Dasha opens the doors to her garage

Its glamorous patron may not have the grasp of art history that she has of fashion, but the opening on September 17 of the Moscow arts centre founded by Dasha Zhukova, Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich's girlfriend, promises to be the Russian capital's cultural event of the year.

The Garazh Centre for Contemporary Culture is housed in a gigantic Soviet bus station – hence 'garage' or garazh in Russian. Built by the Constructivist architect Konstanin Melnikov, it is one of the most famous Art Deco landmarks in a city where many architectural landmarks have been razed to make way for a new Manhattan-inspired skyline.

Funded by private donations, the Garazh is set to become a major fixture on the Moscow party calendar. Zhukova announces in this month's Russian Vogue that the fashion world is now too narrow for her which is why she is branching

out into contemporary art.

As well as a 12-page interview and set of black-and-white Peter Lindbergh pictures celebrating her new project, the magazine also runs an ad which states that the centre – already nicknamed Dasha's Garage in art circles - is "Moscow's first private arts centre with an international programme of exhibitions and events". Think the Tate's turbine hall, with a lot of Russian money - including, it is understood, a sizeable contribution from Abramovich - thrown in.

Russia's zolotaya molodezh (gilded youth) social set is still recovering from the lavish party weekend Zhukova and Abramovich hosted in June to preview the centre. Amy Winehouse played a one-hour set at a dinner for 300 people. While Roman Abramovich disappeared at around 3am, Dasha partied at trendy Moscow nightclub Most until dawn. She then had her birthday party the following night at Soho