Moscow Fashion Week 2009

Here is a clip of one of the top designers from Moscow Fashion Week, Ursula Pelt...please notice the initial cig at the end of the catwalk? I wonder if that would EVER happen at NYC Fashion Week?

Russian billionaire bailout...will it work?

Read this Reuters report to see if you think this plan will work...

Thomson Reuters

MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) - Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia's richest man, has offered to bail out indebted financial news provider RBC, investment bank Renaissance Capital said on Monday, boosting the media firm's stock over 30 percent.
Renaissance Capital, half-owned by Prokhorov, said it was proposing upping the share capital at RBC. The mining tycoon's Onexim investment group would buy 65 percent of the new share capital for $35 million, the bank said in a statement.
'Such a decision will not only save the business of RBC and regain the trust of advertisers, partners and employees, but also create new opportunities for the development of the company during the crisis,' said Ruben Aganbegyan, chief executive of Renaissance Capital in Russia.
RBC declined to comment on the proposal.
Renaissance Capital said the $35 million would finance operations and partial repayment of debts. A source close to RBC, who declined to be identified, estimated the company's total debt at between $200 million and $230 million.
At Friday's close, RBC's market capitalisation was about $52 million. RBC shares, which have been creeping up in recent days, soared 31.3 percent on Monday to 16.58 roubles.
Renaissance Capital said that, under its plan, creditors would be offered a three-part settlement. First, all creditors would simultaneously receive 8 percent of the total sum of their debt in cash.
They could then choose to write off 65 percent of RBC's debt with the remainder to be repaid in three years, or write off 45 percent with the remainder to be repaid in seven years.
Third, all creditors would receive a proportional stake of the company's new share capital. The total share to be held by creditors would be 10 percent of the new share capital.
Rosbank, another financial institution owned by Prokhorov, already owns 12 percent of RBC.
Prokhorov secured his place at the top of Russia's rich list by selling real estate interests and a quarter of Norilsk Nickel before the financial crisis took hold.
RBC must repay a 1.5 billion rouble ($45.05 million) bond with a $5 million coupon payment on Tuesday. Another RBC bond issue was trading at an average price of 15 percent of face value on Monday. It rose to 21 percent on the news.
(Reporting by Melissa Akin, Anton Doroshev and Olga Popova; Editing by Andrew Macdonald)
($1=33.30 Rouble) Keywords: RUSSIA RBC/RESCUE
(melissa.akin@reuters.com; +7 495 775 1242)
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Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved.

Russian Fashionistas await Moscow Fashion Week

Stylish women around the world have one indulgence in common...they simply cannot wait to see what exciting new fashion is unveiled during Fashion Week. Most people think of the major fashion capitals as being New York, Los Angeles, Paris, London and Milan, but many forget about the largest fashion week in Eastern Europe; Moscow Fashion Week attracts some 50,000 guests!! Top Russian designer Slava Zaitsev is set to open the week, which starts March 29th, with his collection that is dedicated to the 100th year anniversary of Dyagilev’s Seasons in Paris. If his new collection is anything like 2008's, then guests are sure to be mesmerized. I posted a picture of a look from Zaitsev's show last year, so take a look and hold your breath for whatever fantastic haute couture is revealed March 29th...

Click here for a full press release on Moscow Fashion Week 2009

http://www.pressreleasenetwork.com/newsroom/news_view.phtml?news_id=2785

Is America doomed?

Apparently Igor Panarin has analyzed the current global situation and feels that America is basically screwed. The scholar at the Foreign Ministry school in Moscow is of the opinion that Russia and China are soon to be the world's next super powers. SCARY THOUGHT. All of this is predicted to happen in a rather timely fashion as well, by 2011 or even 2010. Might I add that part of his reasoning for our demise are the overly crowded prisons and gay men? Panarin didn't seem to worry about sounding offensive. However it is food for though, is our current situation partially a result of a country that has gone morally bankrupt? America has always gone through phases where we were not doing so hot, but is Panarin on to something? Have we hit such a low economically and morally that we cannot find our way back out of this hole? Below is Panarin speaking on the issue, watch the video!!