Vyacheslav Zaitsev became president of the Moscow Fashion House back in 1988, and today the name of the outstanding designer is known throughout the world. The fashion house of Vyacheslav Zaitsev is a place where not just clothes are born, real masterpieces are created here that have not only aesthetic, but also high artistic value.

Biography of the master

The biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev is the success story of an amazing and extraordinary personality, a man who found the meaning of life in the constant search and creation of beauty.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev was born in the Moscow region, in the city of Ivanovo in 1938. He received a specialty as a textile design artist at the Khimiko-Technological College, and then as a fashion designer at the Moscow Textile Institute. Vyacheslav Mikhailovich began his design career in 1962 in the city of Babushkin, as the artistic director of the Experimental Technical Garment Factory. But he didn’t stay there for long, and three years later he headed the All-Union House of Clothing Models on Kuznetsky.

It was during this period that the fashion designer met with Pierre Cardin, Guy Laroche and Marc Bohan, who greatly influenced his further work. Zaitsev began working hard on designing his own collections for shows abroad, not forgetting about domestic light industry, creating costumes for Moscow theaters, films and stage images for pop artists. And in 1980, it was Zaitsev who had the honor of dressing the Soviet delegation of athletes for Olympic Games in Moscow.

Zaitsev became the artistic director of the Fashion House in Moscow and founded his own Fashion Theater. From that time to the present day, designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev has been creating and displaying designer collections, which always become one of the most striking and anticipated events of fashion weeks.

The children and grandchildren of Vyacheslav Zaitsev are a worthy continuation of his life’s work. Son Egor and granddaughter Marusya Zaitsev presented their own collections at the beginning of 2012 at Moscow Fashion Week. For Marusya this was her debut work. Since then, the Zaitsev family could quite officially be considered an established dynasty of designers.

In 2012, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich celebrated the 30th anniversary of his Fashion House and the half-century anniversary of his creative activity.

Activities of the Fashion House of Vyacheslav Zaitsev

The fashion house became the basis for the creation of the Vyacheslav Zaitsev Fashion Theater. The main idea is to display collections in the form of musical performances. The theater has been successfully touring all over the world for several decades. It was thanks to Zaitsev’s creativity that the domestic fashion industry reached the international level.

The fashion laboratory created by Zaitsev is a non-governmental educational institution, which has given the fashion world many talented designers, true professionals in their field.

The Vyacheslav Zaitsev Model School, more accurately called the Fashion Theater School-Studio, was founded later - already in the 90s. It recruited models to participate in the Fashion Theater. The school is still very popular among those who want to become models. It has its own teaching philosophy, strict requirements for future models, but also highest level training. Only graduates of the Vyacheslav Zaitsev Model School professionally demonstrate haute couture outfits on domestic catwalks.

All facets of talent

The creativity of Vyacheslav Zaitsev is not limited to the creation of fashionable clothing collections. His talent is also evident in painting: exhibitions of his works were repeatedly held in the USA and Europe, and the State Tretyakov Gallery even included several works by the talented designer in its exhibition.

The world-famous designer still makes great efforts to develop the fashion industry in our country, helping young designers and artists reach the heights of their craft in order to adequately represent Russia in the international fashion world.

Remembering it, we mean a whole fashionable era that originated in the Soviet space. The biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev began on March 2, 1938 in the city of brides Ivanovo. The childhood of a boy growing up in a working-class family during the war years was difficult, as was the case with all children of that time. The mother raised the boy on his feet alone, the father went to the front. Mom, who became an angel on Earth for little Slava, instilled in the boy a love for the beauty of the surrounding world and nature, for reading and Russian folk art.

Anxious and sad early biography Vyacheslav Zaitsev. The year of birth - 1938 - did not favor a normal, well-fed life. The family was starving, the seven-year-old boy was forced to manage the household himself, his mother worked day and night. He loved her so much that when she died in 1978, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zaitsev felt that everything around him was completely meaningless.

School and technical school

Since 1945, Slava Zaitsev studied at a secondary school in the city of Ivanovo. Already in the childhood biography of designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev, his love for fine art is emphasized. At school, he helped the art teacher with posters for the circus, and later created posters for theatrical performances.

The boy, in general, gravitated toward any art and sang wonderfully. As a child, he earned his bread by singing and fed his mother. At the age of 10 they wanted to take him to Moscow, to join the Sveshnikov choir, but his mother was against it. The boy himself decided that leaving and abandoning the person closest to him was blasphemy.

