Fashionizatsiya*

Hmmm... I wonder if they still do those touristy American and Soviet-era border pass stamps by the Brandenburg Gate? And whether they'd take payment in vodka?? I'll have to get Grigor to stop the car and find out...

According to The Age, Mikhail Gorbachev is set to model for Louis Vuitton. And I have to say, I love the idea!

I remember Mr Gorbachev being in power in the USSR when I was little, perhaps only because of the easily-recognisable birthmark on the top of his balding head. The Soviet Union seemed to be in its death throes when he came into power. He was the first leader of Russia to be born after the Revolution and was the architect of glasnost, which helped to pave the way for democratic reform (okay, so there was the failure of uskoreniye...) (and there was also perestroika, which sucked for people and sent the economy into a tailspin and has perhaps allowed organised crime to become what it is today in Russia). But he was a forward thinker in a time when many in his party seemed to want to keep things just as they were.

And then the Berlin Wall fell, which seemed to be the strongest, most symbolic evidence of the end of the Soviet Union and Communism therein. Mr Gorbachev's time as leader ended in turmoil, including an attempted coup in 1991, which was stopped by Boris Yeltsin. That same year, he gave power to Yeltsin and agreed to the disolving of the USSR as of January 1, 1992.

In spite of that and the animosity apparently felt toward him by a number of Russian people - understandable, perhaps, in the face of what happened with perestroika - he's generally well-regarded in the West and always was, even when he was leader of the USSR. He's an obviously intelligent man and the awards he's received are quite well-deserved, really. Plus his environmental focus and desire for sustainable living is great.

So I think it's kind of cool that someone intelligent, with such strong historical connections and future focus, rather than an anonymous model or moderately talented actress, will be featured in the Vuitton ads. Plus the one with Mr Gorbachev is done in Berlin, in front of a section of the Berlin Wall (and I loved going to Berlin - it was funny watching Lola Rennt the other night and thinking, "I've been there! Finally! And I must go back.").

Tennis stars Steffi Graf and Andre Agassi and veteran French actress Catherine Deneuve will also be making appearances in the ads, with the photos taken by Annie Liebovitz. Must keep an eye out for them.

*Fashion meets demokratizatsiya - a slogan introduced by Mr Gorbachev calling for the infusion of democratic elements to be brought into the single-party Communist-run country's government. The world needs more English-Russian crossbreed words...

Mikhail Gorbachev speaking of the Great Wall of China: "It's a very beautiful work, but there are already too many walls between people."