CULTURE WATCH : Everything but the Iron Curtain

Although economic problems have severely cramped their style, a dozen Russian designers had their debut U.S. fashion show last week.

“Today we witness a historic event, the first show of Russian fashion in this country,” said Ludmila Bokov, the show’s host and head of the nonprofit Cultural Contacts International.

Nowhere in sight were the drab, stereotypical outfits often lampooned as Russian fashion. The 60 outfits shown at the Fashion Institute of Technology were marked by bright colors, big hats, and lots of ingenuity--including shoelaces, bedsheets, fabric scraps and the former Soviet flag.

The crowd greeted each group of models, who walked a runway covered with a plain white sheet held down by electrical tape, with loud applause. Bokov introduced the work of such designers as Tatyana Smirnova and Laima Kygaite from a beat-up podium.

“These are one-of-a-kind, museum-quality costumes,” Bokov said of the $2,000 outfits.

Bokov explained that the upheaval in the former Soviet Union has caused a shortage of fabric, supplies and equipment:

“The designers are using everything they can--burlap, fabrics that have never been used before,” she said. “Necessity is the sister of invention.”

Elena Pelevina, described as the hottest designer in Moscow, created tapestries for the stage with recycled hammer and sickle flags of the former empire.