When we asked
LOVE Editor-in-Chief Katie Grand to take over NOWNESS for a day,she came back with various options. A paean to this season’s handbags?It would make sense, given her styling credentials at leather supremos Louis Vuitton and Loewe, and her prominent position at the forefront of fashion for the past, oh, 20 years. Or maybe a preview of LOVE’s fourth issue? After all, the latest installment of her joyous super-glossy, which launched in 2009, hits shelves today. But as she hopped into a cab en route to her post-print-deadline Safari holiday, it came to her: an ode to her favorite animals. Grand’s unabashed admiration for our furry friends is typical of her anything-goes attitude toward the fashion game, and that she makes it work (while still at POP, she devoted a whole issue to our non-human counterparts) is testimony to her Midas touch as an editor and super-stylist. Though the first few issues of LOVE have been relatively beast-free, the newly launched website is covered with pixilated sprites of glossy-eyed cartoon bunnies, dogs and kittens, and the new edition’s accompanying iPad app, which features 14 original fashion films, marks the return of Grand’s favorite mascot (to find out just how Victoria Beckham turned lagomorph click here). Below, Grand tells us more about the creatures closest to her heart:
Olga da Polga (from author Michael Bond’s Olga da Polga series): She was a very special guinea pig, owned by Karen Sawdust. She had a boyfriend called Boris who was a lovely black and brown punky guinea pig. I named my first two guinea pigs Olga and Boris after them.
Clara... My rabbit: Steve [Mackey, Grand’s husband] bought me Clara for my birthday two years ago. She's a lovely rabbit that likes sitting in a Louis Vuitton bag, given half a chance. She's also very fond of iPads and computers––but doesn't really chew cables, which is quite fortunate.
Baloo the bear from The Jungle Book: The Jungle Book was the first film I ever saw, and I remember liking him then. He sings very well.
Top Cat: The only cat worth mentioning. I don't really like cats, but he was cool, and also had a good outfit.
Snoopy: I love beagles, and Snoopy is one of my favorite beagles. When I go to the gym and we do planks, I call them beagles as it makes them much more bearable. I met Snoopy once on a shoot for Self Service; he was lovely, but did terrify [photographer] Solve Sundsbo's three-year-old as he was about six foot five.
Tuna: A giant rabbit I bought for Giles Deacon. He was very clever. He could put a pint glass in his teeth and knock back beer, water––anything he could find lying around Giles's flat. He also used to go crazy for M&Ms, and also clogs. When he got old he went to live with my dad in Birmingham. My dad used to make him salad sandwiches. He was a very spoiled rabbit.
Buddy: A blond retriever who lives at The Point hotel in the Adirondacks where Steve and I got married. He's the perfect Bruce Weber-looking dog, always jolly and always exceptionally social.
Bonkers [the American black bear who played Gentle Ben in the TV series of the same name]: Photographed kissing Dame Elizabeth Taylor by Bruce Weber in our new issue. I'd like to meet him one day.
The Gorgeous Issue of LOVE is out today and its new moving image iPad app is available to download from tomorrow for free from thelovemagazine.co.uk or the Apple iTunes store.