Roman Mazurenko's Lam Magazine
Published 30 months ago
Politically-aware fashion and photography from Moscow.
- Text by Jefferson Hack
Dazed & Confused was born from the mantra "create your own media"
at a time in the UK and Europe when there was little outlet for
creativity and intellectual opinions on youth. The Moscow-based web
magazine LAM
(short for Look At Me) created by 25-year-old Roman Mazurenko is born
from a similar premise. On a recent trip to Moscow I hooked up with him
to talk about their sense of visual self-expression and what it means
to be young, creative in Russia today.
"London is closed. It
has become a victim of its own good taste. New York has turned into a
giant shopping mall," explains Mazurenko about his enthusiasm for
Moscow.
Determined to establish a new Russian point of view in
fashion and photography, LAM now in its fifth issue, publishes its
monthly online editions as one of the only alternatives to a print
market dominated by mainstream fashion glossies such as Vogue, Harpers
Bazaar and Glamour. The current issue of LAM explores life explores
life for its (claimed) 40,000 monthly readers through the theme of
banal.
"We want to create something that has a unique Russian
feel to it and get inspiration from things that are not comfortable to
most people," explains Mazurenko about the look and tone of the current
issue of LAM.
He does that by working with very young and
untrained talent, his direction, sense of purpose and energy holding
the project together.
"Everything in London is so 'cool'",
continues Mazurenko. "The magazines have hyped everything and when
everything is cool then it looses its credibility. I find it humorous
that people still take it seriously," he says.
Mazurenko is key
player in the emergence of a new, more self-confident Russian youth
culture. He is also part of the four piece Thriller production team
that stage underground events in the city, so far bringing DJ's like
Diplo and Digitalism and artists like Matthew Stone to mix with local
talent. The scene has been developing in tandem with the original Look
At Me web site, which along with its alternative listings information
allows its social network to post party pictures of each other,
harnessing the look and energy of a new young Russia. The name that is
being used to describe this emerging Anglo-influenced youth movement is
"Ruskibeat".
In a unique exclusive for Dazed Digital, Mazurenko
and his team at LAM have produced a short fashion film called "From
Heavy Weight to Weightless". "Fashion has to be political," says
Mazurenko who previously studied in Dublin before coming back to his
hometown three years ago. Just like any other form of self-expression
in this country. I believe Russia, culturally speaking, is in the eye
of the storm right now, and that the next ten years is going to be as
crazy in terms of development as the 90's was."
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