Celebrities obsessed with a healthy lifestyle. Polina Kitsenko: “The main thing is not the goal, but the path to it. That is, he came up with your legendary hairstyle
The husbands of famous socialites, who until now preferred to remain in the shadow of their famous wives, finally appeared before the public in all their glory. Journalists managed to declassify the names and some details of the personal lives of such influential spouses, such as the husband of Miroslava Duma, the companion of Polina Kitsenko and other oligarchs and officials who are capable of providing their loved ones with a luxurious luxury life. In total, there are 40 names on the list of husbands that everyone has heard about but were afraid to ask. The rating was compiled by Tatler magazine and published in the September issue. “StarHit” selected and summarized the most interesting information from this material.
For example, Ilona Stolier, a socialite and part-time photographer with vocal experience in the field of pop music, is more often used to seeing in the company of friends - German Larkin and Pyotr Aksenov. Many uninitiated in the ups and downs of the personal life of the chic blonde had the mistaken opinion that she was not married. However, in fact, Ilona’s hobbies are sponsored by her very official, but very modest husband, a State Duma deputy from “ United Russia» Vitaly Yuzhin. From time to time he accompanies Stolier at various events, but in general free time prefers to give such typical men's hobbies like football, hunting and fishing.
Gorgeous brunette Snezhana Georgieva also prefers to hide her husband. Co-owner of one of the most popular in Moscow closed clubs, as it turns out, they are reproached for hiding their life partner from prying eyes. Journalists managed to find out that Snezhana’s worries were not in vain: businessman Artem Zuev is so good-looking that his socialite wife simply does not want to tempt her unmarried friends.
// Photo: Alexey Antonov (ITAR-TASS/Rodionov Publishing House LLC)
Yana Rudkovskaya’s best friend Natalya Yakimchik is not alone, who more often appears in the company of a star producer than her husband, the ex-head of Moscow Heritage Committee and former vice-president of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry Valery Shevchuk. But outside of camera flashes, Yakimchmk and Rudkovskaya are family friends and go to visit each other.
But designer Alena Akhmadullina hides her dear friend like a professional secret agent. According to Tatler, Alena is now spending time with the chairman of the board of directors of Stankoprom, Sergei Makarov. The couple is already building a common country house together.
Finally, another super-secret husband is the life partner of journalist and fashionista Miroslava Duma. The name of the man from whom the fragile beauty gave birth to a son and daughter is known to everyone, but joint photos of the couple are actually limited to the period when both spouses studied at MGIMO and their romance was just beginning. Now Alexey Mikheev works as an official and avoids publicity, while Miroslava, on the contrary, has become widely known throughout the world and has earned the status of a style icon.
Not many people are familiar with the husband of Polina Kitsenko, a bright activist of the capital’s society, Ksenia Sobchak’s best friend. Her sporting successes and achievements in business are visible to everyone, but almost nothing is known about her husband and children’s father, Eduard Kitsenko. As it turned out, main secret this family has common interests. Edward, like Polina, enthusiastically goes in for sports and introduces his heirs to a healthy lifestyle.
What woman doesn’t dream of doing fashion and getting paid for it? But making a career in the fashion industry is not as easy as it seems. Polina Kitsenko began building her business at the end of the last century, when the fashion industry was just beginning to develop in Russia. Today she is the owner of a network of luxury boutiques, a philanthropist and just a happy woman.
Biography of Polina Kitsenko
It is unknown how old our heroine is. This information is carefully hidden from the press. According to some sources, she was born on April 14, 1975. But you can hardly give Polina Kitsenko more than 35 years old. The girl has a model height (181 cm) and controls her weight within 60 kg.
The biography of Polina Kitsenko begins in the Vladimirov region. It was there that Polina lived with her family. The girl's father was a prosecutor, so the family lived in abundance.
When the daughter was eleven years old, her father was offered a position in Moscow and the family moved to the capital. Here the biography of Polina Kitsenko is connected with an elite special school and the International University. On the advice of her father, the girl studied to become a lawyer. The specialty did not arouse much interest in the fashionista, but she studied diligently, thanks to which she came to America as an exchange student. It was a different, previously unknown world. The splash of colors and riot of fashionable outfits amazed the girl. She bought herself some fashionable jeans and branded sneakers and was incredibly happy about it.
