The most popular fashion model of the 60s. Mila Romanovskaya (fashion model): photo, biography. Biography, life story of Ekaterina Panova
A few years ago, Channel One successfully hosted the Red Queen series about the life of Soviet fashion models. The prototype of the main character was the legendary Regina Zbarskaya, whose fate, alas, was tragic. The reaction to the tape was mixed - someone liked the cool plot twists, and someone criticized this film work for historical unreliability. Let's see who is right.
Regina Zbarskaya
Her name became synonymous with the concept of "Soviet fashion model", although for a long time only people close to her knew about the tragic fate of Regina. Everything was changed by a series of publications that appeared in the press after the collapse of the USSR. They started talking about Zbarskaya, but so far her name is more shrouded in myths than real facts. The exact place of her birth is unknown - either Leningrad, or Vologda, there is no exact data on her parents. It was rumored that Zbarskaya was connected with the KGB, she was credited with novels with influential men and almost espionage activities, but those who really knew Regina say unequivocally: all this is not true. The only husband of the sultry beauty was the artist Lev Zbarsky, but the relationship did not work out: the husband left Regina, first to the actress Marianna Vertinskaya, then to Lyudmila Maksakova. Regina, after his departure, was never able to recover: in 1987, she committed suicide by drinking sleeping pills. Zbarsky died in 2016 in America.
Regina Zbarskaya was called the "Russian Sophia Loren": the image of a sultry Italian woman with a lush "page" haircut was invented for her by Vyacheslav Zaitsev. The southern beauty of Regina was popular in the Soviet Union: dark-haired and dark-eyed girls seemed exotic against the background of a standard Slavic appearance. But foreigners treated Regina with restraint, preferring to invite for filming - if, of course, they managed to get permission from the authorities - blue-eyed blondes.
Mila Romanovskaya
The complete antipode and longtime rival of Zbarskaya is Mila Romanovskaya. Delicate sophisticated blonde, Mila looked like Twiggy. It was with this famous British woman that she was compared more than once, even a photo of Romanovskaya a la Twiggy, with lush false eyelashes, round glasses, and combed back hair, has been preserved. Romanovskaya's career began in Leningrad, then she transferred to the Moscow Fashion House. It was here that a dispute arose about who is the first beauty of a large country - she or Regina. Mila won: it was she who was entrusted with demonstrating the dress "Russia" by fashion designer Tatyana Osmerkina at the international exhibition of light industry in Montreal. The scarlet outfit, embroidered with golden sequins around the neck, was remembered for a long time and even entered the fashion history textbooks. Her photos were willingly published in the West, for example, in Life! magazine, calling Romanovskaya Snegurochka. The fate of Mila was generally happy. She managed to give birth to a daughter, Nastya, from her first husband, whom she met while studying at VGIK. Then she divorced, had a vivid romance with Andrei Mironov, remarried the artist Yuri Kuper. With him, she emigrated first to Israel, then to Europe. The third husband of Romanovskaya was the British businessman Douglas Edwards.
Galina Milovskaya
She was also called the "Russian Twiggy" - the skinny tomboy type was extremely popular. Milovskaya became the first model in the history of the USSR who was allowed to pose for foreign photographers. Shooting for Vogue magazine was organized by the Frenchman Arnaud de Rhone. The documents were signed personally by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kosygin, and any gloss producer could envy the list of locations and the level of organization of this photoset: Galina Milovskaya demonstrated clothes not only on Red Square, but also in the Armory and the Diamond Fund. The accessories for that shooting were the scepter of Catherine II and the legendary Shah diamond. However, a scandal soon erupted: one of the pictures, in which Milovskaya sits on the paving stones of the country's main square with her back to the Mausoleum, was recognized in the USSR as immoral, the girl began to hint at leaving the country. At first, emigration seemed to Gala a tragedy, but in fact it turned out to be a great success: in the West, Milovskaya collaborated with the Ford agency, participated in shows and starred for gloss, and then completely changed her profession, becoming a documentary filmmaker. The personal life of Galina Milovskaya was successful: she lived for 30 years in marriage with the French banker Jean-Paul Dessertino.
