Recent interview with the EIC of Vogue Ukraine for fashionweek.kiev.ua. It's in Russian and it's quite long, but I'll try to summarize some main points.
She thinks she was chosen for the position because she's a patriot. However, she doesn't think of it in terms being a patriot for the Ukrainian photographers/models/etc, but rather a patriot to Ukraine and its life as a whole. She will of course be supporting the local industry, but it doesn't matter to her as much whether say a photographer is from London or Kyiv, so long as the story being told is Ukrainian.
Yelena Yemchuk shot a story for the first issue. It's a multi-model shoot, that was difficult to get done because of all the models they had to get together for it plus it was around the time when Sandy hit NY.
As someone who came from the world of newspaper, she like Vogue UK because of the written text it features. She appreciates Vogue Paris for its clean look and Vogue US for its scope and importance. However, she doesn't want to be like any of the other Editors and doesn't want to make Vogue Ukraine similar to any edition.
Again, as someone who came from a black and white business paper, her primary goal is that Ukraine sees a new level of writing. She will leave the art direction on photoshoots to people who were hired for that purpose.
As the magazine is still trying to establish itself, she's not willing to reveal which of the world-famous photographers she'd like Vogue Ukraine to be associated with.
She wears brands both Ukrainian and foreign. Unlike Anne DR, who says that if you're comfortable, you're not fashionable - Masha ops for comfortable.
Would she put a politician (woman) on the cover? You don't need to be a politician or a non-politician to be on the cover. As soon as there is a stylish, cool and smart woman, they will put her on the cover. She wants her readers to be proud of the Ukrainian girls and she'll do everything in her power to grow and strengthen this attitude. Profession doesn't matter.
What is will be in Vogue Ukraine aside form fashion? "All the usual suspects." A lot of culture, a lot of beauty (can't go anywhere in Ukraine without beauty - most beautiful girls live in Ukraine), a large section on lifestyle, travel, technology, a lot of interesting people. Everything.
Vogue Ukraine will differ from Vogue Russia because they're completely different markets and different women. Plus, they'll have more flexibility because unlike in Russia, Vogue Ukraine is the only Conde Nast publication in Ukraine.
Anna Wintour says the cover reflects what's happening in the country - will that be your starting point? Yes. It would be naive to produce a magazine that's not rooted in reality. There's a new collection - that's relevant; but there's also the issue of global climate change - that too is relevant but in a different way.
Full interview in Russian here.
http://fashionweek.kiev.ua/masha-tsukanova-intervie/