What is Valentin Yudashkin known for – Kommersant

On May 2, fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin died. Details of his biography – in the help of “Kommersant”.

Yudashkin Valentin Abramovich was born on October 14, 1963 in the village of Bakovka, Moscow Region. In 1986 he graduated from the costume modeling department of the Moscow Industrial College with a degree in costume history and make-up and decorative cosmetics, in 2002 he graduated from the Russian University of Theater Arts with a degree in theater studies and theater costume.

In 1982-1984 he served in the army. After graduating from a technical school, he worked as a senior artist at the Central Design Bureau under the Ministry of Consumer Services, drew costumes for the USSR national hairdressing team, and also did decorative cosmetics.

He created his first collection in 1987 under the name “Original Rus'”, it consisted of 150 dresses. In 1991, he received recognition at the Haute Couture Week in Paris with the Faberge collection, one of the copies of the dress was donated to the Louvre. He played a small role in the 1991 film “Moscow Beauties”. In 1993 he founded the Russian fashion house Valentin Yudashkin. In 1994 and 1996, he designed the uniform for the Russian Olympic team at the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer and the Summer Olympics in Atlanta. He designed costumes for such Russian pop stars as Alla Pugacheva, Philip Kirkorov, Oleg Gazmanov and others.

In 1996, he became the first Russian designer to be accepted into the Paris High Fashion Syndicate as a corresponding member. In 1997 he opened his first boutique in Moscow. In 2003 he released a book-album dedicated to the 15th anniversary of his creative activity. In 2003, he held his first solo exhibition at the Historical Museum on Red Square, which brought together more than 200 costumes created in different years. In 2005 he was admitted to the Italian Fashion Council. In 2007, he presented his first watch collection, created in collaboration with Jacob & Co.

In 2008, he developed a full dress uniform for Russian military personnel, but subsequently the Ministry of Defense abandoned it. In 2009, he created a clothing collection in collaboration with Disney. In 2010, he replaced the host of the Fashion Sentence show on Channel One several times. In 2012, he was a confidant of Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections in the Russian Federation. In the same year, he became the editor-in-chief of the Style and Fashion TV channel, and also headed the Russian Dance Sports Union.

In 2012-2013 he was a member of the jury in the Channel One show Two Stars. In 2014, he designed costumes for figure skater Evgeny Plushenko, with whom he performed at the Sochi Olympics. In 2015, he was the author of a capsule collection for the Amur Tiger Center.

In 2016, the fashion house Valentin Yudashkin was admitted to the French Federation of Haute Couture, Pret-a-Porter and Fashion Designers, Mr. Yudashkin became the first and only representative of the fashion industry from Russia in France. In 2016-2017, he collaborated with the Faberlic brand and developed a collection of clothes and perfumes with him. In 2018, a documentary film “Chic in Russian” was released about the fashion designer. In 2020, he designed costumes for the play And There Were None for the Moscow Theater of O. Tabakov (Snuffboxes). In recent years, the fashion designer has been battling cancer.

Honorary Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts and Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, Professor of the Costume Design Department of the Russian State University named after M.V. A. N. Kosygina, Honored Art Worker of the Russian Federation. He was awarded the Order of Honor, “For Services to the Fatherland” IV and III degrees, is a holder of the French Orders of Arts and Letters and the Legion of Honor.

The fashion designer is survived by his wife and daughter.