Leka Mironova
Leka (short for Leokadiy) Mironova is the model of Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who still continues to act in various photo shoots and takes part in television programs. Leka has something to tell and show: she looks great at her age, and her work-related memories are enough for a thick book of memoirs. Mironova shares unpleasant details: she admits that her friends and colleagues were often forced to succumb to the harassment of the powerful, while she found the courage to refuse a high-ranking boyfriend and paid dearly for it. In her youth, Leka was compared to Audrey Hepburn for her slimness, chiseled profile and impeccable style. She kept it until old age and now willingly shares her beauty secrets: this is the usual children's cream for moisturizing the skin, red wine instead of tonic and a hair mask with egg yolk. And of course - always keep your back straight and do not slouch!
Tatiana Mikhalkova (Soloviev)
They used to see the wife of the famous director Nikita Mikhalkov as a worthy mother of a large family, and few people remember her as a slender young girl. Meanwhile, in her youth, Tatiana appeared on the catwalk for more than five years and starred for Soviet fashion magazines, and Vyacheslav Zaitsev dubbed her a Botchellian girl. It was whispered that a bold mini helped the girl get the job of a fashion model - the artistic council unanimously admired the beauty of the applicant's legs. Friends jokingly called Tatyana "Institute" - she, unlike other fashion models, had a prestigious higher education received at the Institute. Maurice Teresa. True, having changed her surname from Solovyov's maiden name to Mikhalkova, Tatyana was forced to give up her profession: Nikita Sergeevich rather sharply told her that their mother should raise the children, and he would not tolerate any nannies. The last time Tatyana appeared on the podium at the seventh month of pregnancy, carrying her eldest daughter Anna under her heart, and then completely plunged into the life and upbringing of the heirs. When the children grew up a little, Tatyana Mikhalkova created and headed the Russian Silhouette charity foundation, which helps aspiring fashion designers.
Elena Metelkina
She is known for her roles in the films "Guest from the Future" and "Through Hardships to the Stars." The role of Metelkina is a woman of the future, an alien. Huge unearthly eyes, a fragile figure and a completely atypical appearance for that time attracted attention to Elena. There are six films in her filmography, the last one is dated 2011, although Elena has no acting education, she is a librarian by profession. The rise of Metelkina dates back to an era when the popularity of the fashion model profession had already begun to decline, and a new generation was about to appear - already professional models tailored according to the Western model. Elena worked mainly in the GUM showroom, shooting for Soviet fashion magazines with patterns and knitting tips. After the collapse of the Union, she left the profession and, like many, was forced to adapt to the new reality. There are many sharp turns in her biography, including a criminal story with the murder of businessman Ivan Kivelidi, whose secretary she was. Metelkina was not injured by chance, her replacement secretary died along with her boss. Now Elena occasionally appears on television and gives interviews, but devotes most of her time to singing in the church choir in one of the churches in Moscow.
Tatyana Chapygina
In the 1960s, a cultural revolution rages in the Western world. America has been going crazy about Presley for several years, and Beatlemania is starting in Europe. The entire beautiful half of humanity exposes obscenely graceful legs, men begin to grow their hair, clothes are full of unusually bright colors and take on defiant forms. The explosion of the cultural revolution in the West is so strong that its echo penetrates even behind the Iron Curtain.
By this time, only a small part of the population of our country had a real idea of what was happening in the fashion world there - abroad. For most of the country, the very concept of fashion did not exist at all. Of course, those held in Moscow International Festival of Youth and Students in 1957 and Christian Dior's first fashion show in 1959, they brought a fresh spirit into the life of Soviet people, but, unfortunately, only a few citizens of the USSR had a chance to take part in these events “live”, while the rest had to get acquainted with them through the pages of newspapers and radio programs, which at that time were ideologically politicized. But even a small handful of eyewitnesses and the Khrushchev thaw standing on the street were already enough for people in our country to start talking about what had been forgotten for several years. In our country, they began to talk about fashion again. The desire to look beautiful has always existed in a person, especially for women. Despite the time in which they live, despite the social system, status and other factors, women have always dreamed of being charming. Unfortunately, in the early 60s, an ordinary Soviet woman did not have even a tenth of the opportunities to transform that Western beauties had. The light industry of the USSR seemed to continue to stamp clothes for the soldiers of the Red Army, guided only by the State Planning Commission: a lot, the same and tasteless. Naturally, it was unrealistic to take good clothes on the shelves of the Soviet trade. In addition, the very fashion and culture of dressing well was not welcomed by the official ideology, and the most active fashionistas - dudes were prosecuted under Article 58 of the Criminal Code for anti-Soviet activities.
