Good-looking American blonde female, smooth complexion, slim build, seeks cute young Russian to take me home. Just turned 35, but looks younger. Can be gsirl-next-door or glamor queen. Depends on my outfit. Speak German and English, no Russian. Hate math.
She has been a stewardess, a doctor, a skin diver, an astronaut, a fashion editor, and a rock star, among other occupations.
Born in New York City on March 9, 1959, she has 129 outfits designed just for her every year. Her nickname at Mattel. Inc. is "Our Lady of Perpetual Income." She drives a Porsche 911 Cabriolet.
She, of course, is Barbie, and she is sweeping through Russia like a latter-day Genghis Khan. Unlike the great invader from the East, however, she is coming not only by land (in her Barbie Luxus Trailer and Horse) but by sea as well (in her Barbie Yacht with a real working blender you can make drinks with.)
But is there really a market for Barbie here in Russia? Will she appeal to the tastes of the first post-Soviet generation of doll buyers? To find out, we went to the source: four-year-old Ksenia Vishnevskaya, Barbie owner, voice of a new generation.
Who do you love more, Barbie or your mother?
Ksenia Vishnevskaya: Barbie.
Who do you love more, Barbie or yourself?
KV: Barbie.
Who do you love more than anyone else in the whole world?
KV: Mama.
Barbie may be made of plastic, but she knows something about real estate: her first St Petersburg store, which opened last April, is located at 63 Nevsky Prospect, next to Mayakovskaya Metro station. Inside, there is a whole crowd of tanned, well-coiffed Barbies to choose from: Doctor Barbie, Bedtime Barbie, Gymnastics Barbie, Barbie Western Star. But where is Ken?
"Ken sold out at the end of the summer," says Lena Yakushenkova, a salesperson at the store. "We expect to get more Kens sometime in the future." Poor Barbie. She'll just have to console herself by climbing up to the sunroof on her two-story dream house and watching her specially-designed hair develop sunstreaks. Or maybe a spin in the Barbie Glamor Van would help.
But there is another side to Barbie, a side that is rarely seen. The very same Barbie who has had 500 professional makeovers and has sold 900 million outfits worldwide, the very same Barbie who Ksenia Vishnevskaya may or may not love more than her mother, is leading a dual life as...
Mercenary Barbie. By the entrance to Peter and Paul Fortress she stands (or, more correctly, sits) guard at a table owned by one Mikhail Petrov. She is wearing a Red Army uniform, complete with a hammer and sickle on her belt buckle and a red star on her be-flapped cap. She looks positively threatening, save for those slender manicured hands and that dreamy perpetual smile.
Misha Petrov has been selling military uniforms and other specially-made costumes for Barbie for three years. He designs and sews them himself, then sells them in festively decorative packages that proclaim "Barbie in Russia!"
Petrov, who is a photographer by trade, includes in each package photographs of Barbie wearing various outfits that he makes for her: sailor suits, army uniforms, traditional Russian costumes, peasant dresses.
The obvious burning question presents itself: what is Barbie's rank in the Army? "She is a sergeant-major," Petrov states, pointing to her epaulettes. And her Navy rank? "Ah, in the Navy," he responds, leaning forward conspiratorially, "In the Navy she is an anarchist. See how her uniform doesn't really fit like a uniform? She's wearing it to be fashionable." Well, now, Barbie. Some things never change, do they?
She really has accomplished much in her 35 years. And how does she manage to look so young? We asked Ksenia Vishnevskaya about Barbie's seemingly unending youth.
How old do you think Barbie is?
Ksenia Vishnevskaya: Four.
How old are you? KV: Four.
How old do you think I am? KV: Four.
Yes, she is glamorous, she is fashionable, she is gorgeous. But one thing she is not: cheap. In any sense of the word.
The least expensive Barbie in the Nevsky Prospect Barbie store (and the only Barbie priced in roubles -- the rest are in Deutschemarks) is Bedtime Barbie, who at 27,800 roubles is a steal compared to Gymnastics Barbie (81,200r.) and Doctor Barbie (109,200r.). And Doctor Barbie will hopefully not be pressured into practicing socialized medicine here if she expects to be able to afford either the Barbie Porsche (148,000r.) or the Barbie Yacht (344,400r.)
But why would any sensitive Russian child put her -- or his --parents through the agony of spending the equivalent of two weeks' salary on Doctor Barbie when there are all sorts of Barbie knockoffs from China up for grabs in the city's kiosks? There's Wendy (11,000r.), a pretty brunette in a cocktail dress; pink-booted Susana (6,500); a nameless blonde with a feather boa and no shoes (3,500r.) -- all with the same glamorous hair and unblinking blue eyes as Barbie.
"Children know Barbie," says Lyudmila Pushkaryova from her perch inside a kiosk on Chernyshevskaya Ulitsa. "They can tell the difference between a real Barbie and a fake Barbie right away. You can't fool them. They want the real Barbie."