Look back at 2007 Russia's elite come to London

On the eve of the 2007 London Marathon, when runners from all over the UK were having an early night, another group of people visiting the capital were drinking Moët & Chandon and Hennessy and dancing the night away to Muscovite bands, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Mika. Russia’s business tycoons and fashionistas were in town for four days to support their resident supermodel Natalia Vodianova’s children’s charity - the Naked Heart Foundation, to attend an exhibition and conference on Understanding Luxury and, following the party, to wake up and attend the Russian Economic Forum.

The four events, including the Moscow Motion party on Saturday 21 April, were organised by UK and Russia-based Eventica and produced consecutively by Event Concept in a timeframe that would have left even the most hardened Muscovite aghast.
At 6am on Thursday 19 April, Event Concept producer Jane Dillon and her team arrived at Old Billingsgate to begin the set-up for the Global Luxury Forum. An opulently dressed conference room for 500 delegates plus an exhibition comprising 27 stands and a lunch area was created against the venue’s blank canvas ready for the opening at 8.30am the following day. Eventica spokesman Sergei Kolushev says: “We wanted to add a new dimension to our conference. We needed a production company that could not only deliver a high-profile forum but one that could also help delegates really experience what it is that makes luxury brands so desirable.”
Following five sessions on subjects such as ‘the democratisation of luxury’ and ‘talking the luxury language’, plus speeches by, among others, Vodianonva, Vogue Russia’s editor-in-chief and owners of worldwide luxury brands, Billingsgate then had to be transformed overnight into the Russian Economic Forum’s launch party, Moscow Motion. Around 1,500 guests, largely made up of Russia’s most wealthy elite, rubbed shoulders with British fashion designers, chief executives and celebrities until 4am in an environment that was split between a decadent drinks reception and a Russian nightclub.
Dillon says: “The creative saw a reception with a Marie Antoinette feel but with a modern reference that used oversized candelabras and flower-holders to balance out the venue’s sheer size and form centerpieces against antique furniture, a circular bar and huge chandeliers.
“Together with caterer Alison Price, we looked at strong graphical ways for standalone food stations which resulted in huge Fabergé eggs containing savory straws, oversized porcelain swans holding crisps and pyramids pierced with filled profiteroles. When the main room was revealed, guests were greeted with a Colourweb LED wall spelling out Moscow Motion and a nightclub with stage, moving lights and huge mirror balls.”

The next day, delegates moved on to the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster for the 10th annual three-day Russian Economic Forum. The forum, which ran from 22-24 April, attracted almost 2,000 delegates. As they stood in silence for Boris Yeltsin, the first President of the Russian Federation, who had died on the Monday before, Dillon was not only helping to produce the forum but was also in the throes of transforming Billingsgate for a third time in as many days in preparation for the Russian Rhapsody charity fundraising gala dinner on Monday 23 April.

Military precision
Event Concept managing director Mark Beaver says: “We do a lot of work in Billingsgate and know the venue exceptionally well, so the logistical challenges of access and vehicles not being able to stop on the road outside can easily be overcome, providing each supplier knows their time slot and the build-up and break-down is managed with military precision.
“The roads were closed on the Sunday for the marathon so we’d planned to reuse much of the staging from the Global Luxury Forum and use the venue’s basement and mezzanine level for storage. But the venue’s floor space needed to be re-carpeted with each event, and the sheer scale of trying to get the bands in and set up is complicated.”
The Russian Rhapsody charity black-tie gala dinner attracted 800 wealthy Russians and used the same shell as the Moscow Motion party. Dillon worked with London’s luxury toy designer, Dragons, to create oversized models of rocking horses, teddy bears, balloons and other children’s toys, which dressed the room and encapsulated the theme of the auction. In the end, it raised almost £500,000 for the Naked Heart Foundation.

Haute couture
A pair of rocking horses designed by Valentino and Jean-Paul Gaultier, an antique musical box customized by Giorgio Armani, a Japanese Bearbrick doll dressed in Chanel by Karl Lagerfeld and a children’s puppet theatre styled by John Galliano were among the haute couture toys that were sold to the highest bidders as they enjoyed a dinner by French chef Joel Robuchon and continued the consumption of Moët & Chandon champagne and Hennessy cognac.
“The reception felt like an adults’ playground but in keeping with the luxurious feel and putting guests in the mood for the unique auction that followed,” says Dillon.
Naked Heart Foundation executive director international, Valerie-Anne Creps, says: “It was the most stunning decoration of all the Eventica-organised events I have seen so far.”
At 9am the following day, Tuesday 24 April, Event Concept finally handed the keys back to Billingsgate after returning the venue to its blank-canvas state. The Russians sampled the final sessions of the Economic Forum and embraced a wide variety of topics, some focusing on specific sectors such as oil and gas, construction or telecommunications, others featuring discussions that reflected on the path Russia has taken in the 10 years since the forum began, and expectations for how the presidential elections scheduled for 2008 will impact on the investment climate.
Once it was all over, the Russians slipped away, as unnoticed by the majority of Londoners as they had been since their arrival. For Event Concept, however, the presence of the world’s new elite – where the average age of a millionaire is 32 – left a lasting impression, and it’s certain that the same impression of awe will have been shared by visitors who witnessed the creative transformations and event production during those gruelling four days.