For the latest issue of LOVE, Editor-in-Chief and stylist extraordinaire Katie Grand commissioned eight covers (with stars including a leopard print-clad Rosie Huntington-Whitely, Giselle Bundchen and Sienna Miller) as well as 14 short fashion films for the magazine’s new iPad app. It’s a titanic, jubilant effort, providing the perfect opportunity to re-introduce Grand’s pet rabbit Clara (formerly the author of POP’s editor’s letters) to a new, tech-savvy audience. To celebrate the launch, we caught up with Grand to talk about the challenges facing magazines in the digital era, and get to the bottom of all this animal business.

It’s always been there. But I think when we launched LOVE we felt the need to do something very distinct and different from POP, particularly because I was taking all the team with me. Now we’ve done a few issues I don’t feel the need.

We had all these plans for a cool, robotic voiceover to link between the films [on the iPad app]. But then there were a few logistical problems, and we ran out of money! Then [LOVE fashion editor] Victoria Young said—she hadn’t had much sleep I think—“Why can’t it be Clara?” I was seeing Victoria Beckham that night and I asked her to do it. She was up for it—she thought it was hilarious. She’s one of my funniest friends. 

A beagle. Because they have nice ears, and nobody has nice ears.

Yes, but more importantly, Lucy from Peanuts. 

Yes, but she’s always been a role model. She’s just got a good attitude. And she had a great outfit. 

I’m really excited about doing all the moving image stuff. It felt very timely to have another dimension to the magazine that wasn’t necessarily a shop or a physical experience. 

Yes! I think photographers are going through this transition as well. They’re exploring this whole new avenue. I think everyone feels quite nervous about it, and in a way that was quite exciting, going through that with photographers like Willy Vanderperre and Alasdair MacLellan, who I’ve worked with for a long time on stills. Then you get someone like Sharif Hamza, who’s actually much more experienced in film. Although I think Elle terrified him a bit… she just walks in and she’s just so overwhelmingly Elle Macpherson. 

I really like the fainting goats. It’s hilarious but quite sad.

I’ve always been a fan of the Stephen Sprouse leopard. Leopard’s the new black. [laughs]

Quite a few. Clara got bought a lead once and was just… petrified. The poor thing was not very happy. But I think probably lagomorphs are different from dogs.