"There is just a massive boost for anything Russian at the moment," says Muscovite Natalie Simpson, 32, who moved to London a year ago and runs an introductions agency. Russians are every bit as stylish as French or Italian women, she says, and finally the fashion world has woken up to this.
"Russian women will get up several hours early to do their hair and makeup. We believe in sacrifice for beauty. When I was growing up, I would see women walking down icy roads in high heels. We don't wear hats even in the freezing cold, because we don't want to spoil our hair."
Gyunel Boateng, 27, the Russian wife of designer Ozwald, is a model currently studying management at the London College of Fashion.
She has been in London since 1998. "Yes, there are a lot of Russian clients now, but they are not going to be interested in Russian- inspired collections. Russians want to buy something exotic, and that means French. You wouldn't want to wear your national costume, would you?" Elements of it are clever and beautiful, she says: the Tsarina- style pieces, some fur and floral items. "But it's not something I would want to wear. When I'm in Russia I wear a to-the-floor white mink. That's about as nostalgic as I get."
There is a consensus on who has been most accurate, though. All the Russian women are impressed that Kenzo obviously knows its boyars (hereditary nobles from the 14th century). Marina Prokopiva says that Diane von Furstenberg has used a specific folk pattern of knitting and lace from Orenburg, south-east Russia, famous for its shawls.
Anna Sui has picked up on the sarafan -- a peasant pinafore dating from the turn of the 18th century. The less popular looks are the recent
references.
"My sister had one of those Costume National coats in the 1970s," says Prokopiva, laughing. "The hats by Costume National, Michael Kors and Prada have a lot of bad memories connected with the 1970s," says Lidia Korneva. "For us this was the time of stagnation under communism."
Referring to the Soviet era is definitely not cool. Growing up in the 1970s, Prokopiva remembers wearing the universal school uniform.
"Ugly brown dresses with black aprons and white collars. At home I wore homemade and second-hand clothes. Everything in the department stores was brown and dark blue. That was it."
She still remembers the first western clothes she got from a tourist in exchange for a matrioshka (Russian doll).
Natalie Simpson recalls the incredible prestige of going to a factory as a teenager to choose what color and style of boots she wanted.
"My father was in the military, so we were quite comfortable by Soviet standards."
So what will we wear this winter, if not the Russian look?
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