Sasha Kovaleva, hube
Sasha Kovaleva splits her time between Paris and Berlin, and combines cultural management, photography and video production, and art management with producing her magazine hube.
She tells us about the magazine—‘We’re focusing on ideas and projects that could enhance humanity and change our mindset.’—as she explains the origins of its name and her working week.
What are you doing this morning?
I’m in Paris today. We had several crazy weeks because of fashion month and finishing our latest issue. I took a few days off to go to Normandy with my mom, but now I’m back in Paris. The team has already begun working on our next edition, which will be released in March next year. At the same time, we’re pretty excited about the upcoming release of our third issue, which will be here in a couple of weeks.
If I’m not traveling, my morning routine is always the same: early morning emails, gym, first cup of coffee, reading the news and other magazines, emails, calls, emails, calls… I don’t like Mondays. On Mondays, I usually have to deal with routine tasks: budgets, logistics, bills, etc. I work on weekends, and this is the best time of the week. Nobody bothers me, and I can focus on strategy, new content, and potential heroes for the magazine. Weekdays are ideal for business, while weekends offer the perfect opportunity for creativity.
What can you see from your desk/ through the window?
I’m sitting in a café, savoring my first cappuccino. It’s quite peculiar because I’m typically an introvert, yet I relish being in the company of absolute strangers. Right now, I see many of them around me.
Which magazine do you first remember?
Hmm, I think it was Vogue Paris. It seemed so refined and sophisticated; 20 years ago, my mind was captivated by their shoots.
Which magazine matters to you the most this morning?There are numerous publications that I both admire and envy. The teams behind these projects are doing such a great job: Self Service, The Gentlewoman, Purple. I don’t want to share a very long list here, but there are many more that I’m following with great curiosity: Marfa, De La Repubblica, Puss Puss, Holiday, M Le magazine du Monde, Document Journal, etc.
Describe hube in three words.
The cultural context of tomorrow.
Explain the name and thinking behind the magazine.
We’re focusing on ideas and projects that could enhance humanity and change our mindset. People, their dreams, aspirations, and fears, consistently remain the focal point of our search. Hube’s heroes have a new sense of time and freedom, reality and space. They’re creators living in new dimensions, inspired by the past and inspiring the future. Simultaneously too serious and too ironic. They connect humanity to the future, enabling us to remain human, human be, hube.
What makes hube stand out from other magazines covering culture and fashion?
We actually combine four spheres of interest: fashion, contemporary art, new tech, and modern philosophy. We’re speaking to people who have already made a significant mark in these domains and whose concepts will shape our future. We’re not only provoking a meaningful dialogue amongst inspiring thinkers, but I truly believe that our features, interviews, art performances, and visual narratives possess the potential to precipitate new ideas and spark innovative concepts.
Each issue is huge—how big is the hube team, and how do you pull together so many interviews and shoots?
We have quite a small team working on each issue: me (Editor-in-shief), Pavel Prigara (Creative director), Gabriella Norberg (Fashion Director), Aleksandra Braska (Graphic Designer), Rosie Flanagan (Contributing editor). We’re fortunate to collaborate with incredible creatives and visionaries from one issue to the next. Photographers, writers, stylists, hair and makeup artists, set designers, casting directors, models, curators, and artists.
We’re very passionate about what we do. We receive incredible support from our contributors and partners. Sometimes, this journey is extremely exhausting and stressful, but we’re very lucky to be surrounded by so many talented professionals.
What one piece of advice do you have for someone launching their own magazine?
Follow your intuition and do some math.
What are you most looking forward to this coming week?
This week is going to be busy so I’m already looking forward to when I have some time for myself: indulging in a bath and reading a good book.