Russian designers have gained a lot of street cred in the past couple of years, with the arrival of platforms for domestic designs like the boutiques Marky, Traffic and Fabrica. But the most exclusive and cheapest way to shop is still to order custom-made clothes direct from the designers. We visited a few of Moscow’s most innovative clothing creators to find out more about them – and what they can do for you.

For Violetta Litvinova, a fashion designer’s work begins with her own wardrobe, and Litvinova has been turning heads on the street since Soviet times. Her work is alternative, eccentric and highly recognizable. She loves to combine colors that are not usually seen together and likes working with velvet, felt and silk. Litvinova is best known for her hats, which tower over their owners’ heads. It shows that she is a graduate in hat design and theatrical costume; when you wear a Litvinova design you step into a fairytale land of pixies and goblins. She says her clothes are "for people who like to make unusual decisions and for women who don’t want to look like anyone else."

It takes from three days to a week to make a hat and a minimum of a week to make other items. Her hats start at $100; clothes start at $200. Litvinova’s hats are also on sale at Marky and Traffic. Her influences are Jean Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, John Galliano and Yohji Yamamoto.

Nikolai Polushkin is a nuclear physicist who began sewing ballet costumes as a hobby in the late 1980s. His turn toward fashion is not as surprising as it may seem at first glance, as a client in his studio explained: "Physicists are ultra-contemporary; they create the future."

Critics often call Polushkin a minimalist, and he loves black and white. He loves sewing the smallest of things – avant-garde underwear. One of Polushkin’s main activities is making clothes that are captured on film and shown at photography exhibitions. But here, clothes are only part of the creative idea; the people, the music and the light are just as important. Polushkin sews for people he likes and, above all, he likes to chat with them as he works.

It takes Polushkin a couple of days to make a pair of pants, a jacket or a shirt, and he charges $200 for an average summer suit and $350 for a winter one.

Svetlana Tegin’s first show in 1996 won her Vyacheslav Zaitsev’s Young Designer Award, and, since then, she has only gotten stronger. This summer’s collection is inspired by Jacques Perrin’s film "Le peuple migrateur" (Winged Migration). It recalls Yves Saint Laurent and Givenchy designs of the 1950s and uses a lot of pink and black. Actresses, artists and the wives of bankers and politicians wear her sophisticated clothes. Tegin’s influences include historical costumes from the Middle Ages, Gothic era and the beginning of the last century, as well as ethnic costumes from Mongolia, Japan and Tibet.

A Tegin custom-made dress costs from $250 to $400 without material. And a meter of material can be priced at anything from $30 to $300. It takes about two weeks for a dress to be made. Her clothes are also on sale at Fabrica and Marky.

The evidence of Masha Tsigal’s three years of studying fashion marketing at Central Saint Martin’s College in London is so strong that she is the only Russian designer represented at Moscow’s UK Style boutique. Her favorite designers include Westwood, Galliano and Alexander McQueen. She says she likes to use "lots of black and red, but not candy, girly stuff." Tsigal describes her clothes as "sensual, without being pink or fluffy." Her clothes have a scrappy, homemade air about them that is tres chic.

Tsigal’s studio can make most items in a week or less, depending upon how busy she is. Her price range is anywhere from $300 to $1,000.

Andrei Sharov says his greatest inspiration is his clients, and, as we spoke, I could sense him mentally dressing me in his favorite materials: leather; fur, metal and chiffon and the colors pink, orange and black.

This creator’s talents are not limited to fashion; he paints and designs theatrical costumes as well. He is well experienced in dealing with capricious clients of the fairer sex. Sharov’s female customers visit him most often for his dresses, suits and jeans. Above all, he says, they are after something extraordinary that they can’t find in boutiques.

Sharov is one of Russia’s most celebrated designers, and his exclusive dresses start at $500 or $600.

LOCATIONS:

Violetta Litvinova

16 Malaya Dmitrovka Ul. Metro: Pushkinskaya Tel: 299-2541/162-6230

Nikolai Polushkin

7 Velozavodskaya Ul. (ask for Larisa or Natasha) Metro: Avtozavodskaya Tel: 275-0737

Svetlana Tegin

Fifth workshop, second entrance 4 Brusov Pereulok Metro: Okhotny Ryad Tel: 763-3982

Masha Tsigal

2 Kolubovsky Per., Apt. 3 Metro: Pushkinskaya Tel: 925-2630