Dasha Zhukhova is still queen of the Russian IT girls

Dasha Zhukova's back (again). Following her incarnation as the editor of Pop magazine, the arts mogul, fashion designer and consort of Roman Abramovich has a new accolade: a coveted mention in a lavish coffee table tribute, Russian Style, published this week by Assouline. Z stands for Zhukova, Dasha, who is described as "the girl you absolutely must know".

Assouline's hefty tome celebrates the enduring aesthetic influence of Russia's new fashion elite. Despite the global recession crippling the fortunes of the oligarchs (Abramovich is estimated to have lost up to £12 billion), Russian style is having a moment, says the book's author Evelina Khromtchenko. "Russia's couture clientele are still the global force in the luxury market," she says.

And the downturn has not dimmed their appetite: "Russian 'It' girls know as much about fashion as the marketing director of any glossy magazine. It is not enough for them to buy brand names, they want ideas, a story and perfectly formed proportions."

Russians still make up the highest proportion of couture clients. Which is why at the most recent catwalks shows Russia influences could be seen in so many designers' winter 2009 collections. Khromtchenko points to Galliano's Budenovka hats
at Dior (named after a Russian general), Antonio Marras' 'revolutionary peasant girl theme' at Kenzo and Karl Lagerfeld¹s special Paris-Moscou collection for Chanel. "Not forgetting Lily Allen's black and gold Chanel clutch shaped in the form of a matryoshka Russian doll."

Dasha - ‘very good-looking, with perfect taste’ - is in a class of her own

Blonde, bouffanted and bespectacled, Khromtchenko, editor-in-chief of Russian glossy L'Officiel, is something of a legend in Moscow herself. She is a presenter on Fashion Verdict, Russia's biggest fashion TV show, and famously dubbed the voice for Meryl Streep's role on the Russian version of The Devil Wears Prada.

A mention in her book is the seal of fashionable approval. Alena Akhmadulina, St Petersburg's most exciting up-and-coming designer, and Valentin Yudashkin, the first Russian designer to show in Milan, also get the nod.

Dasha, however, is the only socialite anointed. This is because she's in a class of her own, says Khromtchenko, who puts the Dasha magic down to being "very good-looking, having perfect taste - and the unlimited ability to travel around the world".

She adds: "Dasha is a wonderful example for the new Russian generation. We need more like her so that the world forgets about the nouveau riche of perestroika times, whose intellectual level and appearance didn't correspond to the idea of Russian people of themselves at all." By which she means that Russian style went through a horribly tacky period in the late 1990s. But that's history now.

What about Dasha herself? Last seen at a Sotheby's party in London on April 23, she has her hands full in Moscow with a Christian Louboutin exhibition at Garage, her art gallery.

Being crowned the queen of Russian style can hardly do the brand any harm meanwhile. And she needn't even worry about eclipsing her partner's social status. Abramovich also gets a mention in the book - under O for Oligarch, of course.