In 1952, Vyacheslav continued his studies by entering the Chemical Technology College. The teachers set difficult tasks - not only to expressively depict lines on fabrics, but also to “revive” the ornament. Successfully completing the tasks, Slava figured out and assessed how the fabric with his design would look on the finished dress.

In 1956, Zaitsev received a diploma with honors, the specialty “textile design artist” guaranteed him a job in the “capital of chintz”, the profession was chosen traditional for the city of Ivanovo.

University

He arrived in the capital to enter the textile institute in 1956 and was different from the local applicants. The selection committee saw in young talent remarkable talent, and besides, the provincial boy had good knowledge, so he was easily admitted to the university.

But it was difficult for Slava to study there and live in the dormitory. The biography of couturier Vyacheslav Zaitsev contains unpleasant moments associated with conflicts with fellow students and staff - once all his folders with his works were stolen, and the cleaning lady threw them in the trash. They mocked him, he was an outcast of his kind, he was not liked for his innovation, he shocked teachers and classmates with his colorful, bright models with historical and ethnic motifs. Quiet, modest Slava combined work with study.

The future couturier defended his thesis “Women’s Business Suits” with excellent marks.

Career

After graduating from the institute in 1962, Vyacheslav was assigned to the Experimental Technical Garment Factory of the Moscow Regional Economic Council in the city of Babushkin. Appointed artistic director, the fashion designer began creating a collection of clothing for rural workers. Nobody liked it vivid images, albeit imbued with the Russian spirit. But the magazine “Paris Match” published an article about Zaitsev entitled “He dictates fashion to Moscow.”

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich gravitated toward folk art. The fashion designer traveled to the cities of his country and studied proportions, color combinations, rhythm and a certain rough humanity of everything Russian.

Meanwhile, thanks to classes at the Theater Library, he met foreign fashion creators. Slava was impressed by Chanel, Paul Poiret, and Christian Dior.

In 1965, the couturier met Marc Bohan and Pierre Cardin, and the talented Russian fashion designer was first mentioned in the Women Wear Daily article “Kings of Fashion.”

Zaitsev devoted 13 years to the fashion house and left there as deputy artistic director. He created for workers of many plants, factories and enterprises in all cities of Russia. Zaitsev took into account seasonality, the age of the person who would wear his clothes, the climate, and the level of the enterprise. He still did not understand how it was possible to distort the artist’s idea and release into the world something completely different from what the creator intended, to ship to stores the result passed through the prism of the Soviet nomenklatura.

Love and family in the biography of fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev

The only woman with whom he was ready to go through his whole life, but with whom he managed to be together, unfortunately, for only 9 years, was his wife Marina. The designer did not marry again and did not even want to consider options, devoting himself 100% to creativity.

They met Marina at the institute and participated in student activities together. A beautiful, active, talented girl from a wonderful family. Her father served as a military pilot-engineer, her mother was a ballerina at the Stanislavsky and Nemirovich-Danchenko Theater. Slava’s dad sat as an enemy of the people, and his mother was a simple worker. It turned out to be a misalliance, but you can’t control your feelings.

In his second year, in 1959, after a funny performance in which the young man almost lost his pants, Marina brought Slava to her house near the Airport metro station. A romance began between a girl from an elite family and a poor but talented fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev. Biography, wife, children, photos, newspaper chronicles, scandals and fried facts - all these things have not been discussed with such gusto as they are now. Nevertheless, many understood that the union between the young was doomed to failure. Marina’s mother disliked Vyacheslav from the first minutes, sincerely considering him a poor man who wanted to “steer” at the expense of her daughter.

But in 1959 the couple got married. There were two witnesses at the wedding: Marina’s friend Svetlana and Slava’s friend from the institute Boris. Marina’s mother rented a room for the newlyweds in the basement of their house. The couple lived there for all nine years of their marriage.

In 1960, the Zaitsevs had a son, Yegor, his mother-in-law refused to help with the child, and Vyacheslav called his mother to Moscow to help with her grandson. Slava studied and worked; when he graduated from college, Yegor was two years old.

The most difficult moment in Vyacheslav Zaitsev’s personal biography came in 1971, when he returned home from Hungary, where he worked on costumes for the film “Hold on to the Clouds.” His mother-in-law kicked him out of his own house, meeting him at the entrance with the words: “Get out, I found the daughter of another husband!”