All fashionable gizmos and magazines could enter our country only illegally from abroad and only thanks to a few foreign business trips of diplomats, long-range aviation pilots and sailors. It was very rare for stores to “throw away” products from friendly socialist countries of Eastern Europe, which were immediately followed by long queues. Such clothes were sold almost by the piece - “they released one item per hand” and called the terrible word “deficit”. The deficit in the Soviet state was not so much fashionable clothes as a beautiful and carefree life in general.
In those years, it was common for our country to export to the West not only natural resources, but also the image of a happy person living in a socialist country. For greater credibility, Soviet officials organized open exhibitions of the achievements of the national economy, including fashion shows. There was a mythical experimental workshop on Kuznetsky Most, where fashion masterpieces, if not loud, were created, which were applauded in Paris in 1962, and a year later Rio de Janeiro. Semi-closed fashion shows were also held, along the catwalk of which fashion models of that time, such as Yanina Cherepkova, Mila Romanovskaya, Liliana Baskakova, Regina Zbarskaya, Galina Milovskaya.
It is not known exactly thanks to or in spite of whom, but the world fashion trends in the early 60s begin to penetrate thin streams into our country. In the 61st year, Soviet women for the first time “get acquainted” with stilettos. This name was given to elegant women's shoes with high thin heels, which reached a meager 6 × 6 or 5 × 5 millimeters at the base.
It was uncomfortable to walk in stilettos, they left deep marks in the fresh asphalt, due to fashionable heels getting into the slot between the steps, subway escalators stopped, but women stubbornly continued to put on pointed stilettos.
There was probably no sexier uniform for a woman in the 60s than a tight black sweater, tight skirt, and the obligatory stiletto heel. Even in winter, even to work and always on a date, girls ran in stilettos to be brilliant and fashionable. It was one of the first victims of beauty, which women of the 60s voluntarily agreed to. By the way, the once ultra-modern hairpin not only did not go out of fashion over time, but also turned into a classic.
The 60s were remembered by the whole world of fashion and socialist fashionistas, including insanity on the basis of everything artificial. New fabrics and new names: nylon, lycra, crimplen, vinyl, dralon and other “-lons”, “-lans”, “-lens”. Clothing made from new types of fabric was considered comfortable and practical. She did not wrinkle, was easily cleaned and washed. And most importantly, it was cheap.
Beginning in 1962, Soviet citizens first got acquainted with the dark blue Italian coats of Bologna. The Italians used this material for work clothes.
He conquered us with his novelty and the fact that, when folded, clothes made of such material almost did not take up space.
In the mass consciousness of the Soviet people, there was a conviction that every self-respecting person should have a Bologna raincoat. In the Soviet Union, the Bologna psychosis lasted for a whole decade and gave birth to such an unthinkable concept throughout the world as a summer coat. Over time, the production of raincoats, flowing at the seams and at the same time serving as a greenhouse in any weather, was also mastered by the domestic light industry.
Now it's hard to believe, but in the 60s, a period came when natural fur, inaccessible and inaccessible to the majority of the population, began to seem boring, undemocratic and “mossy”. The fashion for faux fur coats and fur has captured absolutely everyone, even people who have the opportunity to buy things from natural fur. Literally for several years, all Soviet women of fashion dressed in fur coats made of artificial mink, and men began to wear hats made of artificial astrakhan fur. The fashion for faux fur ended as suddenly as it began, and the next fashion trophies joined the ranks of the ever-growing wardrobes.
