Fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev, whose biography is full of bright events and creative achievements, celebrated his 80th birthday. The illness does not allow him to work as usual, but the trendsetter hopes to do a lot more in his work.

Biography

The future fashion artist was born in the city of Ivanovo in 1938. The mother raised the child alone, since the father was at the front. Mom Maria Ivanovna was a creative and gifted person. She dreamed of the stage, but it didn’t work out. Therefore, she carefully instilled a love of art and beauty in little Slava.

He always studied diligently first in high school, and then at the Chemical Technology College. Four years later, in 1952, Zaitsev was awarded a diploma with honors for the specialty “Textile Artist”. This profession was very important in the “calico capital” of Ivanovo; one could easily find a job with it.

In 1956, a new turn began in the biography of fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev, namely, a move to Moscow, where his ascent to the top of the fashion Olympus began.

Vyacheslav did not settle down in his hometown, but decided to go to Moscow to improve his knowledge at the textile institute. The young man immediately entered the faculty applied arts, where he began to learn how to design clothes. The young man was accepted for study without hesitation, because he had a great understanding of art, life and people - in a word, he was very comprehensive developed person, which made him stand out from other applicants.

In a foreign city, he had to rely only on his own strength, so the student began to combine study with work. Slava spent his rare free minutes on trips to museums, theaters, and self-education.

While studying at the institute, Zaitsev comprehends all the intricacies of graphics, calligraphy and drawing. In his first drawings of future clothing models, he used antique patterns and Persian miniatures, and studied with Russian and Western masters. He soon became very interested in Russian folk art. I began to travel around cities and villages, studying the combination of colors, shapes and colorful style.

Over its many years creative activity was awarded many prestigious awards in the field of art. He has published several original books on fashion.

Creative achievements

Zaitsev's first collection was workwear for working women in cities and villages. The teaching council was not enthusiastic about this collection and rejected it. One of the magazines published an article on this topic entitled “He dictates fashion to Moscow.” Three years later, the author of this rejected collection was found by Pierre Cardin and Dior himself through a magazine article. After the unsuccessful collection, Zaitsev had already managed to create new clothing samples and become the artistic director in the workshop of the All-Union House of Models on Kuznetsky Most. Three years after the publication of the article about the failed collection, French couturiers approached him and recognized his professionalism and unconventional approach. After this meeting, an article entitled “Kings of Fashion” was published, where Zaitsev’s talent was highly appreciated.

The fashion designer worked at the House of Models on Kuznetsky Most for 13 years, becoming deputy director. Here he presented his collections based on Ivanovo chintz, as well as his famous “Russian series”. At a fashion festival in Moscow in 1967, he received the Grand Prix for his presented dress under the motto “Russia”.

Since the late 60s, Zaitsev’s authority has been highly appreciated in the West. The leader of Soviet fashion in foreign press was awarded the title "Red Dior". Many publications mentioned the name of the Russian fashion designer next to the name of the legendary Dior.

Many of Vyacheslav’s projects found support abroad. For example, in 1976, his personal exhibitions with sketches of costume jewelry and future collections were held in many Czech cities.

Exhibitions of Vyacheslav Zaitsev were also held in cities in the USA, Belgium and Estonia, where he acted as an artist of graphic and painting works. Five of his works were acquired by the Moscow History Museum and the Tretyakov Gallery.

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich participated a lot in the development of costumes for Soviet cinema at Mosfilm and the Gorky Film Studio. He also designed costumes for Broadway theater soloists. The fashion designer also devoted a lot of time to theatrical productions, where he participated as a costume designer. He also acted as the creator of stage costumes for many domestic pop stars.

As a media person, he became known as the first host of the “Fashionable Sentence” program.

Personal life

The personal life and biography of fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev is associated with one official marriage. In 1959, he married Marina Vladimirovna Zaitseva, whom he met at the institute. Soon a son, Yegor, was born into the family. After 9 years, the wife preferred another man and left her husband. Vyacheslav was very painful about the breakup.

After some time, our hero began a relationship with a girl named Inna. She was with Vyacheslav for two years, helping him survive the consequences of the accident. Zaitsev was even going to marry his chosen one, but at some point he realized that they were completely different people, and broke off the relationship.

Already in his old age, the fashion designer managed to restore friendly relations with his ex-wife Marina. She and her granddaughter are very supportive of Zaitsev and help him in the fight against diseases. Marina Vladimirovna shared in an interview that she regularly pampers Vyacheslav Mikhailovich with her own prepared raspberry pie, which her former mother-in-law once prepared for him.

