Ralph Takes Moscow

Ralph Lauren is in Moscow today to celebrate the opening of the first two Ralph Lauren stores in the country. One is in Tretyakovsky Passage,

and the other in a tony suburban mall known as Barvikha Luxury Village. Tonight's festivities include a runway show and formal dinner at the U.S. ambassador's residence with Lady Gabriella Windsor, daughter of Princess Michael of Kent in tow as an unofficial brand ambassador. My escort from the airport (I'm officially here doing a story for British Elle), told me that Ralph has over 80 people in town working on the project. Actually it was 120, I learned from a Ralph employee. Other brands that launched here with the Russian partner Mercury Group including Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Prada, and Dolce and Gabbana, came with no more than 20. And those other teams stayed for at most two weeks. Some of Ralph's crew have been here for a month. Of course other brands only open one store at a time, Ralph's doing two at once. When he pointed out that he's the first American brand to open in Moscow, it suddenly all clicked. No wonder it's got to be bigger and better. Nothing less than our national pride is at stake. Rich Russians like a big show and love a big showman and it seems they're rewarding Ralph with their cold-hard currency. Although it was strictly VIPs only in the shop today, David Lauren, Ralph's son and a VP at the company, said they sold eight Ricky bags and that was before the party.