Zaitsev left with what he had on him. The extravagant lady ended her life in a mental hospital; she had bad heredity - it turns out that her grandfather had problems with mental development. The wife could not influence her mother, who, according to the fashion designer, simply zombified her daughter. Marina was married to a circus performer; she also worked in the circus then.

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich is an optimist by nature. He recalls that when his wife did not let her mother into the house, there were a lot of happy moments. It was not only the mother-in-law that caused the divorce - Marina was withdrawn, and Slava could not live without communication. The wife was jealous of her husband’s beautiful long-legged fashion models.

He lived very little with his second wife Inna, she irritated him with her exorbitant love, emotionally “squeezed” him out, this affected his creativity. He couldn’t stand it and left her, despite the fact that she did a lot for him. You won't be nice by force.

Egor

After the divorce, Zaitsev was forbidden to see Yegor. They were even forbidden to call each other. New husband Marina kicked Yegor out of the house. He put the boy on his knees on the peas. Vyacheslav's mother-in-law told her grandson that their father abandoned them and the boy needed to accept a new dad.

Yegor had a difficult childhood; his son still cannot forgive his father. Today they are doing the same thing, however, each lives his own life, and the son would like his dad to be closer to him. They don't talk on the phone for months.

Yegor's first wife Dasha gave Vyacheslav Zaitsev a granddaughter, Marusya. But this marriage did not last long. Yegor quarreled with his wife, and Zaitsev Sr. was very friendly with his daughter-in-law. After the divorce, the son of a famous fashion designer became addicted to drugs, but managed to get rid of his addiction in time.

Now Yegor has a second marriage, in which a child was also born. His wife Katya is a model, director and assistant to Vyacheslav Mikhailovich.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev still speaks very warmly of his son as a wonderful, smart, talented and generous person, always ready to help.

Author's works

He had long been noticed abroad, and, despite his nationality, Vyacheslav Zaitsev’s biography, way of thinking, created masterpieces and life position attracted foreign artists in the field of fashion. “Our man,” they most likely thought. He was considered a leader Soviet fashion, was called in the press nothing less than “Red Dior”. The couturier's collections "strolled" across different countries- in the USA, Canada and Japan, France, Italy and Yugoslavia.

In 1969, Zaitsev’s clothing models were presented at the New York Museum, they were noticed and the designer was invited to open fashion stores in all countries. Domestic officials intervened, rejecting the proposal.

In 1974, in the article “Review of Fashion for 100 Years,” the editor of the Czechoslovak publication “Kvety” gave Soviet talent a place of honor in the gallery of portraits of outstanding fashion artists along with Paul Poiret, Gabrielle Chanel, as well as Frederick Worth and Christian Dior.

Oh, the era...

Zaitsev began to introduce people to the aesthetics of clothing, write, perform and organize fashion shows, and draw attention to fashion issues. To introduce a sense of style and beauty into Russian souls, to try to dispel the dullness.

He admits that he did not like working with high-ranking officials and politicians. Nevertheless, the USSR Minister of Culture Ekaterina Alekseevna Furtseva gave him a one-room apartment in Novogireevo.

He thought that in his homeland they did not like him, they probably considered him a spy, they believed that he would attract intelligence officers to Russia, articles in foreign media were not welcomed by his fatherland.

The first European style fashion house named after Vyacheslav Zaitsev

In 1982, Zaitsev became the artistic director of the Moscow Fashion House, and six years later he was appointed director. The organization received tremendous development, becoming the first Russian fashion house of the European style and receiving the name of Slava Zaitsev. In 1996, the fashion designer became president of OJSC Moscow Zaitsev Fashion House.

Devoted to Melpomene

Theater and art are the true loves of my life. The fashion designer created stage costumes for more than two dozen performances in the capital's theaters. In 1981 - for G. Volchek’s production of the play “ The Cherry Orchard”, in 2013 - to “The Queen of Spades” at the Maly Theater. The fashion designer worked for the Hermitage Theater in St. Petersburg. The talented artist also created posters and posters.

Stage, festivals

In 1970, the master artist works with the brightest stars pop and theater, with Joseph Kobzon, Muslim Magomayev and Tamara Sinyavskaya, with Alla Pugacheva and Edita Piekha, with Zykina and Kirkorov, with the groups “Na-na”, “Time Machine” and many, many others.

In 2009, the couturier headed the jury of an international fashion festival called “Provincial Style”. In March 2013, in honor of the fashion designer’s 75th birthday, S. Esin’s book “Slava Zaitsev: Master and Inspiration” was published.