After graduating from university, the girl worked in a bank. But Polina Kitsenko reluctantly remembers this short period of her biography. And after meeting her husband Eduard Kitsenko, she made her dream come true and opened a fashion boutique.
First steps in the fashion business
Together with her husband, who at that time owned the Podium company, Polina Kitsenko, whose age is carefully hidden in her biography, opened the first store with the same name - “Podium” in 1994. The woman was actively engaged in self-education, studying fashion trends, followed the news. She supplied products from well-known brands and brands to her salon. Kitsenko's dream was to make fashionable clothing accessible to Russian citizens. Our heroine stood at the origins of the domestic fashion industry.
At first, the salon brought in little profit; on the contrary, it required colossal financial investments and effort from our heroine. But the biography of Polina Kitsenko proves that nothing is impossible. The woman independently looked for ways to import clothes, tracked each shipment, and personally went for the goods.
As a result, from the mid-90s of the last century, her business began to gain momentum.
Business development and social life
Today our heroine is the owner of an entire fashion empire “Podium Fashion Group” and famous person. Her company is always one of the first to grasp new fashion trends. Polina collaborates with the stars of the domestic show business and is a regular visitor to all fashion parties.
The woman managed to achieve her goal - she spread fashion to the people. Outfits from Polina Kitsenko, whose biography is no less interesting than her brainchild, are now chosen by ordinary citizens. This is exactly what she dreamed of at the beginning of her business career.
Polina Kitsenko is a socialite who boasts online about her friendship with Ksenia Sobchak, Natalia Vodianova, and Ulyana Sergienko. Girls can often be seen in the same company at a party. Polina recently vacationed on Lake Baikal with Ksyusha Sobchak and Ulyana Sergeeva. She immediately posted a report about the train on Instagram.
Polina Kitsenko and her husband are also involved in charitable activities.
Personal life
The biography of Polina Kitsenko is closely connected with her husband Eduard. It is he, as the businesswoman admits, who is her support and support in everything. Eduard Kitsenko also successful businessman, it was he who helped his wife build her fashion empire.
Our heroine speaks reluctantly to journalists about her personal life. But she claims that she is a very happy woman, because he always protects her loving husband. And wonderful children are waiting at home - a son, Yegor, and a little daughter, whose name is not yet known to the press.
Regular exercise helps Polina keep herself in excellent physical shape. Kitsenko loves to take family bike rides and go on trips with the whole family. Polina regularly exercises, goes for morning runs and leads a healthy lifestyle.
My transition to the fashion industry happened, one might say, due to family circumstances. I am a certified lawyer, graduated from the Faculty of Law with honors and worked for two and a half years in commercial banks in payment card departments. After marriage, I didn’t work for a short period of time, but gradually began to work my way into the Podium company created by my husband. He was not eager to hire me, but I studied because I really wanted to work in this field and spent a lot of time on self-education. I wanted to prove that I could handle it, and the moment came when I began to give him so much interesting tips and suggestions that he understood: I can really be useful. The most important thing, it seems to me, in any business is desire and enthusiasm. If a person has them, he can achieve whatever he wants. And I had great interest, enthusiasm and love for fashion. Although in the business that we do, in addition to fashion, there is a lot of mathematics, economics and jurisprudence every day. You always receive any education at work, and any university or university provides basic knowledge, develops the ability to learn and nothing more.
In addition to the powerful business component, Podium Market is also a story about style and beauty. Have you been a fashionista since childhood? Do you remember your first truly fashionable item?
In childhood and adolescence, I was probably the same fashionista as all ordinary Soviet girls - a fashionista with minimal opportunities. My parents didn't work abroad and I didn't have the chance to wear imported clothes. We lived quite modestly. They got out of the situation the same way as most women in our country - “mom sewed it.” Of course, the main part of my growing up took place during the transition period and the consequences of the fall of the Iron Curtain, the collapse of Soviet Union and already changes in the economic situation. But I remember how, for example, going to GUM and seeing a long line, we first took it, and then ran to the beginning, sometimes several hundred meters, in order to find out what they were selling there. Just in case, we kept her busy. And then suddenly there are some boots “on semolina”, or, God forbid, a GDR coat. These memories are still fresh.
What are the current trends in the Russian capital? What items and accessories do Muscovites buy up the fastest?
