Dasha Zhukova

>> Word has been circulating that Dasha Zhukova is quietly working on a new magazine, and although no news on the name or the primarily content — whether fashion or arts and culture — has surfaced, the rumor is not going away. Today, Grazia's editor-at-large Melanie Rickey Tweeted: "Just heard first issue of Dasha Zhukova's magazine is published next month — a June edition. No idea of its name yet. Anyone know it?" [@fashedatlarge]

>> Since resigning as editor of POP last November, Dasha Zhukova's new endeavors have been primarily art focused. The day after she resigned, it was announced that Zhukova had invested in and was expected to be active in the business of online startup Art.sy, which aims to be a "Pandora for art," recommending pieces to potential buyers based on their taste.

And a couple of weeks ago, it was confirmed that "in a gesture designed to please" Zhukova, her partner Roman Abramovich will finance a state-of-the-art modern art gallery in Moscow's Gorky Park, part of a £1.25 billion ($2.04 billion) makeover of the location which will also include a London Eye-style Ferris wheel. The forthcoming gallery is expected to be curated and run by Zhukova, who also confirmed that she plans to move her Moscow-based Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture to Gorky Park after the renovations are complete.

Now, rumors are circulating that Zhukova plans to return to print. The Imagist reports: "Have you caught that whisper of a hiss that suggests that post-POP, the world's most glamorous art maven, Dasha Zhukova, is summoning her very own culture mag ? . . . We heard the suspected name, which makes perfect branding sense...But who's designing? Who's shooting for? London based? Paris? Moscow? Art driven or is [it] a fashion frenzy?"

>> Linda Evangelista and billionaire Hard Rock founder Peter Morton, who began dating in late 2006, split at the end of this past Summer after a series of disagreements. It appears they've reconciled since; however, word is Morton flew to New York to patch things up in late October, and the two were spotted together at Art Basel last week, where they attended a private dinner hosted by Dasha Zhukova at Mr. Chow at the W South Beach hotel. [NY Post]

>> Founding Vogue Russia editor Aliona Doletskaya resigned from her position at the end of July — with her final issue of the magazine hitting stands for September 2010 — without delineating any future plans other than notifying Condé Nast International president Jonathan Newhouse that, in his words, she would like to "start a new life, probably to write a book or try her hand in a new field." Not much has been heard from Doletskaya since — save for a recent byline in the New York Times on luxury in Russia — but late last week, Derek Blasberg Tweeted, "In today's completely unsubstantiated rumors: Aliona Doletskaya, former editor-in-chief of Russian Vogue, is vying for the top gig at POP." Dasha Zhukova resigned from the POP position earlier this month. [@derekblasberg]

>> Dasha Zhukova, who joined POP as editor-in-chief in February 2009, has resigned from the position, reports Hilary Alexander. No further details have been released. [@HilaryAlexander]

UPDATE: A POP spokesman says Zhukova is leaving to focus on digital publishing projects in the arts, and the magazine will now fall under POP editorial director Ashley Heath. “My time at POP has been a transformative experience that I am extremely proud of,” Zhukova said. “It has afforded me the chance to collaborate with some of the greatest creative minds in the world and I’m thankful to Ashley Heath and Bauer Media for the opportunity. I’m now excited to move on and build something from the ground up.” The spokesman added that Zhukova’s final issue had twice as many advertisers and nearly three times the ad pages as when founder Katie Grand was editing the magazine. [WWD]

>> Head not brimming with quotes and opinions from Pop editor Dasha Zhukova? The New Yorker's Sept. 27 issue profiles woman-of-few-words Zhukova and explores her relationship with Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich, which blossomed while Abramovich was still married to his second wife with whom he had five children (although at the time, Abramovich's spokesman called Zhukova nothing more than "a family friend").

Since, The New Yorker's Julia Ioffe writes, "The pair" — who have a 9-month-old son together — "has kept a low profile. Abramovich, notoriously press-shy, has found a good partner in Zhukova. She will not discuss how they met, or even if they are married. In public, the couple barely interact, floating past each other without words or eye contact. Her press corps rivals his in obstructiveness and obfuscation. She gives few interviews, and when she does, her answers are studies in evasion. When I asked her about her recent art acquisitions — since becoming involved with Zhukova, Abramovich is said to have spent record amounts on paintings by Lucian Freud and Francis Bacon — her airy Southern California drawl turned to lead. 'I don't really talk about the collecting,' she said, and then, as if by way of explanation, added, 'it's something that's quite personal and doesn't involve just me.'"

Ioffe continues: "It's tempting to suppose that such vagueness betrays a neophyte's lack of confidence, and a wariness about being portrayed as a rich dilettante. But Zhukova's almost virtuosic uncommunicativeness seems to apply to all areas of her life, and her infinite unquotability has earned her a kind of fame among journalists. At a fashion show, a reporter for Women's Wear Daily asked her what she thought of the clothes. Zhukova responded, 'I liked them, but that's off the record.'"

While at a June art opening Zhukova was hosting at her Garage Center for Contemporary Culture in Moscow, Ioffe notes: "Periodically, she collapsed on the gray couches, looking like a sullen child, and searched her purse for a pack of cigarettes. (Abramovich disapproves of the habit, and Zhukova denies that she smokes.) She was tired of having a reporter follow her around all day. 'Do you always have to have that tape recorder out?' she asked. She developed a makeshift way of going off the record, covering her mouth and whispering to her friends." And: "At one point in the evening, I came across Abramovich as he wandered into the room with the MOMA exhibit. He walked slowly around, chewing on gum and staring blankly at the works. When I approached him and mentioned that I was writing about Zhukova, she leaped up from a nearby sofa and sprinted over on six-inch Louboutin heels. 'Can I talk to you for a minute?' she said to Abramovich, in Russian, and, grabbing him by the arm, led him quickly across the room and out the door."

"Ultimately," Ioffe concludes, "Perhaps Zhukova doesn't speak much because she understands that her money and connections speak for themselves."

>> Britney Spears to Perform at Dasha Zhukova's Pop Party? —Gwen Stefani and Victoria Beckham have already RSVPed yes to Dasha Zhukova's Pop bash Friday night at the newly-revamped dive Don Hill's in New York, but neither is set to perform. Instead, the New York Times hints that there will be a "legendary guest entertainer with a notorious lust for life," and The Daily hedges a guess that it will be none other than Britney Spears, Pop's current cover girl: "Nothing's confirmed, we're told, but . . . The Daily hears whispers that the former pop princess is maybe/possibly/hopefully slated to take the stage." [NY Times, DFR]

>> The latest artist to collaborate with Pop on a cover under Dasha Zhukova's reign is Takashi Murakami, who art directed Britney Spears as a manga character — complete with with wedding dress and veil (image here), schoolgirl backpack, Hello Kitty cell phone, and ankle socks — for the magazine's multiple Fall 2010 covers. Spears, who was photographed by Todd Cole for the occasion, told Grazia that pre-shoot, "We looked at a lot of characters and artwork before we shot, so I could get a feel for what [Murakami] was looking for."

Why Britney? »