Two pairs of jeans and away you go, was the challenge JamilCo presented to Russian designers recently. Since jeans are hot commodities among designers worldwide, featured in everything from casual collections to luxury items, JamilCo, the official representative of the Levi?s trademark in Moscow, delivered two pairs of jeans to 20 Russian designers and invited them to come up with some denim fantasies of their own.

"Levi's have always been on the avant-garde side of jeans fashion, and we want to meet the new millennium with a new face that is younger and hip," said Yana Stebleva, the PR director of JamilCo. "That is why we invited Russian designers to look upon jeans fashion through their own eyes."

Russian designers, of course, aren't exactly pioneers when it comes to fantasizing with denim.

"There are many firms all around the world who are in the business of altering jeans," said designer Darya Razumikhina, who has spent time working in fashion capitals such as London. "Jeans decorated with embroidery, beads or plumes are selling everywhere in the West from banal markets to luxury boutiques. And they are very popular there."

The final results of JamilCo's challenge were exhibited at a special Levi's party held in the penthouse of the Nautilus trade center last Saturday, where JamilCo demonstrated the depths of the designers' denim fantasies.

To spice up the atmosphere, a seductive assortment of muscular, half-naked men and topless women wearing bits of denim paraded around the room.

Before the fashion show started, several former models could be spotted among the guests. Irina Chernyak, the fashion editor of Cosmopolitan, was decked out in bell-bottom jeans designed by her husband, Yevgeny Flor, featuring colorful prints of Cosmopolitan magazine covers. "It is great when stylists are allowed to realize their wildest dreams," said Chernyak, who hoped the styles she saw at the show would fill her with inspiration for new ideas of her own.

Judging from the sheer diversity parading down the aisle that evening, Chernyak was likely to find ample inspiration.

Designer Lyudmila Mezentseva turned them upside down and added a huge collar, transforming the jeans into a maternity dress. Yulia Dalakyan cut out the waists and added fur lines in the empty belt loops. Olga Soldatova decorated jeans with shiny red beads and red velvet flaps, while Lidia Soseliya applied imitation python skin. Olga Feshina experimented with fringe, while Nina & Donis riddled their jeans with small holes and filled them with comfortable pillows of colored fabric.

Vladimir Zubets claimed his jeans were "torn up by a shark." His creation not only sported gaping holes, but an actuall shark jaw as well.

JamilCo also joined in the denim fun, displaying its own creation of embroidered, wide, Eastern-style trousers.

Some designers were inspired by their favorite epoch.

"As the most popular jeans in the U.S., Levi's were always a symbol of interior freedom for us, and that is why the total freedom of our designers' fantasies appeared on the podium," Alisa Tolkachyova said. Her denim fantasies were based on a story by Anton Chekhov, as well as a mermaid fairy tale.

The mermaid dress, featuring gold bead fringe to represent a fisherman's net, was bought by pop star Anzhelika Varum≈ a regular customer of Tolkachyova's ≈ before the show.

Dedicating her jeans to her favorite musical era, Masha Tsigal cut her jeans in a punk style and painted them with band names and metal pins.

The only designer to come up with something that could not be worn was Viktoria Andreyanova, who transformed her jeans into a flowerpot. "I conducted all my experiments with jeans back in 1973," Andreyanova said. "That is why I tried to be more creative and turned to interior decoration."

Displaying a harsh, futuristic suit ≈ complete with a denim mask ≈ Georgy Ostretsov made quite an impression on the audience. "My jeans have been transformed into a second skin that protects humans from the aggressive influences of the environment," Ostretsov said.

"Our aim is to demonstrate that to wear jeans is not only a sign of fashion, but a means of self-expression," JamilCo's Stebleva said. "We want to inspire our potential customers to experiment in their own way with our jeans."