She's fashionable, prepares sushi, and is married to a Deep Purple fan: meet Svetlana Medvedeva, set to become Russia's grooviest first lady for a generation.
The childhood sweetheart of Dmitry Medvedev, a strong contender in the March 2 presidential election, is not exactly a high-octane political spouse in the mold of Tony Blair's Cherie or Nicolas Sarkozy's model-songstress Carla Bruni.
But by the standards of Kremlin wives, for decades confined to the political shadows, Svetlana Medvedeva is as hip as they come.
"They are a modern couple. Society is changing and I'd say Russians are ready for a real first lady now," Marina Baskakova, who teaches gender issues at Moscow's Higher School of Economics, told AFP.
Relatively little is known about the presidential candidate's wife. Medvedev's campaign office refused even to confirm her age, although she is reported to have been born the same year as Dmitry, who is 42.
Like the Kremlin's most glamorous first lady in recent history, Raisa Gorbacheva in the 1980s, the blonde Medvedeva already has a big reputation for loving fashion.
Outgoing President Vladimir Putin's wife Lyudmila can appear dowdy, but the few published photographs of Medvedeva show her in a white suit cut to show her ample upper figure.
A columnist for The Times newspaper last month wrote of bumping into the Medvedevs about to board an Aeroflot flight from London's Heathrow "laden with Harrods hat boxes."
According to a source in Russia's fashion circles, the glamorous white outfit bears the hallmarks of Valentin Yudashkin, couturier to Russia's rich and powerful, creator of $6,000 cocktail dresses, and reportedly a Medvedeva friend.
Even if the outfit was "a bit mumsy" and geared for the wealthy middle-aged, a fashion-conscious first lady will be exciting, said the source, who asked not to be named, given the political sensitivities.
Previous first ladies "made so many mistakes and obviously was not a good example from a fashion point of view, particularly compared with the icon of Raisa," the source said.
"I don't think Svetlana will be someone who makes you go ‘wow,' but she will be pretty and noble. Everyone would be happy to see a good-looking, sophisticated and well-dressed woman."
Fancy clothes are not the only change the Medvedevs are likely to introduce to the Kremlin, along with their 12-year-old son, Ilya.
Despite his image as a dyed-in-the-wool bureaucrat, Dmitry Medvedev is an avowed Deep Purple fan. The rock legends were flown in this month for a gala party to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary of the state gas monopoly Gazprom, which he chairs.
And whereas Lyudmila Putina describes pouring her husband a nightly glass of kefir, Svetlana Medvedeva promises more adventure in the Kremlin kitchen.
A source close to the family, who asked not to be identified, told AFP that in 2002 Medvedeva took courses in preparing sushi - all the rage among the housewives of Russia's elite.
Exactly how much the Medvedevs will shake things up is another question.
Dmitry Medvedev has campaigned for the presidency on the sole promise that he will continue "Putin's plan."
And although his wife counts Russian showbiz star Alla Pugacheva among her friends, she is also closely involved with the male-dominated and ultra-straightlaced Orthodox Church.
She is "a strong and powerful woman who loves both high-society and Orthodox church services," praised Expert magazine.
Certainly Svetlana Medvedeva will want to avoid the fate of Raisa Gorbacheva, whose socialite behaviour and strong personality won the West, but turned off ordinary Russians.
"The people didn't like so much activity from a first lady," says an exhibition on Kremlin wives running at Moscow's Modern History Museum. "She was seen as being too much."
By Sebastian Smith, Agence France Presse
