moda / fashion
T he media dub him the “Red Di- or” and the “tsar of Soviet fash- ion”, the greatest Russian fash- ion creator of all time, a master of perfectly graceful cuts, astounding de- signs and imaginative colouring. He is com- pared to the greatest names of the inter- national fashion scene, and his authenticity and courage to use the richness of his own folklore heritage and create something previously unseen is often highlighted. Eighty-year-oldVyacheslavMikhailovichZait- sev, aka Slava, came to Belgrade at the invi- tation of Ethnology Fest organiser SuperStar Culture agency and author Goga Grubješić. - I began dealing with fashion so that I
Njegove modele
at all appealing. But in his mind, in con- trast, fireworks were constantly going off. He sketched persistently and passionate- ly, creating a utopia of happy, colourful- ly-painted people. He didn’t dream of fash- ion, but rather found it by chance. - I was supposed to enrol in some col- lege. I tried various institutes, but they didn’t accept me. It was also at that time that I was left without my father. I started sketching even more and everyone praised me, es- pecially for the lively colours I used. That’s how I enrolled to study design, and I’ve been doing it for sixty years. After completing studies at the Moscow Textile Institute, he began working at the Ex-
this young and imaginative Russian, who wasn’t afraid to experiment and didn’t give up on his vision of perfectly tailored cloth- ing with vivid colours and luxurious adorn- ments. His shows were always spectacular, and he was welcomed and met with stand- ing ovations in Paris, Milan, Tokyo, New Del- hi and many other metropolises. The Sovi- et Union, initially restrained and sheepish, began celebrating and praising him. Zait- sec created costumes for theatres in Mos- cow and St. Petersburg, became the director of the House of Fashion, which today car- ries his name, created the first profession- al Theatre and Laboratory Fashion, opened a modelling agency; and he was accepted into the Russian Academy of Arts... And despite everything, he says that he rarely has the opportunity to dress peo- ple in the way he would like. - Very few people dare to wear colours, to play with decorations, patterns, prints. Few clients have ever sought that from me; they don’t come to me to dress them in the way I would like. His designs have been worn by many famous athletes, actors, artists, politicians and, in recent years, the wife of Vladimir Putin. He is reluctant to talk about his cli- ents, but stresses that he has always liked creating clothes for women with attitude, who, apart from beauty, possess and ex- press their individuality. - I love women of character, and not today’s idealised dolls, who all look alike. A beautiful woman is one who has something of her own regardless of how she dresses, styles her hair or paints herself. Although he has profiles on all the so- cial networks, he believes that“influencers” are spoiling fashion. - Today everyone can influence young women and fashion generally. The most common are those who have a lot of mon- ey: singers, actresses, mistresses... They don’t need to have style or any connection with fashion, and actually don’t understand it at all. I always advise everyone to wear classics: well-tailored blazers, white blouses, bright scarves, skirts... Classics protect a woman, ensuring that she can never look vulgar – concludes this Russian maestro.
nosili su poznati sportisti, glumci, umetnici, političari, a poslednjih godina i supruga Vladimira Putina
could come into contact with beauty and happiness. I made many people happy, and my path of creation was also a path to God. And that’s what I’m proudest of – he says, sum- marising his six-decade-long career. He grew up in a world where people didn’t wear col- ours. Clothes were grey, olive green, blue, practical and not
perimental Technical Garment Factory in the city of Babush- kin, and that’s where he creat- ed his first collection of special clothing for workers. - Those clothes were so sad and gloomy that I simply had to do something. I slow- ly introduced colours to that world, starting from the idea that people will more easily grow accustomed to some- thing they know, and those were folklore motifs. It wasn’t at all easy for me to fight for that, but over time my style became recognisable and was even accepted in other countries. Seven years after gradua- tion, Slava had his own fashion showinNewYork,attheMuse- um of Modern Art, MoMA. The world was ready to open up to
Mediji za njega kažu da je „crveni Dior“, „car sovjetske mode“, najveći ruski kreator svih vremena The media dub him the “Red Dior”, the “tsar of Soviet fashion” and the greatest Russian fashion creator of all time
His designs have been worn by famous athletes, actors, artists, politicians and, in recent years, the wife of Vladimir Putin
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