On March 10, 2018, the last seasonal show in his career took place. The couturier participated in the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Russia for 10 years, presenting more than 10 thousand fashionable images to the audience during this time. He said goodbye to regular shows, but not to creativity, promising his fans regular interesting projects. That's all for the description for now short biography Vyacheslav Zaitsev can be brought to an end.

Your home is a future museum

Zaitsev lives alone in his country house, which he is preparing as a museum, collecting materials for a future exhibition.

The house was built with an eye on the future, for the time when I leave.

He says that he stopped thinking about loneliness as a price for talent. He enjoys his immersion in art. When he divorced Marina, he admitted that he “rushed” in creativity. And so it continues to this day.

Fashion history

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02.04.14 16:13

This Russian fashion designer has received so many awards and titles that you inevitably begin to envy him. During his life, he went through many trials and difficulties, but managed to achieve fame and success, despite everything. Meet Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zaitsev.

Biography of Slava Zaitsev

Childhood and youth of the future fashion designer

The boy was born on March 2, 1938 in the city of Ivanovo. His childhood passed in difficult conditions, since the war began at that time. His father had to go to the front, and caring for his son fell on his mother’s shoulders.

In 1945, Vyacheslav entered the high school. In addition to schooling, a love of knowledge instilled in him dear mother Maria Ivanovna. By nature she was a gifted person, although she was not able to fully realize her talent. But she passed on some of her abilities to her son.

At the age of 14, Vyacheslav entered the Chemical Technology College, where he continued his studies. In 1956 he received a diploma as a textile artist. And 6 years later he graduated from the Textile Institute in Moscow. After this, he is hired to work at a garment factory.

Zaitsev's innate talent

As you know, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich loved to draw since childhood. This ability came in handy during my studies at technical school and institute. Firstly, he had a talent for this, and secondly, he worked hard to develop his abilities.

In those years, Zaitsev studied drawing as the basis of graphics, began to copy Western masters, and was engaged in drawing ancient figures, Egyptian frescoes, etc. All this skill came in handy at the time when he began creating his first models.

At the factory, Vyacheslav Zaitsev creates a collection of workwear, which was instantly rejected. However, later Pierre Cardin himself and Marc Bohan find Zaitsev to express their gratitude for the invention of that unique collection that was not used in the USSR.

Already at this time the fashion designer showed himself with the best side, creating fashionable women's clothing for the capital and region. He is invited to work in the experimental technical workshop as an artistic director.

Over the entire period of his work, the talented fashion designer created many seasonal collections that were in great demand at enterprises light industry.

The years 1965-1968 were remembered for the fact that Vyacheslav Zaitsev demonstrated the author’s collection called “Russian Series”.

Since the 80s of the 20th century, Zaitsev has continued to create various collections, which are shown not only in Russia, but also in Paris, New York and other major cities around the world.

TV presenter career

In addition to his main profession, Vyacheslav Zaitsev began hosting a television program “Fashionable Sentence”. The program shows viewers an almost real trial in which its judges must fairly evaluate a man who is accused of not following fashion for a long time.

All achievements of Zaitsev

It is difficult to list all the achievements of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich, since there are a lot of them. But it is worth saying that thanks to his innate talent and extreme hard work, he became not only a Russian fashion designer, but also a painter, people's artist Russian Federation, professor of humanities, television program host, author of several famous books and just a wonderful person.

Personal life

Vyacheslav Zaitsev was married to Marina Zaitseva, but the marriage broke up, the reliable reasons are still unknown. There is a son from the marriage, whose name is Egor. He followed in his father's footsteps and became a designer. In addition, there are granddaughters Nastya and Marusya Zaitsev.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev is a Soviet and Russian fashion designer who rightfully holds the lead in Soviet and Russian fashion. Vyacheslav Zaitsev, without having a corresponding industry, managed to create the very concepts of “high fashion” and “fashion design” in the Soviet Union. Today Zaitsev is perceived as Great master of worldwide significance. But something else is surprising - Western designers and couturiers saw a unique talent in Slava Zaitsev 30 years before their compatriots did.

Childhood and youth

Vyacheslav was born in Ivanovo. It is unknown whether the atmosphere of the city of brides influenced the decision of the future star to create for women fashionable clothes, but with the direction of the future professional activity the young man made up his mind quickly. The profession of a designer has imposed a romantic flair on the life of Vyacheslav Zaitsev, but it is impossible to call a simple biography of the fashion designer.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev was born into a poor family. The boy knew that his parents were forced into marriage, “by accident,” and that his mother was unhappy in her marriage. The boy’s childhood was during the war years, and the life of the future designer became even worse. My father went to the front, was captured, escaped and reached Berlin, and after the war he ended up in a camp as a former prisoner of war.