In 1964, nylon shirts became widespread in the USSR. Unlike obsolete cotton, strong and fashionable nylon seemed to be the absolute material. Nylon shirts did not wrinkle, were easily washed and, in general, seemed to last forever. White nylon shirts were considered the most chic. A typical portrait of a fashionable young man of the 60s - dark pipe trousers, a white nylon shirt and hair slicked to the top.
In the 67th year, clothing made from a new synthetic material, crimplene, saw the light. Clothes made of crimplene do not wrinkle, they do not need to be ironed, it is enough to wash, dry, hang them neatly, and you can wear the thing again. A significant drawback is electrostaticity. Crimplen can sparkle, crackle and stick to the body. They struggled with electrostaticity by mastering the production of antistatic liquids.
Over time, thick woolen coat fabrics began to be produced under embossed crimplain.
Introduced in the late 60s, the mini instantly won the title of the most fashionable women's clothing for a whole decade. Where it was possible (in schools and technical schools), the guardians of morality and the chairmen of the Komsomol cells in the morning measured the length of skirts and the distance from the knees to the skirts with rulers and, if they did not match, sent the students home to change clothes. The short length of the skirt was condemned, ridiculed, forbidden, but it was all useless. Literally in a couple of years, under the onslaught of the beauty of bare female legs, bans on the length of skirts fell and older women could afford to wear a mini. The fashion for short skirts, which so quickly conquered the capital and big cities, sometimes reached the remote corners of our country with many years of delay. It happened that a young student returning home to the countryside for the holidays could not only be ridiculed by her fellow villagers, but also receive a thrashing from strict parents.
In the late 60s, another disaster appeared on the head of fashion conservatives. Absolutely fashionable and relatively indecent phenomenon is a women's trouser suit.
The cut of the first suits, as a rule, is not complicated - the jacket is straight or slightly fitted, the trousers are straight or slightly flared, large metal buttons, collar “Dog ears”. Together with the costume, they wore blunt shoes with thick and not very high heels. In all this outfit, the woman looked like a kind of “sailor”.
A women's trouser suit in the USSR is the beginning of emancipation. Wearing trousers, despite the fashion, was condemned by society as public female smoking. And wearing this costume was like a challenge, like audacity. The executive committees prohibited the appearance in trousers, for example, in clubs. A woman in trousers could not be allowed into a restaurant, just as before they were not allowed in a miniskirt. The exception was the Baltic republics, famous for their loyalty to pro-Western trends in fashion and to women's trousers in particular.
Since at the end of the 60s, industrial knitwear hopelessly lagged behind the increased demands of Soviet citizens, the most skilled half of the female population turned to the science of “two purl - two facial”:
“We knit ourselves” is becoming almost the most popular section in various publications. Cutting and sewing courses are attended by both girls and grandmothers, sometimes you can see men there as well.
In 1965, an event occurred that simply cannot be ignored. Vyacheslav Zaitsev came to work at the All-Union House of Models.
Fashion designer Vyacheslav Mikhailovich Zaitsev and famous fashion model Regina Zbarskaya. 1963
Fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev and fashion model Regina Zbarskaya discuss new models. 1966
He was the first man in the nascent Soviet fashion business. Talented artist, non-standard designer, interested in modern Western fashion trends. He managed to embody the progressive ideas of Western fashion in an original style adapted to the existing reality. Zaitsev became the first and main fashion designer in the USSR. He began to dress our stars. Many of the images he created in the late 60s survived more than one decade.
Today, almost every second girl dreams of becoming a model. In Soviet times, the profession of a fashion model was not only not prestigious, but was considered almost indecent and at the same time poorly paid. Clothing demonstrators received a maximum of 76 rubles at a rate - as workers of the fifth category. At the same time, the most famous Russian beauties were known and appreciated in the West, but at home, work in the "model" business (although there was no such thing then) often created problems for them. Today "RG" talks about the fate of the five brightest fashion models of the Soviet Union.
"The most beautiful weapon of the Kremlin"
"The most beautiful weapon of the Kremlin" - so wrote about Regina Zbarskaya, Soviet model No. 1, the French magazine "Paris Match"; even in the West she was called "Soviet Sophia Loren". However, the concept of "model" in the world of Soviet fashion did not exist then, only "fashion model", which did not differ much from "mannequin".
