moscow doesn't believe in tears: How to be a Brash, Young Russian Designer

1. Use your Natural Resources
Ironic distance from the past is brash. Communism is a bottomless well of fashion ideas, which only former Commies can tap into without seeming incredibly insensitive. Get to it before the Chinese!

Alena Akhmadullina. "Stremleniye k Sovershenstvu" (Aspiring to Perfection), 2007.

Igor Chapurin, Pret-a-porter, 2007.

Denis Simachev. Fall/Winter 2005-2006

Also, that furry, moving stuff -- kill it and wear it. Go on. You can do that here. Russia's primary natural advantage is expendable abundance: land, people, snow minks to wear on your head, hands and feet. Russia used humans as ammunition in WWII; no one is going to miss a few baby seals. See my loafers, former gophers...

Denis Simachev "Chukotka" Fall/Winter 2006-2007

Ilya Shiyan. Fall/Winter 2007-2008.

2. The Attitude Tee
English banalities are brash. But keep it simple, stupid.

Masha Tsigal "Milky Way" Fall/Winter 2007-2008.

Max Chernitsov. Spring/Summer 2006 "Hip Hop Da Rulz."

Cyrillic is better. Because you're effing proud to be Russian, yo.

Akhmadullina.

Denis Simachev "Bang! Bang!" Fall/Winter 2007-2008

3. Homoeroticism
Being gay in Russia is still edgy as hell. Stuff that'll elicit a beatdown on the street gives your collection the air of danger.

Shiyan.

Max Chernitsov. "Rybak! (The Fisherman!)" Fall/Winter 2007-2008.

Fresh Art. Spring/Summer 2007.

3. What about You?
As in most spheres of Russian society, it doesn't hurt to be a traditionally attractive woman.

Masha Tsigal. Night Life Awards 2006.

Alena Akhmadullina. In Style Russia, Sept. 2006

Even if you're a man.

Fresh Art-isan. Russian Fashion Week Fall 2005.

Make friends with famous people, so they'll go to your shows and/or model your stuff.

Rapper Detsl in Masha Tsigal.

Pop star Dima Bilan for Shiyan.
(Leather codpiece? Bonus points for homoeroticism.)

Hairstylist Sergei Zverev in Ilya Shiyan.
(Double Bonus Points: Famous homo in an attitude tee.)

4. Remember your Audience
Gazes cast serenely, confidently to the future, Misha and Masha are the New Russian prototype consumers. Sixty years ago, they'd have been on a poster. They're cultured, they're adventurous, they eat Thai food. But you just see what sort of hell breaks loose when you try taking his Roberto Cavalli logo tee away.

RFW pre-party at Dyagilev.

Undoing years of slavish devotion to Western brands isn't going to happen overnight. Like a stubborn five-year-old who refuses to eat anything but blue cheese, the fashionable Russian public must have its DSquared jeans and D&G skullcaps slowly coaxed away, and replaced with brash homegrown items.