The latest news reports that Vyacheslav Zaitsev is now optimistic about the future. Although illness prevents him from working fully, he is still full of creative plans and hopes. He remains elegant and stylish in any situation. The fashion designer prefers to relax in his beloved Moscow region, at his picturesque dacha. She also often travels to Paris, where he has a small studio, which he purchased with royalties from cooperation with a cosmetics company.

Son Yegor Vyacheslavovich decided to continue his father’s activities and began to create his own clothing designs. The son gave Zaitsev a beautiful granddaughter named Marusya. She also continued the dynasty and connected her life with design art. Marusya is also a talented model. Grandfather will entrust her with the management of his fashion house.

Health

The press repeatedly talks not only about the biography of fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev, but also about his health. Last year he was hospitalized in a hospital with suspected pneumonia. Fans became worried, but they didn’t have to worry for long; soon the fashion trendsetter was already back at work.

The master periodically experiences pain in his legs. Two years ago he discovered problems with his joints. To reduce pain, doctors installed a titanium prosthesis for Zaitsev.

Two years ago it also became known that Vyacheslav Mikhailovich suffers from a serious illness - Parkinson's disease. The disease is accompanied by disturbances in the central nervous system, there are difficulties with speech and coordination. The fashion designer underwent a rehabilitation course in Karlovy Vary. He admits that he is still ready to work and is full of creative plans to create his new collections. The disease, of course, reminds itself of itself and sometimes depression appears, but Zaitsev tries to drive away bad thoughts.

It must be said that Vyacheslav suffered serious damage to his health back in 1971, when he was in a serious car accident. At 33, the fashion designer ended up in intensive care, where doctors spent nine days bringing him back to life. Then there was a long recovery course, crutches, etc. The consequences of the accident, one way or another, greatly affected the health and overall further biography fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev.

Now he is no longer so cheerful, he walks with a cane, but he does not despair. The fashion designer admitted that he will no longer organize a show of his collections, but there are still many other creative ideas to come. Vyacheslav Mikhailovich recently celebrated his 80th birthday. A grand evening was held in his honor at the Russian Song Theater. During the holidays, the hero of the day received many gifts from stage and film stars, as well as millions of applause for his outstanding contribution to the history of Russian fashion.

Have you seen the clothing collections of Vyacheslav Zaitsev?

Zaitsev Vyacheslav Mikhailovich (03/2/1938) - Russian artist-fashion designer, one of the most important trendsetters in Russia. He has the title People's Artist of the Russian Federation.

“In fashion, of course, there are many professionals. But in our country this area is somehow incorrectly covered. Journalists treat shows as entertainment. But serious analytical material very rarely seen. Although there is still a silver lining in the situation"

Childhood

Vyacheslav Zaitsev was born in the city of Ivanovo on March 2, 1938. The boy's childhood passed through the harsh war years. He entered local school in '45, and passed in '52 entrance exams at the Chemical-Technological College. Zaitsev received his higher education in Moscow at the Textile Institute. During his studies, Slava was distinguished not only by his thirst for knowledge, but also by his incredible perseverance. The teachers even deliberately set him more difficult tasks, but he successfully completed them.

After graduating from university with honors in the specialty “textile design artist,” he was assigned to the city of Babushkin to a local garment factory.

While still at the institute, Vyacheslav chose for himself the direction of antiquity and antiquity. He skillfully copied drawings by masters of the distant past, transferring them to modern models clothes. And at the same university he created his first collection. At first, none of Zaitsev’s colleagues and mentors understood his passion for antiquity. But, as it turned out, the young man was looking to the future, since very soon such things began to become fashionable.

The origin of the style

In the 50s of the last century, very little was known about fashion in our country. And Vyacheslav Zaitsev drew inspiration not only from old drawings, but also from foreign journals. And first of all, the fashion designer began to create clothes for women. Then these were working business suits for women workers in villages and factories.

In 1965, Vyacheslav Zaitsev was called to the position of artistic director of the Fashion House in Moscow. Then our fashion designer made a historical acquaintance with the Italian masters Pierre Cardin and Marc Bohan. Foreigners were delighted with the Soviet mess. As a result, the foreign press even wrote about Zaitsev. At the same time, in 1965, the master’s famous author’s collection “Russian Series” was published.

