It became clear who will take the place of the deceased Zaitsev and Yudashkin: the forecast is disappointing

– Both Vyacheslav Zaitsev and Valentin Yudashkin were very famous people who were known even by those who did not wear their clothes and were not interested in fashion. What do you think is the reason for such popularity?

– The glory of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich is based on his uniqueness and incredible popularity among designers of the Soviet era. He started in 1962, was already a well-known designer in 1965, and the press mentioned his name quite often all this time. People knew that such a designer existed, that he had stars dressed, and that the shows caused a stir. Even when he had not yet opened his Fashion House, it happened in 1981, Zaitsev was already the talk of the town. To get to his show, buy his dress or consult with him was considered a great success in life. His clients were Edita Piekha, Alla Pugacheva, Anastasia Vertinskaya, Maria Neelova. Actresses sometimes came to him with a cry for help so that he could sell or borrow a dress for some festival. They were praised. There was a case when Zaitsev approached Raisa Maksimovna Gorbacheva and asked: “Why do you tell everyone that you dress with me, but you never ordered anything?” To which Gorbacheva, who was dressed by Makeeva, a good but not famous designer, replied: “Are you sorry? I need someone to brag about.” Fifteen obituaries were published in the French press about his death, two magazines devoted mourning pages to him. It’s a lot. Three publications were published about the death of Yudashkin. If we talk about fame in Paris, then it was more extensive for Zaitsev than for Yudashkin.

– Valentin Yudashkin is in many ways a child of perestroika, it was during this difficult time that his meteoric rise occurred. In your opinion, is this luck, or did he really get into the mood of the era with his vision of fashion?

– There are several factors. First, Valentin Abramovich Yudashkin is a brilliant son of the Jewish people. And the Jewish diaspora has the concept of mutual assistance, which the Russians absolutely do not have. As much as the Russians do not want to support each other, and sometimes even scold and drown, so much the Jews come to the aid of their own and are proud of it in every possible way. Yudashkin was very actively supported by the Jewish diaspora in show business, the press and so on. All this played a big role.

Secondly, Yudashkin made one of his first collections on the theme of Faberge. And Faberge is luxury. Zaitsev had a folk costume, and Yudashkin took the Winter Palace rather than the village as a model. The nineties were the era of gangster Russia, and Yudashkin created costumes that the girls of the brothers madly liked. This is Barbie style. Slim waist, long legs, high hairstyle, supported breasts, wide skirt. These images could not be disliked. Both the girls of the brothers and the brothers themselves dreamed about them. They wanted a “princess” and Yudashkin gave them this “princess”. Beautiful embroidery, brocade, sequins, beads, appliqué, and very playful sexuality – deep neckline, open back, arms. His luxury was mixed with sex and this attracted many.

– The names of some Russian designers are somewhat well-known, but they did not even dream of the glory of Zaitsev or Yudashkin. In your opinion, will they succeed in gaining popularity in a situation where the former ones are gone?

They don’t stand a chance, although they certainly will try. Fashion rank is given only in Paris, London and Milan. Russia will be excluded from all fashion weeks for several years, even the most talented designer will not be allowed to show unless he moves to Europe. Therefore, nothing shines for Russian designers now, although it is more or less clear who will take the place of Zaitsev and Yudashkin. Gulyaev will probably be the most popular designer in show business and at shows. He is a bright young man with a pronounced craving for luxury and sex in his collections. Lots of leather, lots of cuts, lots of black. Successful designers can also be called Igor Chepurin, Alena Akhmadulina, Ulyana Sergienko, Yulia Yanina. Victoria Andriyanova adjoins them. Tatyana Parfenova and Tatyana Kotegova, who is now the patriarch of our fashion, she is already over eighty, are popular in St. Petersburg, as well as Yanis Chamalidi.

– Do they have a chance to become the second Zaitsevs or Yudashkins?

– Even if they had big sponsors, the path to the podium in Paris is still closed. Athletes have the Olympics, and our Olympics are fashion shows. Of course, now many people say that they will do without Paris, they will hold a show in Tula or Tver, and everyone will be pumped. They won’t download, because it will be Tver fashion week, where at best the Turks or the Chinese will come. But it’s not a level. The level is Milan, Paris, London. Not participating in those shows means stewing in your own juice. This does not mean that our designers will not be talented, and their work is not artistic, they certainly create new images, but no one in the world will appreciate them. There is simply no local textile industry, there are not so many individual customers, because it is expensive. There is not a large selection of fabrics. They fly to the Emirates for them and bring them in suitcases, but this is enough for one collection.

– Russian luxury has always been a long-suffering segment. Do you think it is profitable to do it now?

– Of course not. There are rich women, and among them there are many wives of restricted officials who are not even allowed to go to Turkey. Luxury stores are closed, but they are not in a hurry to visit our designers, but buy at exorbitant prices what they bring from Kazakhstan and Armenia. In Russia, as in the time of the boyars, arrogant people lived, and now there are many of them. They measure each other with a friend of Chanel, Armani, Dior and Vuitton. No one is measured by Alena Akhmadulina and Igor Chepurin. Any woman deputy, no matter how much she hates Europe and says that she is deeply disgusted by all this dressed in the Channel. She does not wear flannel from the Ivanovo factory and an Orenburg shawl, she does not carry a bag made of birch bark.

— Which local designer, in your opinion, can bet on now?

– It is better to bet not on one, but on ten at once. Why did Belgian designers become famous in their time? Because in Belgium they allocated money for the fashion industry and each of them was given the opportunity to develop. Our fashion is growing like a weed. Zaitsev and Yudashkin grew up in spite of everything, it was only their efforts. We don’t even have a fashion museum. Young people simply have nowhere to look at what was created before them. Two geniuses have left, Zaitsev and Yudashkin, but they are geniuses for our generation. Very soon there will be a generation that does not know them, and where will they be able to see those collections? If we want an industry, we need a national fashion museum, where we need to put samples of the most famous designers and show what we mean by Russian luxury. Not everyone understands this, but the Russian people grasp it well, you just need to show an example. They say that in the Yudashkin House all the old models were put in large boxes and taken to the basement. And as soon as a textile thing gets into the basement, it is dead for the future. Requires only museum storage.