Internet Viewing: “Moscow Out”

Some of my friends have asked about my mild fascination with all things Russian, such as luxury shopping at GUM and TSUM and the Eurovision Song Contest (I make no apologies for the latter). Some friends have visited Russia and others have expressed an interest in visiting the former Soviet Union, but aren’t sure what sites to check out.

While there are a number of travel sites that will suggest tours and help you out with visa requirements, sometimes it’s daydreaming about travel in the dog days of August and seeing travelogues that hits the spot. That, and the thought of being stuck on a tour bus with loud tourists isn't to everyone's liking. 

Moscow Out host Martyn Andrews

My favourite English-language Russian travelogue is Moscow Out. It is a weekly Internet webisode series dedicated to all the pleasures in the Russian capital. Hosted by British expatriate and travel expert Martyn Andrews, the program is presented every Friday in English on the Washington DC-based Russian online news outlet Russia Today. The charismatic Andrews is clearly in love with his adopted hometown.

This is not a travelogue where they simply tell you about the major stops such as Red Square, the Bolshoi and the banyas. There is considerably more to the massive city than these central sites. The series is unique and compact, informing viewers of tourist sites that may not be picked up by the major travelogues or tours. The effect is that they encourage and inspire one to get off the tour bus and actually travel with a select guide or by yourself, rather than a massive group, to really explore the city. Andrews brings an economic approach to traveling, by presenting destinations and events with a bit of history, access to the sites, and giving you an idea of pricing. There are webisodes dedicated to such interesting sites as:

Contemporary Moscow skyline, at night

1. Tsverskaya (formerly Gorky) Boulevard, the high-end retailer street home to free-standing boutiques for haute couture designers;
   
2. Contemporary art galleries beyond the Pushkin, including the Garazh Centre for Contemporary Art, the Borscht Gallery and Winzavod, for the more adventurous and lovers of experimental art pieces; and
   
3. Serybryany Bor, or “Silver Forest”, the famed forest, park and inner-city beach that is an artificial island planned around a waterway to keep cool (remember that Russian’s continental summer climate is just as unforgiving as their famously long winters);

amongst others.

The programs are becoming increasingly tourist-friendly, presenting a number of options that inspires one to stay longer than the standard one-week package tours. Moscow Out also includes a number of money-saving travel tips that come in handy in the world’s most expensive city, such as restaurant and hotel pricing, discount (donation) entry days at art galleries, brand-name clothing shopping and other delights that won’t break the bank. The producers clearly understand that the city is not just for the mega-wealthy, and that democratic pricing in the current global economy is probably a good idea. To that end, Moscow Out’s has an episode on getting by in the city on a (not literal) dime:

The Artful Blogger Goes Shopping: TSUM, Moscow

Special to Retail-Details

Last week’s article on GUM in Moscow generated some unexpected intrigue. At least where the Blogger lives, there is a lack of awareness of luxury shopping in the Russian capital and readers have commented that thanks to the post, they have found their “new happy place”.

Although GUM is a luxury shopping mall, readers did ask about the leading luxury department store in Moscow, comparable to a Saks, Bloomingdales, Barneys or Harvey Nichols. Behold, TSUM.

Located in central Moscow not far from its chief rival GUM, TSUM (rhymes with “gloom” but far from gloomy) affords luxury shoppers an intimate and personalized shopping experience. Housed in a formerly drab state department store, it is now one of the ultimate shopping destinations not only in Russia, but in all of Europe.

Verber, with Naomi Campbell

One cannot understand TSUM without knowing something of the powerful woman behind it. TSUM’s fashion director is the mercurial Alla Verber, known as a long-time fashion power broker for Russia. In this interview for ABC News, no less than George Stephanopoulos compared Verber to the formidable Anna Wintour in terms of her clout. Trained in fashion and business in the West during the Soviet era, Verber returned to Moscow after the fall of Communism with a big idea: to bring the same luxury brands she loves into her beloved Russia. In an era when more democratically priced brands such as Levi’s and Calvin Klein were the most coveted designer clothes, Verber’s idea was unheard of, even at the end of the Soviet era. She spearheaded the revitalization of TSUM and shepherded it into its current form, which stands as a lasting testament to Verber’s love of couture and intense commercial ferocity. TSUM was spotlighted on the English-language site Moscow Out (via Russia Today) earlier this year, and includes an interview with Verber herself (the interview begins at 4:58).

The Artful Blogger Goes Shopping: GUM, Moscow

Special article for Retail Detail.

GUM corporate logo

This year, Forbes magazine reported that 79 of the year’s billionaires live in Moscow, more than in any other city in the world: that’s billionaire, not millionaire. This statistic means that there is plenty of wealth going around than ever before and a sign that, 25 years after Perestroika, Communism has indeed gone the way of the floppy disk.

With such an abundance of luxury, it’s no wonder that some of the world’s most luxurious shopping is now done in Moscow, with the largest shopping centre being GUM Trading House. GUM (pronounced like “doom” with a “g”, but far more pleasant) is located in Red Square and close to St. Basil’s Cathedral, situating it in perhaps the single most prominent and immediately recognizable area in all of Russia. The acronym “GUM” is derived from the Cyrillic “ГУМ”, meaning “State Department Store”, and was originally built as a shopping mall with an astonishing 1,200 stores housed within its walls. During Stalin’s reign, it was initially converted into an office and it even displayed his wife’s body following her suicide in 1932. Grim. Eventually, GUM was converted back into a department store and became one of the few well-stocked shops in the nation, given its centrality and its location next to the Kremlin. (Yes, Lenin is likely turning over in his grave next door.) Of the many state department stores, the one in Red Square stands alone today and remains the most iconic.

GUM, in all its glory. Note original architecture preserved.

Once the Soviet Union collapsed, plans were eventually in place to at first partially, and then fully privatize GUM. It is now owned and operated by the Russian luxury goods distributor and boutique magnate Bosco di Ciliegi. Concurrent with the collapse of Communism, many Russian capitalists stepped out of the socialist closet and were eager to shop. Designers and shop operators, sensing a nascent new market on the verge of explosion, rushed to fill GUM with luxury goods to an eager public flush with wealth. 

GUM promenade, lit up at night

Fashionistas and even casual luxury brand admirers (such as this writer) are surrounded by a nearly obscene number of designer brands with stand-alone boutiques, such as Armani, Sonia Rykiel, Burberry, Hugo Boss, Dior, Hermes and Frey Willie. Luxury brand names populate their retail spaces with considerable amounts of haute couture, in addition to their second lines and prêt-a-porter collections. The Russian designer Valentin Yudashkin, whose haute couture works are so innovative and coveted that they have been on display both at Paris Fashion Week and at the Louvre, has one of his major shops here.