For years, Russian fashion has been considered a contradiction in terms, something akin to the Wendy's Soviet Fashion Show ad, in which a stocky, kerchiefed woman repeatedly marches down a runway in a gray smock.

Jump to 2008 and the world of 15-year-old designer Kira Plastinina. It's stocked with sheer dresses, gravity-defying black tutus, and bubblegum-pink accessories. Already famous in Russia for her rich father, heiress friends, and position designing clothes for the Russian edition of American Idol, Plastinina opened her first U.S. store in New York's SoHo on May 2.

Meanwhile, Veronika Jeanvie just teamed up with mentor Paco Rabanne to become the first Ukrainian designer to debut a collection in the U.S. Moscovite Alexander Terekhov is a fixture at New York's fashion week, with four seasons of well-attended shows under his belt. Russian designers Valentin Yudashkin, Denis Simachev, and Igor Chapurin—some of the better-known names in Russia—show their collections in Europe.

"The world is shifting," says Fern Mallis, organizer of Mercedes-Benz Fashion Weeks in New York and Los Angeles. "Russia, India, and China—that's where more people are making money now, and they can afford to fund and show collections abroad."

Fifteen years ago, no one but Yudashkin was known outside the region. In 1991, he was invited to Paris Fashion Week and, after presenting a collection of dresses inspired by Fabergé eggs, became the first Russian designer to be chosen as a member of the Syndicate of High Fashion in Paris. Chapurin followed, with his tailored, feminine clothing winning a Nina Ricci competition for young designers in Paris in 2002. Around that same time, Simachev, known for his avant-garde street style for women and men, began showing in Milan.

Though the domestic market for fashion has grown dramatically in the past decade, there are obvious reasons to chase the fashion dream outside of the former Soviet bloc—money and prestige chief among them. Though there are Russian and Moscow fashion weeks, foreign buyers and press don't bother to attend. Capital can be nigh impossible to come by at home because Eastern European investors generally consider fashion a poor investment. And even a bit part on the global fashion stage can give a brand cachet back home.

That's not to say that these fashion defectors have an easy time abroad.

Each season in New York, Terekhov sends his label, Terexov, down the runway. With its streamlined look and feminine flourishes, the line can hold its own next to those of American fashion ingenues like Phillip Lim or Jenni Kayne. For fall, standout pieces include a belted, silver down coat, a crimson V-neck gown and a sheer cocktail dress with a ruffled hem. Neiman Marcus and Barneys New York buyers sit front row, but the 29-year-old Terekhov has yet to score an order from a major department store.