La Grande Catherine, a trendsetter? In her own way. By welcoming Diderot to her court and buying Voltaire's library after his death in 1778, she set in motion a fashion that is still very much in vogue in the Russia of 2010: that of French belles choses.
Admittedly, France no longer dominates the intellectual sphere, but rather that of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, wine and alcoholic beverages. This is nothing new. In the 19th century, Chekhov and Gogol drank the legendary Veuve Clicquot, which Pushkin dubbed the "blessed wine that sparkles for the poet". A remarkable fact is that French wines, whose overall sales are falling behind those from the New World, are still being exported to Russia, and increasingly so. Tradition, then. But also loyalty and refinement. Because the Russians are refining their culture. And not just in terms of wine. The craze for French-style decoration and the art of living is very much in vogue, as is the success of restaurants decorated by top designers such as Starck with Bon, or Baccarat's Cristal Room. Moreover, luxury consumers, estimated to number around 100,000 in Moscow alone, are getting impatient. While they seek and find good food and French-style finery, their interiors are said to be suffering from a shortage of compotiers and sofas. There is such a desperate shortage of French home furnishings that interior designers, decorators, specialist shops and private individuals are forced to travel the length and breadth of France in search of something they can't find anywhere else.
It's true that Russians are not averse to consuming luxury goods outside their own borders, but France has a duty to remedy this shortcoming. That's why Ubifrance is organising the "Art de vivre à la française avec Maison&Objet" exhibition in October as part of the France-Russia Year. It's a great opportunity for the 150 hand-picked French companies that will have the chance to parade around the Place du Manège.
So perhaps we can't rule out a second golden period, even if 2007, with the opening of a dozen French shops in Moscow alone, remains a vintage year. Admittedly, the crisis has dealt a severe blow to French exports to Russia, but these have fallen relatively less than Russian imports as a whole, and France's market share has risen to 4.6 % over the first five months of 2009. As a result, France has become Russia's sixth-largest supplier, up from ninth place in 2008. The top-of-the-range products sector has undoubtedly played a part in this. Luxury is extremely important in Russia," says Hannah Yudkin, from Columbia University in New York, "because it is an instrument of social differentiation in a country that has remained egalitarian for decades". And while the Russian middle class is growing, "the great wealth remains and luxury is becoming a tool for displaying one's professional success", continues the sociologist. Perhaps luxury is simply the immediate translation of an old Russian proverb: A man's worth is measured by his wife's jewellery.
From Dior to Hermès, Vuitton and Cartier
What is certain is that the many prestigious shops, such as the Tsoum on Bolshoi Square or the Goum on Red Square, whose glass roof once housed a state shop, are never empty. Of the 150 Western store windows that can now be found in the Goum, Dior is the pioneer: he set up shop there in 1989, as soon as the shop was privatised. It was followed by Bréguet, Hermès and Vuitton. And since 2007, Cartier, whose windows face Lenin's mausoleum. We have been distributed in Russia since 1994 in multi-brand boutiques," explains François Le Troquer, Managing Director of Cartier Russia. "The Russian market has historically been an important one for luxury goods; it is our fifth largest customer worldwide, but our leading customer for fine jewellery. "Russians are looking for a piece that has style, but also a story," emphasises the director, pointing out that the influence of Russia was crucial in the development of Cartier's style in the early 20th century.
One hundred years later, the house boasts four boutiques in Moscow, including one on Stoleshnikov Street where the names of Vuitton, Chaumet, Chanel, Hermès, Piaget, Céline and Louboutin jostle for position. But these beaten paths of luxury are no longer enough. In 2003, Cartier set up shop in Ekatarinburg and, in 2004, in the midst of the Orange Revolution, in Kiev. Then came Kazakhstan in 2005 and Baku in 2008. "Despite the crisis, the brand has continued to develop because we know that in Russia, you have to invest for the long term and, above all, reconnect with the past," continues the Managing Director. That's why a four-storey mansion overlooking the Moyka was chosen to house the new St Petersburg boutique, which opened on 22 May. "The choice of location was crucial, because it was in St Petersburg that Cartier's history with Russia began, and we had to come back as the king of jewellers," explains François Le Troquer. This prestige was recognised by the Russians, who devoted an exhibition at the Hermitage Palace in 1992 to the man who was one of the Tsar's official suppliers, followed by another at the Kremlin in 2007. This year, from September to January, the Kremlin will be honouring another house, this time Lalique, with 70 items of jewellery and 25 pieces of glassware. No doubt also because the brand now has its own store in Moscow. Just like Dior, Dupont, Chanel, Longchamp, Lanvin and the others...
