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An old Soviet joke goes like this: A professor asks a student, "What is capitalism?" The student answers, "The exploitation of man by man." "And what is socialism?" the professor asks. Without missing a beat, the student replies, "The opposite."

Switch the joke around to one about Leonid Brezhnev and current President Vladimir Putin and, according to many Russia watchers, you get an accurate read of what is going on in Russia now. Backsliding into authoritarian rule, picking off bothersome journalists like they're empty pop cans on a fence, Putin is increasingly looking like one of his hard-line predecessors, if not a modern czar. Yet the popularity of the former KGB leader is at an all-time high. And the biggest joke of all is that Russia, which has always suffered a stylistic inferiority complex vis-à-vis France, hasn't been as influential since the days of Catherine the Great. Russia the country may be in tumult, but Russia the look is the one to watch.

With a population of more than 10 million, Moscow is now the biggest city in Europe. It is also home to an increasingly large share of the world's wealth. According to Forbes magazine, the number of Russian billionaires grew by 19 last year, which places them third in the world behind the U.S. and Germany. They are also the youngest, with an average age of 46 and a total fortune at their disposal of $282-billion. The tastes of these new young oligarchs run to czarist opulence at home as well as in cities such as New York and London, where lifestyle retailers are increasingly discovering a market for over-the-top luxury goods. These days, nothing is too gilded or jewel-encrusted or laden with caviar. At last month's Millionaire Fair in Moscow, the third annual event of its kind, the world's largest Christmas tree made of pure gold, sold to a private owner, made Guinness World Records. And all this buying power is making its mark on the world's taste.

New-found Russian wealth, for instance, has been credited with the hyperinflation of the world art market. Comely Russian tennis stars Maria Sharapova and her countrywomen Anna Kournikova and Svetlana Kuznetsova, dubbed the "ovas," are bringing sexy back to the sport. Russian models, from Natalia Vodianova to 20-year-old Sasha Pivovarova, dominate the runways. And premium vodka is the new champagne, flowing in rivers at hip Russo-themed bars such as Toronto's Pravda, which reopened this week in a larger new location dripping with Romanov-worthy excess.

Over the past few seasons, fashion has mined Russia much like Yves Saint Laurent did in the seventies for fur trims, Mongolian hats and folkloric prints. With this Christmas's emphasis on luxe materials, heavy gold, rich jewel tones and cabochon trim, the nods have grown more grandly imperial. Significantly, this fall's blockbuster show at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York was a retrospective of the work of French fashion designer Paul Poiret, who, with his harem pants, tunics and astrakhans, was highly influenced by the style of Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes.

At the same time, decor loves the dacha. Birch stumps, rustic logs and Baltic wood forests are cropping up everywhere from candles to graphic pillows and wallpaper. Dutch designer Tord Boontje has employed whimsical forest motifs on cut-paper light fixtures and etched drinking glasses. Marcel Wanders sampled elegantly mismatched Russian folk motifs on his Couples pillows and a folksy-contemporary, red-and-white sofa for Moooi. At Pottery Barn and Urban Outfitters, folk patterns straight off a babushka's scarf enliven crafty rugs and throw cushions.

Similarly, the icy romance of Dr. Zhivago appears to have inspired many designers, including 2007 Miami Design Fair Designer of the Year Tokujin Yoshioka, who created a bar of optical glass for a Tokyo building that looks like a giant icicle. Trapper furs are so huge that you can pick up a custom fur hammock for thousands or cheap-chic faux-fur throws and pillows at the neighbourhood decor store.

Russian-mobster chic is also rearing its naughty head in Philippe Starck's lamps for Flos featuring golden guns as bases. Shown recently at Miami, Droog Design's Drawer by Ted van Noten is a dresser with one Lucite drawer embedded with a gold-plated gun and pearls.

For Christmas, the Russian references lean toward the czarist, with matryoshka stacking dolls on pillows at EQ3 and on plates and trays by Thomas Paul. Pottery Barn is also in an imperial mood, with opulent jacquard pillows and Faberge-egg-like holiday candles.

Back in the (former) USSR, meanwhile, Yar Rassadin of the design partnership Manworks is taking iconic Russian classics into the 21st century. His streamlined SAM samovar, designed with Manworks partner Sergey Mozheyko, looks more like an industrial boiler, while his utterly contemporary matryoshka dolls function as salt and pepper shakers.

All of which cleverly illustrate that, when it comes to doing Russian style right, it's best served up with a twist - or at least with a grain of salt.

kvonhahn@globeandmail.com

The faces of Russian style

Dacha/Folklore

From actual birch stumps to graphic twig and forest prints, the Russian woods have become a popular motif on everything from tableware to wall coverings. Nesting dolls, traditional folk patterns and anything evoking dachas (Russian country cottages) are also big, providing unlikely embellishment on contemporary furniture, accents and rugs.

Czarist Luxe

Imagine the ultimate in opulence, from rich gilt furnishings to heavy jacquards, velvet and damask in jewel tones. Actual gems, cabochon-cut, are used as trim, while red and amethyst glass, Fabergé eggs and warm, sumptuous furs abound. Heavy embroidery, weaving and carpets hold pride of place, as do French classics such as Louis XIV chairs and Baroque clocks, their richness and grandeur exaggerated.

Icy Allure

Think Dr. Zhivago cool. Ice, glacier and snow motifs in tableware, lighting and industrial design. Cut glass, Lucite, mercury glass and mirror as decorative accents. White and more white. And trapper furs and pelts as upholstery and accents.

Mobster Chic

Swank sleaze characterizes this look, which includes irreverent damasks and toile, ruble-patterned fabrics for window coverings and upholstery, and gilded guns and stolen jewels as patterns, motifs or sculptural kitsch.

Modern Russian Design

From fashion designer Denis Simachev (whose retro-Soviet

T-shirts send up the icons of the old USSR) to Yar Rassadin and Sergey Mozheyko of Manworks (which reimagines Russian classics like samovars and nesting dolls as functional industrial objects), the new design from Russia is hip, wry and self-referential.

KvH