There was no food in the family, mother and son picked berries in the forest. When Vyacheslav and his mother were visiting their father, the family was robbed, the woman was taken to the hospital, and the boy began begging and singing outside the store to get food.

Young designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev

Nevertheless, Vyacheslav went to school, traveled to collective farms with the school group and sang, helping teachers draw posters. After graduating from seven-year school, he entered the Ivanovo Chemical-Technological College, where he studied to become a textile artist.

Then - moving to Moscow and student years at the famous Moscow Textile Institute. According to the assignment, Vyacheslav Zaitsev was sent to the town of Babushkin near Moscow, where the experimental technical garment factory of the Moscow Regional Economic Council was located. There, the young man created his first collection - workwear for rural workers, which was practical and comfortable, but at the same time feminine. Of course, the collection did not pass the inspection of the Soviet methodological department.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev and sketches of his collections

This line of workwear attracted the attention of the Western press to the aspiring couturier. The collection was published by the French magazine Paris Match, and representatives and, later talking with a colleague from Moscow, unanimously recognized Vyacheslav Zaitsev as their equal. And although until the end of the 80s the Soviet designer was unable to leave the country, in Europe Zaitsev has long been considered one of the world's leading designers.

Fashion and design

At the factory in Babushkino, Vyacheslav Zaitsev managed to prove himself more than convincingly, regularly offering new solutions in clothing design. As a result, he was invited to Kuznetsky Most, where the famous All-Union House of Models was located. Vyacheslav Zaitsev worked there for 13 years and collaborated with the best fashion models, including Leka Mironova and Mila Romanovskaya.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev and his son EgorThe first result of Vyacheslav Zaitsev’s work at the House of Models was the “Russian Series” collection, created according to folk motives. It also included the “Russia” dress, which was demonstrated by Zbarskaya at the World Fashion Festival and received the Grand Prix. After this dress, the Western press calls Zaitsev nothing less than “Red Dior”.

There were many other successful developments, but by the mid-70s, Vyacheslav Zaitsev was extremely dissatisfied with the work. He is depressing that, due to the principles of the Soviet system, sketches reach the factory too late, and by the time the consumer sees the product in the store, it is already hopelessly outdated. Vyacheslav comes to the conclusion that the work of a fashion designer in the USSR is ineffective and meaningless, and eventually quits.

After the Fashion House, the designer works at a custom tailoring factory for the Fashion House, and later moves to this very House, where he becomes the artistic director. It was there that, starting in 1982, Vyacheslav Zaitsev created his world-famous author's collections. The fashion designer is distinguished by constant search style and giving the shapes and lines of clothing your own unique touch.

In 1992, Vyacheslav Zaitsev created his own “Fashion Laboratory”, a design academy at the Vyacheslav Zaitsev Fashion House, and five years later the talent forge also had an official website.

Among the most recent images created by Zaitsev, especially memorable to the public, are a luxurious evening dress made of cream lace and a snow-white dress, as if straight out of the painting “The Swan Princess.” Both outfits were demonstrated by Mrs. Russia Alisa Krylova at Fashion Week in Moscow.

Along with fashion, painting and drawing play a significant role in the work of Vyacheslav Zaitsev. His paintings have nothing to do with clothing design. They convey the author’s emotions and feelings, even his philosophical perception of life. Vyacheslav's works are decorative and always bright and original.

Personal exhibitions of Vyacheslav Zaitsev's artistic works were repeatedly held in cities of the United States, Belgium, France, and Estonia. Five of his paintings, both pictorial and graphic, are permanently exhibited in the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery, and several canvases from the series “How Young We Will Be” can be seen in the Museum of the History of Moscow.

Another side of the famous fashion designer’s creativity is stage costumes for theater and stage. Vyacheslav Zaitsev designed clothes for the Satire Theater, Moscow Art Theater, Mossovet Theater, Sovremennik and many others. Most often, he was invited to add unusualness and uniqueness to the standard styles of classical plays.