Muscovites are now very advanced. Today they are no different from, for example, world girls, they quickly pick up everything that is fashionable, and I cannot say that we are behind or ahead. After all, globalization is doing its job, so Muscovites now want to wear approximately the same as Parisians or representatives of other world capitals. Of course, we cannot exclude the absence of street style and street shopping as such. Plus, everything is multiplied by climatic features. Warm clothes are a good choice in winter, and bright ones in summer. We are hungry for the sun, its rays and joyful mood, such a slight Scandinavian syndrome... But basically everything the same as abroad is quickly sold out. Bell-bottoms have become fashionable - bell-bottoms are selling out, parkas have become fashionable - for the third or fourth season now, everyone is willingly taking them. I can say that what traditionally sells poorly is Brown color and all its shades.
How is the current crisis affecting your business?
When creating Podium market, we foresaw that world economy would be unstable, and they understood that there would not be as much space for the suite as there was before. In general, a global trend of high “overconsumption” has emerged in the world: of everything, no matter what. We saw for ourselves a large economically interesting niche in creating a fashion segment in which everything is fashionable and inexpensive, in which the luxury of consumer goods becomes more accessible.
Polina, besides work and business, what does your day consist of?
Sports occupy an important place in my daily routine. This is the same mandatory part as brushing your teeth or combing your hair. That's mine Physical Culture, my contribution to myself and my health. The day begins with training, breakfast and getting ready. Leo Tolstoy also said that “you must definitely shake yourself up physically in order to be morally healthy.” So I firmly believe that people who engage in physical education are less susceptible to stress. Besides, sport is a good psychological release, exercise, recharge, reboot... Therefore, every morning I recharge my tired hard drive for a new program for the coming day.
Polina, why, in your opinion, has a healthy lifestyle gained such popularity in the world over the past couple of years? Why are parties and going to bars replaced by jogging, gym classes, and proper nutrition?
Nowadays, I would describe the fashionable concept of a healthy lifestyle with the term physical culture, which has set our teeth on edge since childhood, which we, unfortunately, did not understand before, and these activities were associated with a nondescript physical instructor who requires us to invariably jump over a goat. In fact, physical education is a healthy lifestyle. This is a culture of taking care of yourself, a culture of being healthy and fit. Not a single most expensive and classy thing will fit well on a limp or unkempt body. Everything revolves around the same thing - things are for us, not we are for things. In all centuries, humanity has been interested in the search for the elixir of immortality; people wanted to live long, happily and not grow old. And at the beginning of the third millennium, people realized that the elixir of immortality had never been invented, and it was replaced by the combination healthy eating and culture to look after yourself. People who take care of themselves and treat themselves as a valuable vessel develop themselves both spiritually and physically, remain healthy and beautiful longer, and, I would even say, interesting to everyone. This is physical culture.
In one of your interviews, you said that more than anything in the world you love being at home, that for you it is a natural habitat. Have you furnished your home yourself?
Home is truly the most desirable habitat for me and the most important point on the map of my daily journey. This is the place where I want to be every minute. My husband furnished our house. He is not a professional designer, it's just a hobby, but he has excellent taste, so he arranges our property in his spare time. I only add my own small touches to his work with large strokes.
What, in addition to design ideas responsible for comfort, helps create the right and healthy atmosphere in the house? Do you have any secrets on how to clean the air in the house where you and your family live?
Since I lead a healthy lifestyle, I love that everything in my arrangement during the day is designed to improve the health of myself and the inhabitants of my home. I'm obsessed with things like air humidification. To keep your skin youthful in winter and summer, I use an air purifier with a professional filtration and humidification system from Philips. This is the best prevention of all respiratory viral infections, especially during long periods of inclement weather. winter time our harsh climate.
Where do you prefer to go on vacation to breathe clean air?
I love nature very much, I prefer to relax in the mountains, fields and rivers... I don’t like heat. The older I get, the more I realize that I like the sea, but not the heat. And I like it even more mountain lakes. Beauty is preserved better in the cold.
Polina Kitsenko's husband Eduard is not only her faithful companion in life, but also like-minded people - they have many common interests and hobbies, to which the spouses also involve their children. The couple is raising a son, Yegor, and a little daughter, Tonya, who is twelve years younger than her brother. Antonina was born in one of the maternity hospitals in Germany, and in order for the birth to be successful, Polina left there in advance.
