fashion magazine front row

Earlier this month there was a huge uproar over the news that Edward Enninful was stepping down from his role as editor-in-chief of British Vogue. Meanwhile, the communications team of Condé Nast (publisher of Vogue) decided to postpone the announcement that Vanya Brykalin had been appointed to the same position at Vogue Ukraine. The country had recently suffered a deadly air raid, and so they thought it honorable to hold off on the press release for a few days.

When I saw Brykalin at an event in London last week, he was working on an author’s piece in Novaya Kakhovka, a small town that was flooded after the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam. She had to make last-minute edits because her father’s house, with all of the family’s belongings and memorabilia, had just been inundated.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about Vogue Ukraine is that it exists at all. It seems unconscionable that anyone would even need to look at a fashion magazine when the country is so entrenched. How can an editor try to navigate such content? But Vogue Ukraine, founded in 2014 in the shadow of the Maidan Revolution, and published under license from Condé Nast by Vanguard Media, an independent Ukrainian media company, has never been a “glossy” magazine.

Its editors are stylish, passionate and fiercely patriotic: in the run up to the invasion the team had worked hard to educate readers – especially the magazine’s commercial sponsors – that Ukraine was separate and distinct from Russia. Since the invasion, he has focused on the war effort. After the invasion, which began at 4 a.m. on 24 February 2022, the print edition was temporarily halted, although the web editors continued to work: the first online piece was published at 9 a.m. that morning and the team, now based in Ukraine and continues to write about what is happening day-to-day, elsewhere in Europe. Beauty editor Alyona Ponomarenko focuses on stories about psychological help and mental support in times of war. The team has published stories on first aid, air raids and how they survived “recent floods,” Brykalin says.

Meanwhile, the magazine has resumed production. Most recent edition, “The Road of the Unbreakable”, Published this spring, there was a commemorative issue focused on a “Heroes” project featuring 50 individuals and collectives who have contributed to the fight, including Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska, Kirill Budanov, chief of state intelligence, athletes, Artists, writers, volunteers are involved. And, of course, fashion designers.

“There’s no textbook on how to run a magazine, let alone a fashion title during wartime,” says Brykalin, who has been at Vogue Ukraine since 2017. What kind of stories did we want to tell? But we all agreed that the issue had to reflect what was happening in a way that was respectful and also optimistic. The cover, an abstract work by Vasileina Vrublevska resembling the flag of Ukraine, is a series exploring how “our normal life has been destroyed”, Brykalin continues. “We felt it was important to have them in this issue as a memory and historical document.”

The “Road of the Unbreakable” issue sold out immediately; It has since been reprinted and distributed far more widely with a spike in global orders. Although it has a circulation of only 44,000, the magazine has become a powerful messenger. As Brykalin says: “We are one of the very few, if not the only, international brands coming from Ukraine that people know. That’s why a lot of readers outside the country are looking to us for news because they have trusted

Vogue Ukraine’s content shows that, even in the most barbaric circumstances, people want a break

Vogue has a history of publishing during wartime. british vogue continues roll out in full blitz, and its physical appearance itself became a symbol of patriotic, stiff-upper-lip conservatism. Intentions back with advice on pursuing household activities like making coupons of one’s clothes, or how to cook with powdered eggs — to foster hope, compassion, and a sense of community among our readers — from the Ukraine team Were not separated from ambitions now.

Watching the growth of Vogue Ukraine has also been a study in the flexibility of a brand name. check magazine instagram feed Now and then you’ll find profiles of military leaders with pictures from the Met Ball, street style and an article about a foundation that rescues orphans. It’s a curious but not uncomfortable mix of ingredients, but it shows that even in the most barbaric circumstances, people want a break.

The future of Vogue Ukraine is not certain. The magazine is just as vulnerable to supply blockades and mortar attacks as any other Ukrainian business. Presently the work is going on. “People join Vogue Ukraine not because of the lifestyle, but because they have a passion to create something meaningful,” says Brykalin. By doing so, they are pushing the name Vogue to its limits.

It also reminds us of a fundamental truth. We spend so much time examining core values ​​and DNA in fashion that we forget that consumers respond quite positively, in general, to things that offer help, humanity, and hope.

email joe at joe.alison@ft.com

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