Regina Zbarskaya is one of the most famous and at the same time mysterious Soviet fashion models. There are many gaps in her biography, starting with the place and circumstances of her birth and ending with her death. It is authentically known that 17-year-old Regina came to conquer Moscow, having entered the Faculty of Economics of VGIK. The girl, drawn to a beautiful life, quite likely composed a biography for herself, more suitable for the image and the moment than the ordinary "mother is an accountant, father is an officer; originally from Vologda." The legend said that Regina was the daughter of circus gymnasts who crashed in the arena, that her Italian dad gave her a bright appearance. This version was much more romantic than the real one.
In Moscow, Regina, in modern terms, actively "hung out" - went to private parties, even without being invited, acquired connections. So she met the famous graphic artist Lev Zbarsky. The son of a famous scientist who embalmed Lenin, fashionable, stylish, wealthy, sharp-tongued - he was a typical representative of the "golden youth" of that time. She and Regina quickly found a common language, and she became his "muse" and wife.
The artist Vera Aralova brought Regina to the House of Models on Kuznetsky Most, instantly highlighting her in the crowd with a trained eye. But Aralova's find was not immediately appreciated, they say, "she brought some kind of bow-legged." Regina's legs were indeed not perfect, but this shortcoming, which could put an end to the career of any other fashion model, the clever Regina knew how to hide by developing a special gait on the podium. The girl attracted Aralova with her "western" beauty. Indeed, Zbarskaya quickly became "model No. 1", representing the USSR in almost all foreign shows. She had a gloss. She was admired by Yves Montand and Pierre Cardin. But what price did she pay for the opportunity to travel abroad, popularity and beauty? An "exit" supermodel, she simply could not help but be out of the attention of the "authorities".
All sorts of things were said about Zbarskaya: allegedly, she and her husband specially invited dissidents to their house in order to denounce them. That she was "planted" under Yves Montand during his visit to the Soviet Union. That on foreign business trips she acted as a secret agent - a sort of Mata Hari ... What really happened - now no one can say for sure. But the attention really was.
Her female fate was unhappy. She wanted children, her husband was against it. At his insistence, she had an abortion, falling into depression after him. I got out with the help of antidepressants, hooked on pills. Soon the relationship with her husband completely went wrong. A keen nature, Zbarsky first had an affair with Marianna Vertinskaya, then with Lyudmila Maksakova, to whom he soon left for good, and then gave birth to a child - for Regina it was a blow below the belt. She attempted to commit suicide but was rescued and even returned to the Model House.
The straw, which the drowning Zbarskaya grabbed, was the Yugoslav journalist with whom she began an affair. But her lover answered her with ingratitude. According to one version, after his return to his homeland, the book "100 Nights with Regina Zbarskaya" was published in Germany, in which the author describes Regina's murky love stories with the highest ranks of the USSR party leadership. Vyacheslav Zaitsev and other persons who were directly related to the world of Soviet fashion mention this book in their interviews. But whether the book actually existed is not known for certain. But it is known that during this period she was indeed summoned to the KGB, but what was the reason is not clear. It is possible that the emigration of the ex-husband.
Regina again tried to commit suicide, and after that she ended up in a psychiatric hospital for several years. In the end, one of her suicide attempts was a success - Regina Zbarskaya voluntarily passed away in 1987, at the age of 51. The circumstances of death are also not known for certain. According to one version, she died in a psychiatric clinic, according to another - at home alone, swallowing pills. Her mythical diary (either existed or not), in which she allegedly described all the secrets of her relationship with the KGB, disappeared. The location of the grave is unknown. Most likely, the body was cremated, and the ashes remained unclaimed.
Russian "birch"
Mila Romanovskaya shone on the podium at the same time as Regina Zbarskaya, and was her main competitor and antipode. Regina is a burning brunette, Mila is a blonde, Regina is arrogant and impregnable, Mila is easy to communicate with and friendly, Regina is capricious at fittings and shows, Mila is patient and meticulous... The apogee of their rivalry happened in 1967, when fashion designer Tatyana Osmerkina created a dress, which later received the name "Russia" from art historians and for several years became a kind of hallmark of the Soviet Union.