Moreover, not only domestic directors wanted to collaborate with the famous fashion designer. He also performed commissions for several Broadway theaters. The most famous production, where the actors appear in outfits from Zaitsev, is the musical “Sophisticated Ladies”.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev is working on the costume of world figure skating champion Natalia Bestemyanova

He also made couturier costumes for cinema, pop stars, and athletes. It was Zaitsev who “dressed” the Soviet sports delegation at the Moscow Olympics-80. He also developed the appearance of the show group “Na-Na” and the rock group “Integral”.

But Zaitsev did not limit himself to clothes alone. For example, for the play “The Cherry Orchard,” which was staged on the German and Hungarian stages, Vyacheslav, in addition to costumes, designed stage posters and other scenery.

Personal life

At the age of 24, the still aspiring and little-known couturier married a girl from a wealthy and high-ranking family. The chosen one's name was Marina. The girls I knew were shocked that Marina chose Vyacheslav Zaitsev rather than the famous diplomat or pilot, who constantly courted the wealthy heiress. The Zaitsev couple lived together for three years and gave birth to a son, Yegor, who, by the way, would later follow in his father’s footsteps.

The designer learned that his wife was leaving after returning from Hungary, where he created costumes for the film. The divorce from his wife made a strong impression on Vyacheslav, since the designer sincerely treated Marina and loved ex-wife long after the breakup. The fashion designer also sought the right to see his son. At first, the child did not know that his mother was not giving Vyacheslav the opportunity to meet him, and believed that his father had abandoned him and was worried about this.

Problems in the family crippled the designer. Vyacheslav even began to experience depression because of this. One of the employees of the House of Models named Inna, who had long been in love with the fashion designer, helped to get out of this state.

The lovers lived for some time in a civil marriage, after which they separated. But when Zaitsev was in a serious car accident and was in the hospital for a long time, Inna looked after him and helped him in every possible way. Vyacheslav Zaitsev spent nine days in intensive care, then spent six months on rehabilitation.

The designer was seriously injured in a car accident, the worst was on his right leg, the doctors have already begun to mentally prepare Vyacheslav and talk to the patient about amputating his leg.

According to the designer, during this terrible period, Vyacheslav Zaitsev even managed to come to terms with the thought of losing his leg. The fashion designer came up with a new fashionable image for himself that would fit the new state: Vyacheslav Zaitsev imagined himself walking along the Kuznetsky Bridge in a black hat, black glasses, a white shirt and with a cane. But at the same time, Zaitsev did not stop training and rehabilitation, and forbade himself to give up. As a result, doctors still saved the fashion designer’s leg.

Later, Vyacheslav and Inna tried to renew their relationship, but the new union lasted only a year, and this time the separation was final. Vyacheslav Zaitsev did not try to start a family anymore.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev now

On March 2, 2016, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich celebrated his 78th birthday. After the party, the couturier admitted to reporters that he had been suffering from a serious illness - Parkinson's disease - for several years now.

Due to illness, the designer developed problems with his joints. Doctors even insisted on a titanium prosthesis. On the eve of the holiday, the designer underwent surgery knee joint and underwent a rehabilitation course in Karlovy Vary.

Health problems do not interfere with the designer’s creativity. In 2017, Vyacheslav Zaitsev traditionally opened the show for the spring-summer 2018 season at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia. The collection of Slava Zaitsev came out in scarlet tones and in retro shock style. The designer rethought Dior's classic silhouettes, diluting French trends with kitsch a la Russe: kokoshniks, Pavlovo Posad shawls, folk ornaments.

Achievements

• 1980 – Knight of the Order of the Badge of Honor
• 1983 – winner of the “Veteran of Labor” medal
• 1991 - Honored Artist of the RSFSR
• 1992-1996 - Professor of the Department of Clothing Modeling, Faculty of Applied Arts, Moscow state university service
• 1993 - creator and head of the jury of the annual Textile Salon competition
• 1994 - creator and head of the jury of the annual competition of professional fashion designers named after Nadezhda Lamanova
• 1994 - creator and head of the jury of the annual competition of children's fashion theaters "Golden Needle"
• 1994 - creator and head of the jury of the permanent competition of young fashion designers and costume designers “Exercise”
• 1995 - creator, artistic director and chairman of the jury of the annual competition " Velvet seasons in Sochi"
• 1996 - laureate of the State Prize of the Russian Federation
• 1998 – Knight of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, IV degree
• 2003 – laureate of the Presidential Prize of the Russian Federation in the field of literature and art
• 2006 - People's Artist of the Russian Federation
• 2007 - Academician of the Russian Academy of Arts
• 2009, 2010 - twice laureate of the Russian Government Prize

The article is dedicated to the biography and personal life of Vyacheslav Zaitsev - the Russian Dior, as they like to call him in Europe. 2018 was an anniversary year for the couturier, March 2...

