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Rodarte Celebrates Stem-Cell Scientists in the New Issue of Pop

Tomorrow, newsstands welcome the new issue of Pop, the first under editor-in-chief Dasha Zhukova, who was hired in February to replace the inimitable Katie Grand. Despite Pop being first and foremost a fashion magazine under Grand, Zhukova has confessed fashion isn’t really her thing. She is more a member of the art world than the fashion world, which is filled with (possibly resentful) editors who scoffed at her appointment during the fall 2009 season. One of the 28-year-old Zhukova’s most notable accomplishments thus far is the Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture, the contemporary art gallery in Moscow she opened a year ago. So she’s intent on making Pop just as much about art as fashion, according to WWD. The new issue has two covers, pictured here (not four, as previously rumored), with artwork by Damien Hirst.

The covers have received mixed reactions, but can the content inside the magazine appease naysayers? Riccardo Tisci dressed Cicciolina, presumably for a photo spread, for the issue. Barbara Bush (probably junior, not senior, but could you imagine?) interviewed the president of Liberia. Margaret Thatcher is celebrated as a fashion icon. And Rodarte “celebrate U.S. stem-cell scientists” in another photo shoot. Generally, we find fashion magazines are at their best when they make no sense yet so much sense at the same time. (Drag spreads and bizarre hats also help.) Pop sounds either weird enough to work or not weird enough at all. But advertisers are onboard: The 316-page issue includes ads by Prada, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Armani, Chloé, Mulberry, Tod’s, and Roberto Cavalli.

POP ART [WWD]

Rodarte Celebrates Stem-Cell Scientists in the New Issue of Pop