A fluffy kitten for $15,000 was one of the cheaper offers at this weekend's Summer Fair, which coaxed Russia's richest to forget their woes and splash out on life's little luxuries -- like a gold-plated laptop.

Held in Moscow for the first time, the Summer Fair is a smaller version of the giant luxury market, the Millionaire Fair.

"It's definitely smaller, but the level of the participants is higher," said Yelena Kudozova, the managing director of the Millionaire Fair. She listed carmakers McClaren and jewelry brand Piaget as examples.

Highlighting the exclusivity of the event, the fair was held at the Royal Bar yacht club on the bank of the Moscow River near Vodny Stadion metro station. The club has sand imported from the Maldives on an artificial beach.

Vladimir Filonov / MT Fair guests checking out the expensive yachts docked on a club pier.

At the opening, British pop singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor performed a 30-minute set including her 2002 hit "Murder on the Dance Floor," which got the audience of glamorous blondes bopping around their VIP goodie bags. Among the local celebrities present were pop singer Filipp Kirkorov and ballerina Anastasia Volochkova.

Kudozova said the crisis hadn't affected the fair, and organizers expected 4,000 visitors over the weekend. "It's going better than we expected," she said. "Of course, if the market was booming, it could possibly be better."

Three spotted kittens were curled up in a basket on a stand for the company L'Unicorne, which offers "exotic goods from all over the world" to rich Russians. No ordinary kittens, these were African Serval cats, a wild breed that can be kept as a pet. The cats are now bred in the Moscow region, general director Vitaly Barinov said. They sell for $15,000 each.

The company also arranges for its clients to go on weightless flights in Las Vegas and sells the ultimate accessory for the businessman who has it all -- a gold-plated MacBook.

Vladimir Filonov / MT People relaxing on sand imported from the Maldives near the fair tents.

Other goods on sale at the fair included a Mercedes fitted out with television screens, fridge, bar and a PlayStation for 165,000 euros ($230,000) and a sleek Ferrari F430 Stealth Limited for 280,000 euros.

Traders said there's still a market for high-end luxury goods, crisis or no crisis.

Kudozova called the fair "very, very attractive to well-to-do Russian people."

"People who earn a lot are now just earning a bit less, but they're still earning," Barinov said.

Maria Ponomarenko, the vice president of Luxury Homes, flicked through a brochure to show some of the huge mansions built by her company in styles such as "Austrian baroque." The prices start at $10 million, she said.

Her clientele is the "top 100 on the Russian Forbes list," she said.

She acknowledged that this sector has been hit. "Our rich clients have gone down in value during the crisis. It's the richest and poorest who suffer the most," she said.

The company is offering 5 percent to 10 percent discounts on mansions and is also selling cheaper wood-framed houses from $500,000. "The crisis started and everyone got scared, but all the same they are looking at property. This option is more realistic," she said.

"That can only be built by someone in the top 100," she said, nodding at the mansions. "This can be bought by someone who gets a loan from the bank."