Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zaitsev is a unique person who managed to create and spread the concept of “fashion design” and “fashion” in a country where such an industry did not exist in principle. Moreover, he brought the USSR to the world podiums, proved that Soviet people can be perfect in this regard.
It’s simply impossible not to fall in love with this person, not to get respect for him. Smiling, positive Vyacheslav Zaitsev is a part of the history of Russia, the founder of Soviet fashion, the peak of creativity of which came in difficult times for this direction. There was no fashion in principle, strict censorship literally slaughtered his collections, but even in such conditions he managed to break into the leading catwalks of the world.
Biography of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zaitsev
Vyacheslav Mikhailovich was born in Ivanovo near Moscow in early March 1938. Shortly after the birth of a boy who was already the second in the family, his father went to the front, where he was captured. Mikhail Yakovlevich did not return to the family - after being released from the fascist camp and returning to his homeland, he was convicted as an enemy of the people.
Zaitsev’s boys were raised and “put on their feet” by their mother. She had to work simultaneously in several places so that the children did not starve and had at least the most necessary. Little Slava and his older brother tried to help their mother by virtue of their abilities - they were engaged in the home and studied well at school.
Despite eternal busyness, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich’s mother managed to instill in her children a love of art, music, and literature. Glory sang beautifully, drew, dreamed of becoming an artist or singer. But the children of the "enemies of the people" were not accepted into cultural and educational institutions, and Slava entered the textile school after school.
The beginning of the career of Vyacheslav Zaitsev in the fashion world
While still in college, Vyacheslav Mikhailovich realized that he had chosen the only true professional path. He decided to continue development in this direction in the capital and came to Moscow with a huge supply of creative ideas. In 1962 he graduated from the Moscow Textile Institute as an excellent student - a Lenin scholarship holder with honors. According to the distribution, Zaitsev got to a sewing factory in Babushkino, where they sewed overalls.
World fame came to him already at that time when rumors about a bold designer who created a unique collection of workwear reached Pierre Cardin himself. And at the same time, fame came to him with problems - Vyacheslav Mikhailovich was called to the Lubyanka, where he was given a lecture that there is no and cannot be fashion in the USSR.
"Cleaning" did not stop the young designer, and having worked for the average 3 years at the average sewing factory, he went to work in the legendary Model House, located on Kuznetsky Most. There he was able to fully reveal his talent, and at the same time introduce Soviet women to real fashion.
Vyacheslav Zaitsev - the founder of Russian fashion
Fashion models created by a daring designer were “killed” by commissions of various sizes, and, as a rule, did not go beyond the boundaries of the Fashion House on Kuznetsk, but this did not affect the positive mood of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich. As a result, rumors about the unique “red Dior” spread around the world, and the Soviet government had no choice but to release his collection to be shown in Paris.
The show was enchanting, but success was not appreciated in the USSR. Zaitsev had to quit the Model House on Kuznetsk and become a full-time cutter in a small individual tailoring factory. On the basis of this factory, he later founded his Fashion House, where almost all of its legendary, unique, unique collections of clothes were created.
The work of Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zaitsev is not limited to the creation of clothes - he is a great artist, photographer, since 1992 he has been producing his own perfume “Maroussia”, he is the founder and the first presenter of the popular TV show “Fashionable Sentence”, in his costumes the audience first saw the heroes of a huge number of films and theatrical productions, he sewed stage costumes to the leading vocalists of the country and abroad.