In the photo - Polina with her daughter
This married couple is engaged in the same business - Eduard and Polina Kitsenko - they own a chain of fashion stores PODIUM market, where far from poor Russian citizens dress.
Polina is not only creative director brand, but also for some time now a real trendsetter who gives advice to the most famous socialites about how to create your own stylish image.
With son Egor
Another passion of Polina is sports and a healthy lifestyle, and she tries to involve as many people as possible in this.
Thus, Polina was among the organizers of the largest charity race in our country; she periodically posts training videos on Instagram, and also gives advice on proper nutrition.
And she manages to combine all this with hard work - Polina believes that success in business can only be achieved through hard work.
At one time she graduated from a special school with in-depth study in English and was going to go to college foreign languages, but on the advice of her father she became a student at the Faculty of Law of the International University, opened by Mikhail Gorbachev and Gavriil Popov.
In the photo - Polina and Eduard Kitsenko
After university, Polina worked for some time in a bank, dealing with credit cards. She went to the USA as a student exchange student, and from that time on she developed an interest in fashionable things - she got the opportunity to dress beautifully and stylishly. In the future, this helped her start working in fashion.
Polina Kitsenko's future husband, when they met, was a co-owner of the Podium company and did not want Polina to work with him. She made every effort to join this business, and she succeeded.
In her boutique, Polina Kitsenko presented only luxury fashion brands Antonio Berardi, Balensiaga, Alexander McQueen, Chloe and others. For sale in her store she selected only best models, and its business has grown rapidly since the mid-nineties of the last century.
Together with her husband, Polina opened stores in large Russian cities - Samara, St. Petersburg, Krasnoyarsk.
Later, Kitsenko’s company began to focus not only on clothing from luxury brands, but also on the mass market.
The fact that the business of the Kitsenko family is developing very successfully and brings good income to Polina and her husband can be judged by the fact that every year they and their children often visit a fashionable ski resort Courchevel and spend the New Year holidays there.
And for some time now, one of the PODIUM market stores, Podium Jewelery, has opened in this wonderful place, selling branded jewelry, the price of which varies from fifteen to twenty thousand euros.
To keep abreast of all the fashion news, Polina Kitsenko tries to attend important iconic fashion shows, where she selects the most interesting models not only for her stores, but also for herself - the owner of PODIUM market prefers to wear things from Chapurin Couture, Azzedine Alaia, Givenchy, Phillip Lim.
In her image, she tries to mix clothes from luxury brands and not yet very popular brands. Polina is very grateful to her husband for creating all the conditions for her to develop, supporting her and, if necessary, telling her what to do in a given situation. Their union can be called ideal - there are never scandals in the Kitsenko family, and they always know how to find a common language.
Kitsenko: Angry, from work. Now she will talk to you and return to the office - and it is already eight in the evening, because her employees did not submit her assignments by the established deadline, which was Friday (today is Monday). Polina Kitsenko is a person who sits in the office 10 hours a day.
Kremer: Now is such a tense period, because there is a crisis?
Kitsenko: Of course, since the economic situation is not the most favorable either in the country or in the world, no one can relax, including us. I have never worked as much as I do now.
Kremer: What about delegating authority?
Kitsenko: Unfortunately, there is no one in particular to delegate my powers to, although we have a huge team. In general, there are very few personnel on the market who are capable of implementing tasks at an uncontrolled level. There are a lot of “creative” people who light up instantly and go out just as quickly. I have a lot of ideas myself, but I know from all my friends, business owners, that the percentage of ideas implemented reaches, God forbid, 30-40. And if you don’t remind, don’t take control, don’t direct, don’t set fire, don’t light the fuse, then you don’t have to hope that someone will bring you results. You see, working in big strokes is much easier than being the person who will scrupulously bring ideas to the final result. These so-called impressionists are a dime a dozen. And there are only a few hard workers and bees who work in the “devil is in the details” mode. Hard workers and bees, on whom all this execution...
“I would like to believe that I was never dressed stupidly”
Kremer: Let's rewind a little: your business began around 1994, when the Podium brand was registered. How did you come to this? What did you want to become when you were in high school?