The bright red dress was sewn especially for Regina Zbarskaya, but Mila Romanovskaya got it. When the blonde Mila put it on, the artists of the House of Models unanimously decided that this was a more accurate hit in the image.
It was an evening dress made of woolen bouclé - fabric for outerwear, embroidered around the collar and on the chest with gold sequins, creating the effect of chain mail. Inventing a dress, Osmerkina was inspired by Russian icon painting, studied ancient Russian ritual clothing.
Mila Romanovskaya demonstrated this dress at the International Fashion Festival, then opened the show in it at the International Light Industry Exhibition in Montreal. It was then that Mila's "Western" nicknames were born: berezka and snegurochka - that was how she was called in the foreign press.
Fashion models told me that our emigrants cried during the show. By the way, about fashion models. The organic image of Mila Romanovskaya coincided very much with my model. At the festival, in this dress, as eyewitnesses say, she was the best, - Tatyana Osmerkina recalled.
Upon her return, an American photographer photographed Romanovskaya in a "Russia" dress for Look magazine, and not just anywhere, but in the Assumption Cathedral of the Kremlin - an unprecedented event for that time.
There is a common feature in the biography of Regina Zbarskaya and Mila Romanovskaya: they were both married to artists. Mila's husband was a graphic artist Yuri Kuperman. In the early 1970s, he emigrated from the Soviet Union, first to Israel, then to London. In 1972, quite officially, Mila followed him. She was 27 years old.
They say that before leaving, she was summoned to the Lubyanka and allegedly asked the beauty not to organize anti-Soviet campaigns in the West. Mila didn't like it. Little is known about her subsequent fate. According to some reports, she managed to break into the modeling business - she advertised products of British brands, not only clothes, and even worked with leading fashion houses - Pierre Cardin, Dior, Givenchy ... But the Soviet fashion model Lev Anisimov in one of his interviews with the link Mila herself said that in the West her modeling career never took place.
But the personal life took place. They broke up with Yuri Kuperman rather quickly after their departure - the artist began an affair with Catherine Deneuve, and he moved to France, Mila remained in England. She was married three times, her third husband is businessman Douglas Edwards. She herself is also engaged in business - she has two stores. The business is going well - the spouses travel around the world on their own plane.
"Solzhenitsyn" of the fashion world
The story of Galina Milovskaya is indicative in terms of attitudes towards fashion models of the Soviet system. Galina is from the same generation of fashion models as Regina Zbarskaya and Mila Romanovskaya, but of a completely different type. A student of the Shchukin School, on the advice of a friend, she began to earn extra money at the All-Union Institute of Light Industry Assortment. At that time, they were looking for the Soviet analogue of Twiggy, who revolutionized the fashion industry. And Galya Milovskaya, with a height of 170 centimeters, weighed 42 kilograms and had a "western" appearance. Fashion designer Irina Krutikova immediately "saw" Galya and her potential. But her star really rose at the Moscow International Fashion Festival.
Galya was then noticed by Western agencies. For two years, Vogue magazine sought permission to shoot Milovskaya - and achieved it. Galina Milovskaya became the first Soviet model to pose for a foreign magazine. Photographer Arno de Rhone came to Moscow especially for the photo session.
This project is still considered unprecedented in terms of organization - the shooting took place on Red Square and in the Kremlin Armory, Galina posed with the scepter of Catherine II and the Shah diamond, presented to Russia by Iran after the death of Griboedov. They say that the work permit was signed by Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kosygin.
The scandal erupted when one of the Vogue photos was reprinted by the Soviet magazine America. In an innocent picture for today - Galina in a trouser suit is sitting on the cobblestones of Red Square - the ideologists saw "anti-Sovietism": a vulgar pose (the girl spread her legs wide), disrespect for Lenin and Soviet leaders (sitting with her back to the mausoleum and portraits of party leaders). Milovskaya immediately became "restricted to travel abroad", and the rest of the fashion models were forbidden to even think about working with foreign magazines. But this was only the beginning of a series of scandals associated with Milovskaya.
