It is a Saturday afternoon in Moscow and the Evropeisky shopping centre is teeming. On the second floor, beyond the glitzy escalators and the fountains, young Muscovites queue – sometimes for half an hour at a stretch – to get into dressing rooms at western outlets such as Zara, Monsoon, Top Shop and Oasis.
In the basement, shoppers load up on weekly foodstuffs at Perekryostok, the Russian low-cost supermarket chain. Designer boutiques and diamond shops are sandwiched in between.
