Welcome to Russia or how the visit of legendary designers to the USSR affected their lives: we recall the stories of Elsa Schiaparelli, Yves Saint Laurent and Christian Dior

Almost all of the 20th century in Russia was spent under the auspices of the Iron Curtain, endless prohibitions and incessant famines. To many foreigners, the Soviet Union seemed like a harsh and frighteningly mysterious country ruled by cold, vodka and other clichés.

Still, the tourists kept coming, and among them were the legends of the fashion industry. For example, Elsa Schiaparelli went to the USSR to create a costume for Soviet women (although it never went on sale because of the pocket on the knitted hat, which representatives of Soviet light industry found too attractive for thieves in public transport), then the still unknown Christian Dior, then Yves He visited Saint Laurent, and at the end of the term Thierry Mugler came to the USSR to meet Vyacheslav Zaitsev and shoot his legendary advertising campaign in Volgograd.

We delved into the archive and remembered the stories of great fashion designers about their trip to the Soviet Union.

Elsa Schiaparelli

“No one wants to go there, and that in itself is irresistibly attractive,” Elsa Schiaparelli wrote of Russia in her memoir, “My Shocking Life.” The visit of the main rebel of the fashion industry to the USSR took place in 1935, and its main purpose was to participate in the French trade fair. The foreign delegation first arrived in Moscow, where Elsa Schiaparelli was most impressed by the view overlooking the Kremlin from the window of the Metropol Hotel. “Nothing gives the impression of such power, not even in Rome or the American Far West,” she recalled years later. However, the streets and residents of the city, on the contrary, evoked melancholy and sadness: “It seems that people did not feel uncomfortable in clothes that were not suitable for neither the climate nor the country.”

A few days later the French delegation went to Leningrad. The former capital of the Russian Empire appeared “gray and gloomy” to Schiaparelli. But something still managed to inspire the legendary designer. He watched the demonstration training of nurses at the local airport. “Suddenly, nurses, desks, bags began to fall from the sky, which looked so heavy. “The nurses quickly got out of their parachutes, opened their bags, and set up a makeshift operating room in the open air in seconds.” The show impressed Schiaparelli so much that, upon his return to France, he created a series of wonderful “parachute” dresses with a slim waist and a fluffy domed skirt.

Christian Dior

Elsa Schiaparelli was far from the only person who decided to travel to the USSR in the mid-1930s. Among the “brave” travelers was Christian Dior. After a long period of tuberculosis and prolonged depression, she went on a tour of the Soviet Union. And more precisely to Leningrad, Moscow and the Caucasus. Years later, she would write this journey in her memoirs. Spoiler: the memories weren’t particularly pleasant. Dior said he had never seen such messy, worn shoes and sloppy clothes before.

However, there is good news in this regard. The culture shock that the future fashion designer received in the USSR affected him so much that Dior returned to drawing and started sketching again. And returning to his hometown, he became an assistant to fashion designer Robert Piguet.

Yves Saint Laurent

Yves Saint Laurent’s first visit to the USSR took place in 1959 as the head of the Christian Dior fashion house. Then a delegation of 12 models and designers flew to Moscow to show off the new outerwear collection. However, this trip did not affect his life at all. In 1975 Yves Saint Laurent was returning from Tokyo via Moscow to Paris. While waiting for his flight at Sheremetyevo Airport, he angrily stated that he had never seen so many black women. Then he added: “It’s a sad sight. No one to watch over. Except maybe the elegant lady in the green mink coat. Probably from Dior? This “someone” Vladimir Mayakovsky turned out to be Lilya Brik’s muse, and the fur coat is actually Christian Dior Accompanying Yves Saint Laurent immediately informed the couturier about this and said that he could easily introduce themselves. Thus began a great friendship between Brick and Saint Laurent. He drew portraits of her and even created clothes for her, and he gave her photographs as souvenirs.

By the way, here is another interesting fact. Everyone knows that Saint Laurent’s dog was named Human, but few know why. Apparently it was the first time he had nicknamed her Lilya Brik. The legendary designer liked the nickname so much that he immediately took note. By the way, all three of his dogs were named Human.

Well, it would be unfair not to note that Saint Laurent was inspired by Sergei Diaghilev’s Russian Seasons and even presented his famous “Russian” collection in 1976 called the Opéra-Ballets Russes, that is, “Russian operas and ballets”. .

It was a real revolution in the fashion world. Models literally floated on the catwalk in the form of princesses from Russian fairy tales. We talked about this collection in more detail in our material.

Thierry Mugler

Thierry Mugler first went to the USSR in 1985, and the purpose of the visit was to meet Vyacheslav Zaitsev, a master of Russian fashion and a favorite of Raisa Gorbacheva. Later, Mugler photographed the Russian designer’s collection for the French gloss. And a year later he came back again. This time to shoot an advertising campaign for his own brand. Mugler said he was very inspired by Moscow’s cityscapes, avant-garde buildings and impressive monuments.