“I always tried to do something of my own, and not look at competitors. But it is so hard! Unfortunately, it is now fashionable to create “mirror” collections, when they take someone else’s item and slightly alter it in their own way. And nothing can be done about it. This is a global trend."

Career blossoming

Abroad, everyone was delighted with Vyacheslav Zaitsev. He was even called "Red Dior". He was put on a par with the best fashion designers of that time. But at home everything was not so simple. There were too many standards and a certain amount of censorship. Therefore, Zaitsev could not fully realize his fantasy. Tired of this, in 1978 he decided to leave the Model House, having worked there for 13 years. For the sake of his dream, he even left the high position of deputy head of the organization.

But by that time Zaitsev was already known in the USSR. Soviet pop stars, of the first magnitude, turned to him. He actively collaborated with Muslim Magamaev, Joseph Kobzon, Edita Piekha, Alla Pugacheva and many others. And the fashion designer stopped creating collections for mass demand, and decided to focus on individual tailoring.

The most better times for Vyacheslav Zaitsev began after Perestroika. He created his own company - Zaitsev's Moscow Fashion House. He got the opportunity to show his collections abroad, and there they were received with enthusiasm. The fashion designer continues his activities to this day. Among his clients are the most famous people countries, from artists to top officials of the state.

Name: Vyacheslav Zaytsev

Age: 81 years old

Place of Birth: Ivanovo

Height: 170 cm

Weight: 67 kg

Activity: fashion designer, painter

Family status: divorced

Vyacheslav Zaitsev - biography

The most famous Russian fashion designer - Vyacheslav Zaitsev, amazes the public irrepressible imagination And bright colors, grew up in difficult conditions, far from prosperity, satiety and beauty.

“Fashionable Verdict” was shown on TV, which Vyacheslav Mikhailovich himself once hosted. A plump lady in a gray robe poured out her soul to the audience. From the general “everything is bad,” he caught two thoughts: they don’t sew for big women and there’s not enough money to... Eh, it’s a pity, he’s not sitting in the chair of the show’s presenter now. He would have found something to say. No money to look like a queen? So for this you don’t need money, but brains!

Slava Zaitsev, a boy from the provinces, without money or connections, managed to conquer not only Moscow, but also Paris, the capital of world fashion. Yes, even at 78 years old, having serious problems with health problems, including Parkinson's disease, he still feels like an enthusiastic youth, just learning about the world.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev - childhood

A communal apartment in Ivanovo, where he and his mother lived throughout the war. Constant hunger and fear - suddenly mom will no longer come from her terrible job. The laundress's work brought in pennies, so she had to work from early morning until late evening. He was then often asked why there were so many in the collections white. Yes, because since childhood he had seen these rows of drying sheets flapping in the wind...

Already at the age of 7, Slava stood in lines and bought cards in a store. In the summer I picked berries, hare cabbage and linden blossoms with the neighbor kids. He also sang at the market, for which he received some food. There was no father who could instruct, teach, support. He went to the front when Slavik was little. He was captured, escaped, fought again and met Victory in Berlin. But, having returned to his homeland, instead of honors he received 10 years in the camps and the mark of an enemy of the people.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev - education

Such a “happy” childhood can turn a child into a little old man, but Slava did not give up. He drew excellently (they even trusted him with movie posters!), danced and read poetry, and performed not in front of market traders, but in front of leading collective farmers at important concerts.

I tried to fill every minute with creativity so as not to think about hunger and instability.

After school, Slava submitted documents to School of Music- dreamed of becoming an operetta artist. Despite his undoubted talent, he was not accepted: the son of an “enemy of the people” has no place in a prestigious educational institution. At a military school - the same result. The only thing left was the Ivanovo Chemical-Technological College. Slava began studying to become a fabric painter out of desperation. But this was precisely what became the first step on the path to world fame.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev - biography of personal life

Zaitsev glanced at the television screen again. Stylists selected the heroine of the show fashionable dress, and the presenters tried to convince her that it suits her. The woman, by the way, was his type - he loved stately ladies, those who are called Russian beauties. But this one lacked confidence, the ability to present oneself. All the women with whom Vyacheslav was interested, and he was constantly interested, were bright, lively, and wise. He was often accused of being too loving. That's what he never understood - how love can be excessive, because this feeling is so inspiring. You can often hear that an artist must be hungry. No! Zaitsev understood long ago: an artist must be in love.

