FROM MOSCOW WITH LOVE

November 2nd, 2009

IMG_0586The first time I visited Moscow was in 1968 with my father. It was during the Brezhnev years and life there was so different than in the rest of Europe. Our bags were full of chocolates, lipsticks and pantyhose, which made all the people we met so very happy. Twenty years later, I went with my children and even though it was the beginning of Glasnost, it was still another world. Today Moscow is one of the most exciting capitals in the world. Like New York, it has so much energy and joie de vivre and I love it!!

I am staying at the Ritz Carlton, the old Intourist building with a beautiful view on the Kremlin.  A whole group of us are here for the opening of a DVF retrospective at the Manezh Exhibition Hall.

When I land on Tuesday night, one shipment of artwork is still held in customs and we are reminded of the 2 forces of Russia. One side is aggressive, fast and “all is possible”, and one is bureaucratic and everything is “nyet.” Panic is not an option and at the end all arrives and goes well!!  Bill Katz, the ultimate art insider makes it happen with the invaluable help of Luisella, Robert, Marissa, Colleen, Franca, Fariba and Lourdes. I will never thank them enough. It is a non stop excitement for the next 4 days organized by Aizel, my smart and wonderful partner in Moscow.

Visit at the Garage, the new Centre For Contemporary Culture, founded last year by Dasha Zhukova. Situated in one of Russia’s architectural masterpiece, designed by Konstantin Melnikov, I catch the last day of the Biennale curated by Jean Hubert Martin…FANTASTIC!!!

Photo shoot with 4 young Russian designers and an appearance on the most viewed TV show “Let Them TALK.” Dinner with banker Roustam Tariko at the magnificent Baccarat restaurant. The food is delicious and very refined, the young French chef introduces himself… my brother Philippe and his wife Greta are with us as is editor in chief of Vogue Aliona Doletskaya.

Thursday is a day of interviews and meeting people. Lunch at Vogue Café, and cocktails at the DVF shop where I meet my Russian customers. Dinner for 30 at Café Pushkin, my favorite restaurant in Moscow. My husband, Barry and Ali, my son’s fiancée and my friend Hamilton South have joined us… it is their first time in Russia!!!

Friday is THE DAY !!! I am a little nervous and have not slept well. I walk to the museum for last minute checking… no one else has slept either… but things seem to be ready!! At 2 o’clock I go to the University where I  speak in front of 500 students of the school of journalism. I begin to relax as I tell my story in front of the nicest audience I ever had. Mostly girls, pretty, intelligent, polite. My brother is in the room… so is Natalia Vodianova, my beautiful friend who actually gave me the idea of this exhibition.

I cross the street for the press conference at the Manezh. Olga Sviblova, the smashing powerful director of The Moscow House of Photography Museum and Multimedia Art Museum introduces me. I am very humbled and  moved….I think of my father who left his native Russia in 1929…I dedicate the exhibition to him! Back at the hotel, I do my make up and change into a gold dress. Naomi Campbell and her Russian boyfriend, Vladislav Doronin pick us up and we arrive at the Museum where a huge crowd is waiting. Olga, Naomi and Natalia officially introduce me. It is very very exciting. I meet the American Ambassador, John Beyrle, the Belgian Ambassador, Guy Trouveroy and many dignitaries… people seem very happy… the show is a success!! Dinner at the elegant Bolshoi Restaurant…food  is delicious. I am exhausted, but the night is not over… Aizel has arranged a Studio 54 evening at We Are Family night club… it is great fun!!!!

Saturday is off duty… we go and visit the Kremlin, its churches and the Armoury Museum…all magnificent!! It is snowing slightly just to remind us that we are in Russia. Last dinner is in a Ukranian restaurant that looks like a farm… chicken Kiev and meatballs ! Before leaving on Sunday, I rush to the New Tretyakov Museum and see an extraordinary show on Sergei Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes… lovely way to say good bye to Moscow, its beauty and its dreams.

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