From Masterweb

04.05.2018 12:01

The article is dedicated to the biography and personal life of Vyacheslav Zaitsev - the Russian Dior, as they like to call him in Europe. 2018 was an anniversary year for the couturier; on March 2, he turned 80 years old. There is probably no person born in the Soviet and post-Soviet space who has not heard the name of the fashion designer.

He was the first to introduce such concepts as “high fashion” and “designer clothing” in the Soviet Union.

Biography of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zaitsev

He was born in 1938, three years before the Great Patriotic War, and fully experienced all its hardships. My father went to the front, was captured, escaped and reached Berlin. This is an act of a hero, but for the Land of Soviets it is a reason to put an innocent person in a prisoner of war camp.

One day, when once again he and his mother were visiting their father in prison, robbers broke into the house. The woman ended up in the hospital, and Slava found a way out of the situation. Having a well-trained voice, he decided to sing near the store to earn food. A hard life tempered the character of the future fashion designer; his resilient character became characteristic feature in the biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev. “Sunny boy” - that’s what his mother and those around him often called him.

When my father returned from the camp, he went to work in a local cultural park as a mass worker. Slava’s relationship with him and his older brother did not work out. The older brother tried in every possible way to break the younger brother; during games, using force, he forced Slava to pretend to be a fascist, tied him to the bed and mocked him in every possible way. The older brother never made it in life, he was imprisoned twice and so on.

Maria Ivanovna, the mother of the future couturier, passed away at the age of 72; she adored children. But if for fate youngest son There was no need to worry, but the elder one caused a lot of anxiety. This fragile woman, despite her hard work (she worked as a nurse and also did laundry for pay), remained surprisingly feminine until the end of her days. And for the grateful youngest son she was the standard of a real woman. Vyacheslav Mikhailovich likes to repeat that everything good comes from his mother. Everyone who follows the biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev remembers and knows about this.

Textile College

He studied well, was an active member of the school team, traveled with high school students to collective farms, and helped draw posters.

He didn’t stop singing. After graduating from seven-year school, Slava decided to become an operetta artist.

At some point, the biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev could change dramatically. The boy's dream came true. He played on the stage of the Ivanovo Drama Theater, and the first role of the young talent was Dmitry Ulyanov - younger brother famous Vladimir Lenin. But he was not allowed to enter the music school, since he was listed as the son of an enemy of the people. There was nothing to do, and Vyacheslav Zaitsev entered the textile technical school of the city of brides.

During his studies, he played Seryozha in the production of Anna Karenina. There was a scene in the play when Anna, after a long separation, approached Seryozha’s room, who threw himself on her neck with the words: “I knew you would come!” Slava approached the role responsibly, but one day he fell asleep from fatigue and woke up only when the actress began to hug him. But even in his sleep, he croaked out the text of the words.

Faculty of Modeling

Creative potential played a huge role in the biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev. In addition to the fact that he sang well, read poetry, and danced, at the technical school Slava also became addicted to drawing.

While still a junior, he began to depict figures of people in different clothes. Realizing that he could become a fashion designer, especially since he liked this profession, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich went to the modeling department.

He liked women's clothing, as did women themselves. And although, according to the couturier himself, he sewed mainly for fragile and slender models, he secretly admired plump, large women.

One day he and a friend dressed up in women's clothes, put on makeup, put on heels and went to a ball. No one recognized them as young men, otherwise everything could have ended in a fight. Vyacheslav Zaitsev explains his passion for outfits with the desire for beauty. He had a need to create a female image, to convey his own emotions and feelings associated with it. Most likely, the biography of fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev developed this way because he adored his mother, then his wife and, finally, his daughter.

Fashion designer career

Having graduated with honors from a textile technical school, driven by a great desire to create new models, projects, and so on, Vyacheslav decided to go to Moscow. Implicitly, he was more than convinced of the correctness of his decision.

The young man entered the Moscow Textile Institute easily and on the first try. All five years he studied well and received a Lenin scholarship. After graduating from a university assigned to Babushkino near Moscow, he had to work at a workwear factory for three whole years.

“Sunny Boy” did not lose heart; thanks to his work, ordinary padded jackets and padded jackets turned into designer clothes, painted and updated. They were accompanied by felt boots that shone in an unusual color. This was the beginning of a successful career in the biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev, whose anniversary was celebrated in 2018.

