Gold Bentleys, Balenciaga bags, VIP clubs with secret passwords. Welcome to the surreal life of heiress Katia Verber.

Katia Verber is running late. That's not unusual for an It girl in Moscow, where the Soviet-built streets are choked with traffic.

Not helping matters is that the 24-year-old socialite's It car - her mother's chauffeured gold Bentley — has just broken down. "I'm so stressed!" sighs the feathery voice on the other end of the line when I call to check in. "I'll be there in 20!"

I can't help but ask: If you shell out $250,000 for a car, it should work, right?

her $7000 luxury titanium Vertu cell phone is beep-beep-beeping. Loudly.

Finally she finds it and answers with a perky "Ah-loh?"

Katia, a dark-haired heiress with piercing eyes and perfect teeth, is like one of the Hilton sisters here.

She's the daughter of Alla Verber, who helps run Russia's biggest luxury retailer, Mercury, which brought Dolce, Gucci, and Prada to Russia in the mid-1990s.