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The Washington Summit : Exclusive Italian Tailor Dresses Up Gorbachev for Visit

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Associated Press

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev bought a new wardrobe from an exclusive Italian tailor for the summit in Washington this week, including a dinner jacket and tie, the Sunday Express reported.

Lady Olga Maitland, the newspaper’s gossip columnist, said fashion pundits who have their eyes fixed on stylish Raisa Gorbachev, the Soviet leader’s wife, should “spare a moment’s attention for the appearance of her husband Mikhail.”

She said the Soviet ambassador in Rome chose Franco Litrico, whose shop is on the fashionable Via Veneto, to outfit Gorbachev for his first visit to the United States.

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“I must say I was very surprised to get the order, but I am very happy to have done it for him,” Litrico was quoted as saying.

Gorbachev wasn’t able to fly to Rome for fittings, but Litrico sent the ambassador sketches that were forwarded to Moscow for approval, Lady Olga said.

Gorbachev chose a light gray suit with a vest, a dark suit with a light vest, a smart Italian hat, a dark blazer with light trousers, a dinner jacket and tie, and for informal wear, a tweed riding jacket with darkish trousers, she said.

“The outfits will set back the Gorbachev household budget by nearly 5,000 pounds ($9,000),” Lady Olga said.

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