The leaders of my course somehow ended up at the Vialegprom swimsuit show, both, by the way, were under 80 years old, - Galina recalled in an interview. - I morally fell in their eyes so much that they showed me the door at the school.
Then the Italian magazine "Espresso" published a picture of Milovskaya, taken by the photographer Caio Mario Garrubba - Mario worked as a reportage photographer and was looking for interesting material for his publication. He was attracted by the drawing made on the body of Galya by her friend, nonconformist artist Anatoly Brusilovsky, who painted a flower and a butterfly on the girl's shoulders and face. In the same issue, under the heading "On the ashes of Stalin," Tvardovsky's poem "Terkin in the Other World," banned in the USSR, was published. Such Milovskaya could no longer be forgiven.
In 1974, Galina Milovskaya emigrated. She recalled that the departure was a tragedy for her. But her modeling life abroad turned out well - she was patronized by Eileen Ford, the founder of the Ford modeling agency, and Galina participated in shows and competitions, starred for Vogue. But if in the USSR she was the "Russian Twiggy", then abroad she became the "Solzhenitsyn of fashion".
All this continued until Galina married the French banker Jean-Paul Dessertino, with whom she lived for more than 30 years. At his insistence, she left her modeling career, entered the Sorbonne at the Faculty of Film Directing, graduated from it. She took her place as a documentary filmmaker, the film "This is the madness of the Russians" about avant-garde artists who emigrated from the USSR in the 1970s brought her world fame.
"Juno and Avos" in Soviet
Leka (full name - Leokadiya) Mironova is one of the most famous Soviet models. Like most fashion models of that time, she came to the House of Models on Kuznetsky Most by accident: she came to support her friend, there she was seen by aspiring fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev, and immediately offered to stay to work. Leka just graduated from high school. She was engaged in ballet, but had to part with dancing due to leg disease. I wanted to enter the Faculty of Architecture, but it also did not work out because of vision problems. And the girl agreed to try herself as a fashion model.
Later, Leka recalled this moment many times with gratitude, repeating in an interview: "My parents gave me life, and Slava Zaitsev gave me a profession." She became his real muse, one of his favorite models. Neither he nor she could have thought then that their cooperation would last more than half a century.
Unlike Regina Zbarskaya, Mila Romanovskaya and other famous Soviet fashion models, Leka Mironova was "restricted to travel abroad" because of her origin. Her parents, theatrical figures, were descendants of noble families. Nevertheless, Leka was known abroad and called the "Russian Audrey Hepburn" for her outward resemblance to the great actress. After filming in the American film "Three Stars of the Soviet Union" (one of them, by the way, was Maya Plisetskaya), Leka was invited to the parade of the best fashion models in the world. But she was never released abroad.
Leka Mironova is one of the first who openly spoke about the harassment of beauties by those in power.
Men endowed with power are convinced at all times: all the most beautiful things in the world should belong to them. How many broken women's destinies! - Leka Mironova said in an interview. - During international shows, party members assigned to monitor the moral character of the girls came to the rooms with wine. And getting a turn from the gate, they began to take revenge.
Leka herself was also one of the victims. Not once, not a single publication, did she name the person who broke her career, "because his children and grandchildren are alive," she explained. But about how in an instant the doors to the profession closed before her, how for a year and a half she was unemployed and lived almost starving, how they threatened to put her in jail for parasitism, but she never gave in, she told willingly.
In the late 1960s, they wanted to put me in the escort of the powerful. Our bosses openly said: "Either you will be with us, or with them." And I said that I wouldn’t be there, I wouldn’t be there. For which she then paid the price, ”Leka recalled.
