Russia | A fashion show to celebrate Vladimir Putin

(Saint Petersburg) A “patriotic” fashion show, all to the glory of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was organized in Saint Petersburg on Thursday evening, the clothes being inspired by an exhibition by a pro-Kremlin painter entitled ” President. A man with a soul full of kindness.”

Since Vladimir Putin came to power more than two decades ago, Russia has silenced almost all dissenting voices, imprisoning or forcing into exile its main critics.

The campaign of repression took on considerable proportions with the attack on Ukraine.

On Thursday, models paraded in St. Petersburg, the president’s hometown, wearing t-shirts, shirts or pants decorated with stars, crowns and a portrait of Vladimir Putin in bright colors, pop-art style.

The painter Alexei Sergiyenko, an admirer of the Russian strongman and whose works inspired the collection, explained that he chose to show crowns because he knows “that the president will be elected again and again”.

“So I painted this image that says we will have Putin for a long time, forever,” he told AFP, on the sidelines of the parade.

This is not the artist’s first attempt. In addition to the 2012 exhibition President. A man with a soul full of kindnesshe also created a two-meter-high, golden bas-relief representing him for Vladimir Putin’s 65th birthday.

The “patriotic” collection was imagined with designers, according to a press release published on Alexei Serguienko’s website.

Andrei Nechayev, a 48-year-old businessman who came to the parade with his family, said the clothes presented fit well with the image of the president, who, according to him, is a “sporty and fashionable” leader.

A presidential election is scheduled for March 2024. At this stage, Vladimir Putin has not officially announced his candidacy, but there is little doubt about his desire to remain in the Kremlin.

Since a constitutional revision in 2020, he can theoretically remain in power until 2036. His spokesperson, Dmitri Peskov, estimated in October that the president “has no competitor in Russia” and “cannot have one “.