Plastinina poses for Tommy Ton’s Harper’s Bazaar photo in New York City. (Courtesy of Tommy Ton)

Dallasites take note, there’s a new boutique coming to The Plaza at Preston Center. Twenty-year-old SMU junior and Russian fashion designer Kira Plastinina is the mastermind behind LUBLU Kira Plastinina.

The June opening marks LUBLU’s first American flagship store.

“My friends always ask, ‘Kira, where can we get your line?’ I realized Dallas is a great market and a great fit for my line,” Plastinina said.

LUBLU will draw in high-end, trendy shoppers. “When I’m designing, the three words I keep in mind to reflect the brand are feminine, savvy and daring. This is a girl who dresses up for events. My strongest point as a designer is fun cocktail outfits,” Plastinina said. “Our demographic is for the ‘it’ girl. When she walks into a room, people notice what she’s wearing-it’s different and fresh. She strives for that when she’s looking through her closet.”

Plastinina’s favorite piece LUBLU will carry is a yellow sweater with a colorful, chameleon-knit embellishment, she said.

Mike Geisler, whose firm Venture Capital Real Estate handles the leasing and management for Preston Center, believes LUBLU is unlike any other store in Preston Center or Dallas, for that matter.

“Kira is a very popular designer, and I think LUBLU will complement and bring an element of fashion to our center that isn’t there. It’s going to be focused a little on the younger side,” Geisler said.

Famous French architect Pascal Maury designed the boutique to include mostly beige-colored walls with marble finishing and travertine floors to faithfully represent the brand identity.

“It won’t be overwhelming. The store is built to draw attention to the clothes. It will be very modern and highly technological yet still comfortable. It will definitely look very sophisticated and fit the three words that describe my line,” Plastinina said.

Maris Stella Ostrewich, the Dallas store manager of LUBLU, believes the store decoration will let the clothes shine. “The collection speaks for itself. The designs are the true visions of the store. They’re beautiful, sophisticated, and the construction is gorgeous. The store will reflect the vision of quality, gorgeous aesthetics and design.” She continues, “This is going to be a great addition to Dallas. It’s very different, fresh and unusual. It’s also very well done and complete as a collection. Everyone will find something they like.”

LUBLU is part of a hugely successful global fashion empire. Plastinina owns two lines: LUBLU Kira Plastinina and Kira Plastinina. “The LUBLU brand is a premium brand where I can afford to use more expensive fabrics. LUBLU is more designer-oriented and Kira Plastinina is more trend-oriented. The customer for LUBLU would be slightly older as well because of the price point. LUBLU is more daring, feminine and savvy whereas Kira Plastinina is more fun and flirty,” Plastinina said.

Kira Plastinina is a much larger chain than LUBLU with more than 1,000 pieces every season and over 250 stores throughout Europe and Asia. Obviously, this is quite the impressive feat for a girl who started designing when she was just 14 years old.

Like most little girls, Plastinina fell in love with fashion at a very young age. But unlike most tweens, Plastinina turned her dream into a serious business venture with the help of her father Sergi Plastinin, the former CEO of Russia’s largest juice and dairy producer.

“My parents would ask what I wanted to do when I was little and I would say, ‘I want to play with pretty dresses.’ I started working when I was 14. [At first], I didn’t even think it was possible because of the responsibility. My family always told me they believed in me and told me to listen to myself,” Plastinina says.

Plastinina’s young age gave her a rare advantage as a budding designer. “I was the same age as our customers so we had the same interests, hobbies, music and movie taste. I connect well with my shoppers. They can grow up with me. Over the six years I’ve been doing this, the brand has evolved,” Plastinina says.

It wasn’t long until Plastinina became a household name in her own right. “Every fashion show is always a big memory for me, but my first fashion show during Milan Fashion Week in 2008 really stands out. It was such a big step forward and honor for me. The president of the Italian fashion chamber gave me an award for being the youngest designer for my accomplishments,” Plastinina says.

Today, Plastinina heavily commits to both the creative and business sides of her company. “I’m very involved on both sides starting just from the mood board for the collection. I try every piece on to make sure it not only looks good but is comfortable. I’m also very involved in the business side as well. I wasn’t as much when I was younger, but as I get older, I’m more involved with the big decisions the brand makes. LUBLU is like my baby, so I want to make sure I approve everything we’re doing,” Plastinina said.

Here comes the million-dollar question: how does Plastinina balance an impressive career most adults may only dream of with a normal college experience? “I grew up with this. My parents always kept me really busy with dance and art lessons after school. I grew up learning how to plan my time,” Plastinina said.

Plastinina juggles her Communication Studies classes, Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sisters and frequent flights to Russia with a healthy attitude. “It’s definitely not easy. I have some sleepless nights. I try and make it work. When you really want to do something, you make it work. As soon as you calm down, everything works out no matter how overwhelming it is,” Plastinina said.

This world-renowned fashion designer pulls out all the stops on the runway, but Plastinina’s weekend wardrobe may surprise you. “My personal style is very similar to the clothes I design, because I design clothes that I would want to wear myself. [But] in everyday life, I like casual, relaxed clothing-jeans, oversized sweater, fun T-shirt. I also feel like as a designer, I invest so much energy and thought into my designs that sometimes it feels good to just wear a plain T-shirt and jeans to give myself a “break” from thinking about clothes,” Plastinina said.

Kathrine Krylova ’13, Plastinina’s sorority sister, said that despite Plastinina’s incredible fame, she’s really just a regular girl. “I think that all of Kira’s closest friends could agree with me that she is such a modest and amazing person. She always remembers important things going on in my life and makes a point of asking me about them. I never think of her as my famous best friend, and that is exactly why I love her so much,” Krylova said.