Yes, it's the power of seeing an unairbrushed person, rather than a plasticised doll. Team that with their art direction, and they're producing a magnificent-looking magazine.
I wonder if the people working on the American version, decades ago, when it was a supernova of creativity, would ever have thought that, in the future, the Russian version would be the one that most recaptures the golden age of the magazine's aesthetic? (In those days, could they ever have imagined a Russian version would exist?)