10 ICONIC Russian magazines of the 1990s
The popularity of glossy magazines peaked in the 2000s (read about the most famous ones here). We put together a listicle of the most popular magazines that appeared after the collapse of the USSR in the 1990s.
1. ‘COOL’
The USSR published a huge number of magazines for teens and young adults, but ‘COOL’ magazine was completely different. If the Soviet ones communicated with teenagers like adults, in this magazine, they published articles in a light fashionable slang. The Russian youth quickly learned about new trends in music, stories about the lives of foreign and domestic stars and got acquainted through correspondence. There were also colorful photos of idols, posters that could be hung on the wall in the room and discussion of frank topics in an accessible format.
2. ‘Cool Girl’
The teenage girl version of ‘Cool’ was in circulation from 1997 to 2006. This magazine also had a lot of material dedicated to music and posters of popular artists, but there were also articles about fashion, cosmetics and the complexity of first relationships.
3. ‘Molotok’
From 1999 until 2008, there was another magazine for the youth called ‘Molotok’ (‘Hammer’). It also focused on music trends and discussions of teenage relationships. The magazine also raised the topics of violence, bullying in society and incurable diseases. However, it had a reputation as a scandalous publication: it was accused of being too frank.
4. ‘Computerra’
In the 1990s, the era of personal computers began and many people assembled them on their own: they separately selected the motherboard, video card and sound card. A large number of publications for people interested in computers also appeared. One of the most popular was the ‘Computerra’ magazine, which was issued between 1992 and 2009.
The magazine specialized in covering new products in the computer world and was written in accessible language, when there was not yet widespread access to information on the Internet.
5. ‘Game.Exe’
This popular magazine was also dedicated to computer games and was very popular among young people, due to the unconventional presentation of materials. Each writer had their own unique style, so that gamers literally read each issue to pieces before passing them amongst each other. The magazine was in circulation from 1996 to 2006.
6. ‘Matador’
The ‘Matador’ magazine (1993-1998) was a printed version of the program of the same name about cinema, music and fashion. It had articles about the main trends, with the columnists often being recognized critics of the time. ‘Matador’ stood at the origins of the Russian glossy magazine for intellectual readers, which produced quality and stylish materials. However, only about 30 issues were published in all that time.
7. ‘TV Park’
Russia's first illustrated TV guide was in circulation from 1994 to 2013. For a long time, this magazine was the most popular in Russia. In addition to the TV program, it published interviews with stars, as well as movie and TV news. It is also fondly remembered for its funny videos that parodied the advertising of the time.
8. ‘Fuzz’
Russia’s main rock music magazine was ‘Fuzz’ (1991-2009). In addition to its print format, the magazine had its own awards to honor the best Russian rock musicians. It was published in St. Petersburg and the music festival, where the best videos and songs were awarded, was also held in the city on the Neva River.
9. ‘Don’t sleep!’
In the 1990s, nightclubs began to appear, followed by nightlife publications. Fans of the rave scene would read ‘Ptyuch’ and ‘Om’ (read more about them here), but the magazine ‘Don't Sleep’ published reviews about the life of partygoers in Moscow’s best clubs. It published interviews with DJs, concert posters, photo reports about nightlife.
It was in circulation from 1994 to 2014 and then for a couple more years in a digital format.
10. ‘Andrei’
And, for Russian men in 1991 (still in the USSR!), the first magazine with an erotic slant was published – an answer to the American ‘Playboy’, but with a Russian flavor. The magazine published not only women in revealing outfits, but also interviews with interesting people and artistic prose. Regular print issues were, however, discontinued in the 1990s.