B EAST Magazine website

March 5, 2010

This is just a scribble of a post, but dribbles can turn into floods. A friend in Kiev mentioned these mad revolving Moscow Loshadka(Loshad means horse in russian, the name could be a reference to ketamine) parties that take place in different venues every month and seem to have quickly garnered a cult following among the Vicey nightlife denizens of the New Moscow. The over-the-top, sleazy, sexed-up punk vibes of the partyers seem an ersatz copy of East London bachanalia, except that the girls are way, way hotter. Well, it’s still Moscow after all despite its Dalston makeover.

For more wicked Loshadka images click here

Kiev, December 14

Kiev’s bikini-wearing, anti-sex trade feminists struck again today, when they played a mock football game in skimpy clothes in frigid weather (was -10 degrees last time I stepped outside) to protest prostitution during the Euro 2012 championships, which Ukraine is set to co-host alongside Poland. Dressed like a football hooligan’s verseion of East European soccer sluts, the girls held up provocative banners that variously read ‘Ukraine is not Europe’s Bordello’, ‘Only Sport not Sexual Games’, and ‘We are not Products’. Quite predictably, their stunt got wide publicity across Europe, especially in Italy where they have a cult following.

It’s no the first time that Femen has struck in recent weeks. They protested Miss Ukraine last week by splashing fake blood on their gowns, and made headlines in October by inviting Gigolo Record’s iconic DJ Hell to spin in a rave outside the parliament to protest prostitution. Femen are certainly a breath of fresh air in a passive nation where politicians still mostly dictate the public dialogue. And, prostitution & sex tourism are certainly hot-button topics in this struggling country, where over a million girls are involved in the sex trade.

Their ultra-sexy vibes though are what makes them a Beast favorite. While Western feminists would never dream of tarting themselves up to protest a strip bar, Femen would arrive on the scene and humiliate the strippers, by dressing spicier than then. And, believe me, some of those Femen babes are a tasty dish indeed! Their rationale for doing so according to leader Anna Gutsol is that they don’t want to deny feminity itself, and a women’s right to looking good. They’re against prostitution, but not dressing up and looking beautiful. Even Femen understand that if they spoke out against dolling onself up-which is the favorite pastime of most Ukrainian women—they’d lose 90% of their potential fan base.

October 19, 2009

Although a relatvively low-key affair, Kiev Fashion Week (misnamed Ukraine Fashion Week by the organisers, who obviously have loftier ambitions!) makes up for its lack of the hype and flash that characterize its counterparts in the big cities with an understated charm and intimacy. The shows all takes place in an old exhibition space in the middle of a leafy park, which has a large common area where guests gather between shows, the models and designers often wandering among them.

And, since the Fashion Week is one of the highlights of the fall seasons, the locals come well-preened: the biznismen in smart suits, the celebrites blinged out to the max, the hipsters in bright jackets and loud T-shirts, and the glamor girls, models and molls either snug & sexy in short skirts or tight jeans, or ladylike in chiffon dresses, high heels and coiffed hair. Among them, the few foreigners stand out like carnivores in an organic garden. The garrulous Sikh with his trophy girlfriend, the greasy Turkish modeling scout, and the horny Italian journalists, are among the few that B.East’s editor, Vijai encountered while making his rounds.