Soon the fame of the Soviet fashion designer leaked to the West. People started coming to Babushkino famous figures fashion, including Pierre Cardin. In the Soviet Union, he became widely known only after thirty years of experience. Only in the late eighties did Slava Zaitsev manage to travel to Paris, where his collection was a stunning success.

Wife and children in the biography of Vyacheslav Zaitsev

While studying in Moscow, he met his future wife- Marina, or as he affectionately calls her, Marishka. She was in her third year when Slava entered college. A girl from a good family, energetic, strong-willed and able to be a leader. But these were not the qualities that the young man saw in her then.

They did amateur activities together. With several friends we created the Fashion Theater, sewed funny collections and organized shows, and started with small clubs and cafes. After a few months of dating, they got married.

The young couple gave birth to a boy, Yegor, who continues the profession of his parents. Vyacheslav Zaitsev, whose biography actually turned out to be successful, put his whole soul into both creativity and family. But, alas, the family idyll did not last long. Nine years later, the couple separated, and Marina did not allow the fashion designer to meet with her son for a long time. This did not have the best effect on their relationship.

At present, all confusion is behind us. Together with his son and Marusya Zaitseva, granddaughter of Vyacheslav Zaitsev (read about the biography of the couturier in the article), they often meet, and in his granddaughter he sees his successor.

"Red Dior"

In old age, all those experiences, anxieties and actions committed in young and middle age are often imprinted on a person’s face. On the face of Vyacheslav Zaitsev you can see kind eyes and rays of wrinkles around them. He has a kind (as he likes to say, Mongolian) face.

The general public became closely acquainted with the master of fashion after the release of the “Fashionable Verdict” program. Many people liked his extravagant outfits, lifestyle, and largeness of soul. This is why he is loved in the art world.

After Pierre Cardin became interested in Zaitsev and became famous in the sixties fashion house“Dior”, in the “Kyiv” hotel there was a meeting between the young aspiring fashion designer Zaitsev and the already famous in the fashion world Mark Boan. Slava came to the meeting in a fashionable tweed coat and was terribly nervous, while simultaneously presenting his own collection.

In 1967, he received the Grand Prix for the dress “Russia” and for this he was nicknamed “Red Dior”, although he himself could not go to the show, since he was restricted from traveling abroad.

Slava Slava Zaitsev

Unnoticed by the couturier himself, his fame spread among the actors. He began to receive orders from such actresses as Alisa Freindlikh, Galina Volchek, Lyudmila Maksakova. The elegant Vladimir Zeldin loved to dress for him, as did Mikhail Ulyanov.

In 1978, for the Sopot festival, he came up with an outfit for Alla Pugacheva, who was somewhat overweight (in her opinion). It was the famous hoodie, which at the same time hid all the imperfections of the figure and at the same time was feminine and elegant.

Almost all of Edita Piekha’s outfits were designed by Vyacheslav Zaitsev. Her dresses in the 60-70s were the standard of style and fashion. Many girls and women sewed similar outfits for themselves. Even Edita Stanislavovna’s hairstyle was designed by Vyacheslav Zaitsev. According to him, he sewed dresses not for a woman, the singer Edita Piekha, but for her songs.

Olympics-80

Not everyone knows that Vyacheslav Mikhailovich had to sew the costumes of Soviet athletes who took part in the 1980 Olympics, for which he was appointed head of the House of Life in Moscow. Already at the 84 Olympics in Sarajevo, our athletes received haute couture suits. Vyacheslav Zaitsev put hats with a visor on the athletes’ heads, and put his favorite Pavloposad scarves on the shoulders of the female athletes.

He sewed outfits for the famous couple of figure skaters - Natalya Bestemyanova and Andrei Bukin, for the Sovremennik Theater, where the leading actress was Marina Neelova, as well as Valentina Gafta and other actors involved in such productions as The Cherry Orchard, Three Sisters and etc. For other Moscow theaters.

Conclusion

Vyacheslav Zaitsev was loved and known by such legendary actors as Vladimir Vysotsky and Marina Vladi. He sewed suits for Arseny Tarkovsky and many others.

This man has never stopped and does not stop now. In 1971, Zaitsev was in a terrible accident, due to which he could have lost his leg, went through a time when he was banned from traveling, felt all the ill will of the authorities for his extravagant outfits, and so on.

As a result, we can say with confidence that this moment, at eighty years old, our “Sunny Boy” is full of creative energy and making plans for the future.

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