He remembered his first true love in Moscow. After technical school, Vyacheslav came to the capital and entered the Textile Institute. There I met Marina, beautiful and just as restless. A girl from a good family (father is a pilot, mother is a ballerina) also turned out to be very gifted. Together they came up with the “Satirical Fashion Theater”, which they performed in student clubs.

In 1959, they decided to sign, although her parents never accepted the “provincial beggar,” suspecting him of the worst “sin” - encroaching on Moscow registration. Even on the wedding day, the mother-in-law did not let them into the apartment. The newlyweds drank a glass of champagne at the door and went to the damp semi-basement room, which the mother-in-law rented for the newlyweds in the same house. The couple lived there for all 9 years of marriage...

Slava sent half of the scholarship to his mother and earned money by teaching lessons, but there was still not enough money. A year later, Yegorka was born, but even then the mother-in-law did not change her anger to mercy. If it weren’t for her, Vyacheslav and Marina would still be together to this day... Zaitsev still remembers this scene with a shudder. He was already working at the House of Models on Kuznetsky Most, creating costumes for theater and cinema, and one “wonderful” day his mother-in-law simply did not let him in. She declared that she had finally found a worthy husband for her daughter. And Marina... She could not resist her mother's pressure.

Zaitsev never married again, although he was always surrounded by the most beautiful fashion models Soviet Union. Women loved him, and he adored them, but over time he realized that for a true artist, love not only for the fair sex, but also for beauty in general is important. And even more important is loneliness.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev - Fashionable and free

Vyacheslav Mikhailovich listened. No, steps were heard. He knew perfectly well that in his huge house in the Moscow region there is no one except him. Loneliness gives freedom, but he really lacked it at the beginning of his career.

After the institute, Zaitsev, an excellent student and Lenin scholarship recipient, was assigned to the Experimental Factory of the Moscow National Economy. Instead of evening dresses, he had to “invent”... workwear! But Vyacheslav was not at a loss. I made the gray felt boots colored, and tied colorful Pavlovo Posad scarves on the models’ heads. The Arts Council, which did not expect such agility from the newcomer, “cut down” the first collection.

But the show was seen by French journalists, thanks to whom they learned about Zaitsev in Europe. Naturally, in the Union the designer’s oxygen was immediately cut off. The factory gave away the most wretched fabrics, but he managed to sew things from surplus stock that sold with a bang. By the end of the 1970s, Vyacheslav Zaitsev received the unofficial title of the country's main fashion designer.

And then... he left the chair of the head of the All-Union Fashion House. He just realized that he was turning into an administrator and that creativity was leaving his life. In search of a muse, he went nowhere. He began collaborating with actors and athletes, sewing concert dresses and casual suits. Some time later he became the director of a small studio. Everyone supported him, everyone praised him, but they still didn’t give him good fabrics. My ingenuity helped me prepare for the first show. Zaitsev bought several sets of underwear at Voentorg and painted his long johns and shirts in rich colors.

And he put the models in cheap leatherette boots. Thus, at the beginning of 1982, the Fashion House was born, which Zaitsev leads to this day. And maybe that collection was not so good, but he managed to make the show a real extravaganza. A little humor, a lot of imagination and a great desire to show beauty to the world - these are the three components of his success. At the same time, Zaitsev, unlike many of his colleagues, sought to dress the models as much as possible, and not undress. After all, a woman should be a secret that is interesting to discover gradually.

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 arts. 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 local applicants. Selection committee I saw remarkable talent in the young talent; moreover, 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.

My thesis The future couturier defended “Women’s business suits” perfectly.

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 clothes 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 towards 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. Beautiful, active, talented girl from 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 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 Hard childhood, the 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 about his son as a wonderful, smart, talented and generous man, 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 the leader of Soviet fashion and 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, to 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 didn't like working with high-ranking officials, 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 - here real love all 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, who is preparing for the 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.

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 had not heard the name and surname of the fashion designer.

He was the first to introduce such a concept in the Soviet Union as " high-fashion” and “designer clothes.”

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 in Once again Together with my mother, they visited 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 in prison, 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 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, indeed, the 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 female image, convey your 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, family idyll didn't 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. Is not in the best possible way affected their relationship.

At present, all confusion is behind us. Together with his son and Marusya Zaitseva, the 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"

By 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 and the fashion house Dior, famous in the sixties, became interested in Zaitsev, a meeting took place at the Kievskaya Hotel between the young aspiring fashion designer Zaitsev and Mark Boan, already famous in the fashion world. 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 ended up in terrible accident, because of which he could lose his leg, went through a time when he was not allowed to travel, 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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