version, and even looked to get it printed. It was not like Pop. We had only planned on a single issue a year, and the layout was different. But when this opportunity came along — an entire magazine ready to go and fully staffed, with an entire infrastructure — eventually I decided it would be stupid not to at least entertain the idea … My initial reaction was, “No way. I don’t want this.”


Oh, so she wanted to run a magazine. Now it all makes sense! What a great reason for her to land the job. She’s only attempted it once before, for fun, but she has opened an art museum in Russia and started a clothing line (called Kova & T) with no experience in those things, so running the magazine Katie Grand made great is just another new thing for her to add to her résumé. So why did Dasha doubt herself initially?

I read fashion magazines, but I’m not all up in the mix. I’m not from this world. I haven’t spent years in fashion making friends and making enemies. I barely know who half the people are. Obviously, I know that Katie Grand started Pop, and that it’s a product that’s so associated with her in this world. But in my world, it’s just Pop.


Well, at least she’s probably looked up the magazine on Wikipedia.

Dasha Zhukova [Interview]

Dasha Zhukova Is the New Editor-in-Chief of Pop, But She Doesn’t Know Much About Fashion