It seems Aliona Doletskaya, the former Russian Vogue Editor in Chief, has found a home at the soon to launch Interview Magazine Russian Edition. I’m still obsessed with the 2008 re-launch of Interview mag in NYC… the art direction etc is phenomenal, one of the best magazines in the country for proper fashion imagery and art if you ask me. It’s really not surprising that Bernd Runge, former publisher of Conde Nast Russia was tapped by Mercury to be the new publisher of their latest acquisition for the Russians, and hence Aliona. Mercury is the luxury conglomerate in Russia that owns every possible high end brand on the market from Gucci, Dolce, Prada, YSL, Chanel, Ralph Lauren, TSUM, the list is too long to even remember. The only thing they don’t seem to own is Hermes and Dior, which is Jamilco (I love Khaled…) I remember meeting Alla Verber, who is a pretty amazing woman, in 1999 when I was a very young fashion editor at Russian Vogue and Mercury was just that strip of shops on Kutuzovsky Prospekt in Moscow. Alla stayed a friend for several years after I left Russian Vogue and I will always adore and admire her. It’s amazing how much they’ve grown and helped shape the Russian luxury market. In 2008 they also bought the Phillips De Pury auction house in London, which is when they lured Bernd to come work for them. And now Interview Russia. Should be interesting to see what they do and how much original content they will create. Knowing Aliona, all of it will be original…
