Russia’s fashion industry lost two of its most renowned fashion designers, Valentin Yudashkin and Vyacheslav Zaitsev, this week.
Yudashkin died at the age of 59 in Moscow on Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He came to fame in the late 1980s when he dressed the first lady of the Soviet Union, Raisa Gorbacheva, and in 1991, he launched his first show in Paris called Fabergé.
Yudashkin’s haute couture collections were famous for their luxurious fabrics and embroidery, but he also created unconventional designs like a line of jeans. In 2008, he designed uniforms for the Russian military.
Yudashkin’s death came just days after that of Vyacheslav “Slava” Zaitsev, the Soviet Union’s first internationally acclaimed fashion designer, who died Sunday at the age of 85.
Zaitsev established his own clothing brand in 1959, and his designs introduced traditional Russian elements to the world of fashion.
His creations included folk costumes, military uniforms and evening dresses. Zaitsev dressed Soviet leaders, including Brezhnev and Gorbachev, as well as designed costumes for theatrical productions and films.
Here is a look back at the two designers’ lives and legacies:
