From the mind of babes

It’d be too easy to say that Kira Plastinina is unlike other 17-year old girls. That as the designer of her own eponymous clothing label, which was created when she was just 14 (making her, at that time, the world’s youngest fashion designer), she isn’t exactly following the life path of a normal teenager. While most teens worry about giving oral reports in front of the class, the 17-year old Russian teen has to deal with the logistics of putting up her own Fashion Week presentation. While most high school students have to juggle homework and extracurricular activities with chores and, perhaps, a budding relationship, Kira’s schedule packs in trips all over the world to peruse any of the 80 ++ Kira Plastinina boutiques in Russia, Eastern Europe, Asia and North America — and, then, discounting jetlag, she has to be in back in school the following day.

Sitting on a stool in the School of Fashion and Arts (S.O.F.A), however, where she spoke to the fashion design students, some older than her, Kira Plastinina, clad in a pink ombré frock, could very well be the most regular teen there is. Her pin-straight brown hair curtains her face, her smile is shy and her answers are alternately eager and hesitant.

The daughter of a Russian millionaire, Sergei Plastinina, who made his money from milk and boxed orange juice, Kira insists that, just like any other highschooler, she loves spending time with friends. Most of them are Americans, classmates at the Anglo-American School of Moscow where she has been studying — and perfecting her English — since she was in fifth grade. They watch movies together and they go to clubs. Kira’s friends also get access to shopping sprees at her boutiques and choice seats at her fashion shows.

Just like other 17-year olds, Kira loves to party, only these social soirees would sometimes put her in the same sphere as Paris Hilton (who sat in the front row for Kira’s very first fashion show in Moscow), Audrina Patridge (brand ambassador for Kira Plastinina), and Hayden Panetierre (who attended the opening of the first L.A. Like girls her age, she is dead-set on attending university but is undecided about her major, although it will most probably be fashion-related as well. She thinks of what to wear the first thing in the morning, but also considers the sartorial options of other Russian girls.

Like most girls her age, Kira likes “to text, to draw and to go on the computer” although, funnily enough, she doesn’t have a Twitter account and is “not really into” Facebook.” She also likes pink, practically a requirement for every girl growing — evidence can be seen in her rosy designs, which are also peppered with hearts, blatantly feminine details, and the complimentary purple shade.

Kira has also gotten starstruck, not in arbitrary celeb spottings in L.A. or Malibu, but in one of the most prestigious platforms in fashion design. At 15 years old, the teen creator debuted in Milan Fashion Week and was nearly stupefied. “It was such an honor to show in the same Fashion Week as these amazing and super-talented people.”

When she fidgets in her seat and forgets to maintain eye contact, Kira is all of 17, revealing a trait so characteristic of the bubblegum set: restlessness. She pulls down her skirt in a seemingly unconscious gesture, her eyes take on a far-off gaze and, a few times, she trivializes replies with an imperceptible shrug. Within moments, she draws herself up and manifests a streak of wisdom-infused maturity that we always find so intriguing in those about to approach adulthood, particularly when she discredits idol worship (“I think it’s really important not to look up to anyone especially when you’re a creative person. It’s important to have your own individuality.”). Or when she doesn’t try to glorify what she does by constantly referring to her design stint as “work” (“My friends knew me before I started working.” or “I will probably spend the summer working.”) rather than a rich-girl pastime.

But really, Kira Plastinina is, typical or not, 17 years old. And she doesn’t try to hide it. Good for her.

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Kira Plastinina is located at the 2/L Bldg B, SM Megamall.

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E-mail comments to ana_kalaw@pldtdsl.net.