Mission to Moscow

A "West Berlin Day" in Moscow? It was hard to believe, but there it was. Just as surprising, the name day was, of all things, part of an international fashion show. Though their hemlines and politics may not always coincide, West Germany and Russia now agree that the best way to improve relations is to improve trade, and lately both countries have been promoting the proposition with a vengeance. Berlin's honored place at last week's 27-nation International Fashion' Festival in Moscow marked a high point in the new spirit of cooperation.

Heading up the West German mission to Moscow was Dr. Karl Koenig, West Berlin's Economics Minister. Like the other West German visitors, Koenig could hardly hide his glee when Russian designers flocked to German displays. They sketched and photographed everything, from the wildest mod look to the more functional fashions that Russian women favor. "Even seamstresses couldn't believe how we put our coats and dresses together," said one West Berliner. "It was all I could do to keep them from tearing the garments apart to see how they were made." Buyers were more guardedly curious about Berlin displays of women's undergarments, especially the green, blue and brown bras. "People would look at this part of our exhibit only if no one else was around," said one attendant. "They turned away if someone else came up."

Koenig hopes to triple the volume of Berlin-Soviet trade this year, and Moscow's festival is sure to help. But though Berlin's fashion industry has made the biggest eastward strides, the city's Siemens and Telefunken electronics plants, its razor-blade factories and other industries are also sending salesmen behind the Iron Curtain. Last month East Germany ordered 1,500 railroad cars and $12.5 million worth of cable from West Berlin; the city in turn bought milk from nearby East German state farms, despite vehement objections from West Germany's powerful farmers' union.

For all its eastward effort, Berlin this year will still be doing 90% of its business with the West; it will still be meeting its high transportation costs and overhead with some $2 billion in subsidies from the federal government in Bonn. But Berlin's bridge to the East is less important for the money flowing back over it than as a symbol of the city's effort to re-establish itself as Western Europe's major economic crossroads on the route to Moscow and Eastern Europe.

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