Kitsenko: At ten years old I wanted to be a geologist and search gems. My parents had a book about interesting geology, with color photographs that fascinated me. This was partially realized, by the way. We opened the Podium Jewelery network.
Chudinova: And then?
Kitsenko: I studied at an English special school. Where did everyone go from Moscow special schools in those years? Institute of Foreign Languages named after Maurice Thorez or MGIMO. At first, I was also going to enter the MGIMO faculty international information to a newly emerging specialty with the mysterious name Public Relations (it is symbolic that everything in life is returning to normal: today one of my main responsibilities is PR, although I did not receive a specialized education but what I do today at work , cannot be studied in any of the institutes in the world), I worked seriously in this direction. And then at the last moment my dad offered me the International University, which had just been opened by Gavriil Popov and Mikhail Gorbachev. I quickly entered the law faculty there, for free education, and thought that I wanted to stay there.
Chudinova: How could you answer this rather simple question: where do you get your taste for things?
Kitsenko: I probably didn’t and couldn’t have had a taste for things initially. He has evolved. When you don't have any opportunities in life, how do you know whether you have a taste for things or not? After all, I lived in an ordinary, simple Soviet family. Dad was an official, held a serious post in the prosecutor's office, but we lived from paycheck to paycheck. I didn't have a bike. I didn’t have imported pencil cases or bubble gum, and my first Barbie was given to me as a symbol for my 18th birthday. I wasn't a major girl.
Kremer: Do you remember yourself at that time when you still dressed stupidly?
Kitsenko: I want to believe that I was never dressed very stupidly. After all, I studied at a special school, and at some point I was sent on a student exchange to America. It changed me a lot. I remember that I immediately started dressing: Lee jeans, Reebok sneakers. In 1991 it was chic.
Chudinova: But at the same time, you have become a person who is involved in the development of the fashion industry and dresses majors. Where does this sense of audience come from?
Kitsenko: It didn't fall from the sky. At first I just got married. My husband had a company called Podium, he had one store, and he absolutely did not want us to work together. But I wanted to work in fashion so much that I made every effort to educate myself in this area, and not from the point of view of a consumer who endlessly measures and wears, wears and tries. In addition, I had an unlimited specific resource, even just my own store. I began to take a very active interest in what was happening in the industry, subscribed to all the magazines, and became interested in our retail. I have always believed that wherever you sow, it grows.
It was the end of the 1990s, and all luxury had skyrocketed, not only here but around the world. There was Dior, there was Galliano, there was also Gianfranco Ferré, Gaultier cheered up and made his own pret-a-porter line, Stella McCartney had just arrived at Chloe, and then she was just a girl with a huge surname. The period of revival of the great houses, already eaten away by moths, began. This was the period when Louis Vuitton hired Marc Jacobs, and before that Louis Vuitton was a mothball-covered brand that no one wanted. These brands began to be picked up, purchased and reincarnated by the LVMH concern. Tom Ford had just joined Gucci, and none of us knew what Gucci was before.
Chudinova: I was surprised when you said that you were not a major. I thought that you always focused on your circle and dressed it. You are more likely to move from luxury to mass market than vice versa.
Kitsenko: What we do at Podium Market is not exactly a mass market. This is a relatively new niche, and it did not form here. We have picked up the Western trend. Understand that there is a crisis in many industries all over the world, and this is not a coincidence. Over the past 20 years, luxury has developed rapidly, every year new collections were imposed on us, a complete change of wardrobe, red, not red, red again, black is no longer in fashion. Brands, logomania. All houses began to produce no longer even four collections a year, because it was necessary to keep production evenly loaded throughout the year. We, consumers, were forced to constantly buy. At some point it had to end. There has been overconsumption on a global level: none of us need that much stuff. No one has the strength to move mirrors and lipsticks from bag to bag anymore. On the other hand, there were the magnificent concerns Zara, Top Shop, etc. - cool things that have improved greatly in Lately, but still until the first or second wash. Everything had to come to some kind of balance.
That's why intermediate brands appeared, what we call affordable luxury. They release several collections a year and even every month, like fast fashion, but they are distinguished by high quality and reasonable prices. In terms of quality, they are almost as good as luxury. Rich people are no longer ready to buy themselves another T-shirt for 300 euros: they can go to American Vintage and buy a chic T-shirt for one and a half thousand rubles.
