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MOSCOW – Wives of Russian oligarchs are choosing Oscar de la Renta.
The Moscow store Aizel held a trunk show of the designer’s spring collection earlier this month, which was overseen by Boaz Mazor, executive at large at Oscar de la Renta. Aizel Guseinova, the owner of Aizel, estimates her store will sell about $1.5 million worth of de la Renta clothes over the next 12 months.
“This winter is the first time I brought Oscar to Moscow and before Christmas we sold 70 percent of the collection,” said Guseinova, whose store also carries designers Michael Kors, Marc Jacobs, Chloé, Stella McCartney, Nancy Gonzalez and Collette Dinnigan.
“For me, it is easy to sell American designers here — American fashion is a little bit relaxed, so it is easy to wear, even the outfits for special occasions,” she said. “There are a lot of cocktail dresses that sell best, but generally the [de la Renta] collection meets the needs of women starting from 24, but also I have customers who are 68 and they can also wear Oscar.
“The thing is that the clothes are unlike anything else and my clients feel like the members of a club, which is really important for them.”
Guseinova decided to carry the collection when she saw it at Bergdorf Goodman and realized “its sophisticated and photogenic look would sell well in Russia.”
“Now there are many people in Moscow who can afford those clothes, not necessarily a $15,000 gown in the window, but prices for dresses start at $1,500 to $2,000,” she said.
Aizel carries de la Renta’s cocktail and evening dresses, daywear, shoes, bags and accessories.
“Starting with spring, we gave Aizel exclusive rights for Oscar [in Moscow], though it is also available in St. Petersburg at the Babochka store, Kiev at Sanahant and Kazakhstan at the Avenue Montaigne boutique,” Mazor said. “I am not surprised the brand is doing well in Russia; a large percentage of people who buy Oscar’s clothes in Harrods are Russians. Now we are thinking of opening a monobrand Oscar de la Renta store in Russia.
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“According to my feelings, Oscar’s style must be close to the Russian heart and it is not by chance that the Russian model Eugenia Volodina is the face of our autumn-winter 2005 campaign and five of the 20 models in our New York spring show were Russian,” he added.
Aizel — in Moscow’s Stoleshnikiov Pereulok district of luxury stores where people shop for Dior, Hermès and Salvatore Ferragamo — opened a year ago. Guseinova also owns the Agent Provocateur shop in Moscow and the city’s Chloé store (together with the big Russian retailer Crocus) and plans to open an Aizel men’s wear store that will sell Michael Kors, Alexander McQueen, Tom Brown, Adam, Jil Sander, Belwest, Ravadzotta, Billionaire Couture and Ted Baker.
And, now that it’s been 12 months since she opened Aizel, Guseinova can begin to boast about her client list, many of whom she will target for de la Renta’s designs.
“We dress Irina Abramovich, whose husband owns the oil company Sibneft and the Chelsea soccer club in London; Irina Kasyanova, the wife of the former prime minister; Lady Foster, the wife of architect Sir Norman Foster; Nadezda Novikova, whose husband owns the best Moscow restaurants, and Olga Slutsker, who owns the chain of expensive fitness clubs World Class,” she said.