Pierre Cardin to Make Clothes in Soviet Union

French fashion magnate Pierre Cardin signed a contract with the Soviet Union on Wednesday to make designer clothing especially geared to the Soviet life style.

Cardin told a news conference after a signing ceremony with the Soviet deputy minister of light industry that it is his “dream to dress up all the 280 million people” of the Soviet Union.

The clothing will “express the spirit of France in the Soviet Union” and will be designed to accommodate the work and life styles of Soviet citizens in 21 fashion lines introduced each fall and spring, Cardin said.

“Fashion in such a great country as Russia should not come as such a surprise to others,” Cardin said.

The French designer will have his own 324,000-square-foot factory and store--roughly the size of 10 football fields--in the Olympic Village area of Moscow for cutting rooms, displays and sales of his clothing. But, since the project is still in the incubation stage, he could not estimate when the store would open.

Light Industry Deputy Minister Ivan Gritsenko, who signed the agreement for the Soviet government, said production and sales dates have not been set. Cardin said sales to about 5 million Soviets over the next few years would be a realistic goal.

Asked if the “particular figure of the Soviet woman,” who tends to be stouter than the usual Cardin customer, was being taken into account in preparing his clothing lines, Cardin said his sizes are standardized. Gritsenko, however, said dimensions could be changed in production.