That's why we made Podium Market. This did not happen in Russia.
It is very important that fashion has now made all possible leaps around its axis. Please note: new trends are no longer emerging. The cowboy style is always fashionable in the summer, the rock 'n' roll girlfriend style is always fashionable in the fall. Stripes are always fashionable in the summer. It's always fashionable to be a lumberjack's girlfriend. Chanel has a timeless collection of ballet shoes that are no longer discounted, two or three colors are simply added in the next season. This means that nothing changes.
Kremer: It turns out that you have borrowed the Western trend, which means there is some lag. you watched on own business How has the Russian consumer changed? How have demands and consumption culture changed?
Kitsenko: Now there is no longer any lag. Our people have a unique ability to instantly absorb all the best that is around. There was some kind of mismatch in the 1990s, but remember how quickly it disappeared. There was a moment when dashing women stormed the plane in high heels and jeans with rhinestones. The first thing that betrayed and still sometimes betrays our compatriots is not even a lack of taste, there is no arguing about tastes, but, first of all, it is inappropriateness. For me in fashion, in general, the most important question is not what to wear, but where am I going and why am I going there. Only after this you need to ask yourself the third question: what will I wear there? Our compatriots in the 1990s did not understand at all where they were going and why, but they clearly knew where they wanted to be.
"We don't sell souvenirs"
Chudinova: Once we were talking with, and she said: “You see, in Russia there is no fashion as an industry at all.”
Kitsenko: This is probably an old interview with Alena. Now the market situation has changed.
Chudinova: My question, actually, is about how the fashion industry in Russia is structured today.
Kitsenko: Apparently, at the moment when you spoke with Alena, there were still other times. Podium on Novinsky was the first store in Russia that began selling Russian designers on a par with expensive Western brands.
Kitsenko: Yes, and in 2000 it hung literally between Gautier and Alberta Ferretti. We were innovative in supporting the domestic manufacturer in this way.
Kremer: How many Russian designers do you have now?
Kitsenko: I won’t be able to calculate it, but about 30% of our portfolio, which means dozens. Just a few years ago I would not have believed that this was possible. You know, in Russia we didn’t have fashion as such. We had these strange fashion weeks all the time, and of course there were questions about them. They really invited some people to them strange people who showed us strange images. And in parallel, companies, brands and designers have developed that are not shown anywhere, but make beautiful clothes. They sew it here, in Russian factories, in Moscow, the Moscow region, in distant retreats, in distant regions. Of course, these are not the same volumes yet, but judging by our store, these are leaps and bounds. These companies have active production, which even during the season allows us to place additional orders for the model we like. This is something we couldn’t even dream of before. In these Russian brands and things that we have on display, there is no lubok, there is no this chlamydomonas.
Kremer: Do they have Russian recognizability?
Kitsenko: It depends on the style in which the designer works. There are Ukrainian or Russian designers who like to develop the history of national costume with a modern twist. Some people do it perfectly. For a couple of years now (summer is that time of year), everyone from Ralph Lauren to Isabel Marant has been making embroidered shirts. Why can't our designers do this, given that it's our DNA? I am generally against dividing designers along national lines. Of course, in the late 1990s it was fashionable to group: these are Japanese designers, these are Belgian designers, these are Americans, these are French...
Kremer: The Italians are still recognizable.
Kitsenko: That’s exactly what it is “still” and with difficulty. Which of them retained the authenticity? Even Gucci and Pucci no longer sell their prints; they stopped selling a long time ago. We need to evolve somehow. Today the world is cosmopolitanized like never before. We have all the designers at Podium Market hanging interspersed. We don’t have such a contemptuous and derogatory division: but this is the top floor, the penultimate nook, the “Russian block”. We do not divide our designers based on nationality.
Kremer: Is the demand for patriotism that has arisen in our country recently reflected in your assortment?
Kitsenko: We do not sell souvenirs.
Kremer: But in society there is a desire to dress in everything Russian?
Kitsenko: It is there. It’s just that “Russian” used to mean cheap prints, bad taste and poor quality. Today, “Russian” in the middle segment with which we work at Podium Market is high quality, inexpensive, and relevant. Within the framework of the trends that exist in fashion today. How is this inferior to Western colleagues? Nothing.
