PROFILE: Stilleto-heeled Svetlana to be Russia's new First Lady

Mar 3, 2008, 15:01 GMT

Moscow - When Svetlana Medvedeva showed up to vote in Russia's presidential elections Sunday together with her husband Dmitry, her stiletto-heeled shoes revealed her soft spot for expensive clothing.

Now, Russian media report say, Russia's future First Lady - at the side of Dmitry who easily won Sunday's election as outgoing president Vladimir Putin's hand-picked successor - has already upgraded her wardrobe in preparing for a role like that of the late Jackie Kennedy, wife of late US President John F. Kennedy.

And only a few people in Moscow believe that Svetlana, the daughter of a soldier, will stay out of the public limelight as discretely as did Lyudmila Putina, Vladimir Putin's wife.

An economist by academic training, Medvedeva is described in the magazine Expert as being 'strong and imperious,' a person who can put even her husband in the shadows.

'Her charm helps her to establish contacts which her husband then makes use of,' commented political scientist Stanislav Belkovski about the statuesque blonde.

Till now, Dmitry Medvedev had mainly appeared alone in public, while Svetlana involved herself in the issue of the spiritual and ethical situation of Russia's youth - an endeavour for which she had the blessing of Russian Orthodox Church Patriarch Alexi II.

Dimitry and Svetlana have known each other since the first grade in school. Media reports say Dimitry was in love for many years with Svetlana, who was popular with everyone. The couple married in their home city of Leningrad - now St. Petersburg - in 1989. They have a son, Ilya, born in 1996.

Born sometime in 1965, Svetlana's exact age is guarded like a state secret.

But, as her husband continued his rise up the political ladder, Svetlana was happy to enter the celebrity circles of Russia's show business crowd. Among her friends are pop diva Alla Pugachova and star fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin.

As First Lady, Medvedeva will probably be trying to set the tone in the country's fashion scene, Expert magazine said.

'At political receptions, from now on we will be seeing the latest creations by Yudashkin,' it predicted. And, the magazine said, the future presidential wife might also be encouraged to show off her cleavage a bit more generously.