Birthday Girl: Dasha Zhukova
With her international background, Moscow native Dasha Zhukova is making a momentous imprint on Russia’s art scene. Dasha spent her childhood abroad in the US, then moved to London to continue studies after completing college. It is in Europe that she began to reconnect with her homeland, Russia, and with art. Drawn to architecture and modern art, she saw a gap in the latter within Russia. An entrepreneur at heart, Dasha took it upon herself to establish a Russian center for contemporary art in Moscow. She founded such a center, called Garage Center for Contemporary Culture, or simply The Garage, due to the fact that it was originally located in a famous bus garage, the Bakhmetevsky.
Dasha has achieved trifecta: a blending of modern art with contemporary society and pop culture. She has housed the artworks of Jeff Koons, and booked musicians such as Lady Gaga and performers such as the Bolshoi Ballet (the former sang while the latter danced), if that gives you an idea of her curatorial talents. She has the gifts of passion and taste, which have collided most brilliantly to both establish and reinforce art culture in Russia.
Secondly, Dasha performs the coveted roles of fashion designer and magazine editor. She concepted the clean – with a bit of an edge – fashion line Kova & T, which can be found at Urban Outfitters, Shopbop.com, and ASOS.com to name a few retailers. Most recently, Dasha covered June’s Art Issue of Vogue Russia as a guest editor. All in all, Dasha’s first love is art, and her passion for fashion and editing are resultant gifts. Her cover of Vogue Russia’s June Art issue comes during a perfect time: her birth month. We wish Dasha a happy birthday!
Image: Guardian.co.uk
Mollie Rifkin finds energy in fashion and art, and understood her calling at a young age. The fix she got from reading her mother’s copies of Vogue while growing up led her to fashion writing. Mollie is passionate about scouting trends before they hit the streets and putting them into words. She sees fashion as wearable art and reports on style and culture, all the while exploring how the two are interrelated. Mollie is based in New York City.
