L’Officiel Russia editor-in-chief Evelina Khromtchenko wants you to educate yourself on the essentials of Russian chic, symbolism, and culture–so she wrote a book. Assouline is releasing Khromtchenko’s five-year project, Russian Style, on May 1, and the book aims to explain how renowned national symbols (like Valenki, Babushka, and Platok) have influenced international designers for decades. “For me, Russian style is not only high boots, furs and brocade, Vologda laces and Ivanovo cotton-prints,” explains the author. “But it is also the mysterious Russian soul, and a way of living with a belief in miracles. It is great accomplishments in literature and art. It is the young designers’ crowd and the great couturiers of the past. It is a man’s might and female beauty. Pirojki and vodka. Deep snow, the effect of sunlight on golden domes, splendid St. Petersburg, cozy Moscow, the things we have and the things we have lost.”