Leka Mironova's personal life did not work out - beauty guarantees the attention of men, but not women's happiness. She was married to a television director, but broke up with her husband when her mother became seriously ill and she had to take care of her. Between mother and husband, she chose mother. But there was also a great love in her life - to a photographer from Lithuania named Antanis. Fleetingly seeing each other at some show, they fell in love with each other at first sight. But they really got to know each other only a few years later. Their romance lasted two years, but the Baltic nationalists threatened Antanis: “If you meet this Russian, we will kill you. And she will come to you, we will send her to the next world. we won't leave my sister alive." Leka was afraid for Antanis's life and chose to leave. But she loved him all her life, never letting a single man near her, left alone and without children. His personal life also did not work out - after Leka, he never married. Such is the version of "Juno and Avos" in the Soviet way.
Niya the Alien
Elena Metelkina, who also belongs to a galaxy of talented Soviet fashion models, began her career a little later - in 1974 at GUM. Peers at school openly laughed at her - tall, awkward, with huge glasses, while closed and unsociable, Metelkina was almost an outcast. But, having got into the "clothes demonstrators", the girl changed, blossomed and quickly became one of the leading models in the Soviet Union. Participated in filming for fashion magazines, in shows.
It was in a fashion magazine that writer Kir Bulychev and director Richard Viktorov, who were then working on the film Through Hardships to the Stars, saw her photograph and were painfully looking for an actress for the role of the alien Niya. The production designer of the film, Konstantin Zagorsky, depicted Niya as a thin, fragile girl with ideal body proportions, practically flat chest, long neck, small bald head, beautiful unusual face with huge eyes. When Bulychev and Viktorov saw the photo of Lena Metelkina, they exclaimed in unison: "That's her!"
Elena Metelkina had neither the appropriate education nor any worthwhile film experience. Elena later recalled that, after reading the script, she thought that it was written as if about her. It was a 100% hit in the image - both "internally" and "externally".
I could not cover the whole role at once, because I was small and stupid, and he saw further. I obeyed, and everything worked out, ”Elena later recalled working with Viktorov.
The film "Through thorns to the stars" was a triumphant success. For a year in the Soviet Union, more than 20 million viewers watched it, and Lena Metelkina turned from a fashion model unknown to the "broad masses" into a popular actress, and also received a prize for the best female role at the international film festival of fantastic films in Italy. After that, she played in several more films, mostly fantastic, but she was not invited to the cinema very actively - too specific role was assigned to her. In between filming, she continued to work as a fashion model.
There was no need to experience "persecution" for the beauty of Metelkina: the 1980s were in the yard - another era had come. On the contrary, the unusual appearance opened the way to success for the once notorious schoolgirl.
In the early 1990s, Elena got a job as an assistant secretary to the well-known businessman Ivan Kivelidi. It was rumored that the boss and the secretary had a closer relationship than just working. After his death (and Kivelidi was poisoned by treating the phone in his office with a toxic substance, his secretary also died, the forensic expert was poisoned), miraculously surviving, Elena Metelkina fell into religion, became extremely pious. She changed several of the most common jobs, now works as a customer service manager at a foreign language learning center, sings in the choir of one of the churches in Moscow.
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Biography, life story of Ekaterina Panova
Ekaterina Mikhailovna Panova - the main character of the Russian series "Queen of Beauty"
Prototype and role performer
Some media say that the movie heroine Katya Panova is "copied" from a famous Soviet fashion model. However, the director of the series, Karen Oganesyan, assured in an interview that Katya is a collective image that does not have a single prototype.
The role of Ekaterina Panova was played by Russian actress Karina Androlenko.
Life story
1961 Young Katya lives in the village of Matkino near Moscow with her parents and sister Lyubov. Things are far from smooth in the family. The head of the family, Mikhail, suspects his wife of treason. The fact is that Katya is not at all like him, unlike Lyuba.
Katya is a local beauty and smart girl - she graduated from a medical college. Village guys are crazy about her and are ready to do anything for her attention. However, Panova rejects their advances. The girl is sure that a much more interesting and exciting fate awaits her than a simple marriage to an ordinary hard worker and endless diaper pans. Katya dreams of becoming a fashion model and one day conquering Paris. Panova even specifically takes French lessons from the artist Goncharov, who lives nearby, so that when she does get to the capital of fashion, she won’t make a mistake.
One day, Panova had a big fight with her parents and decided that now was the time to start realizing her dream. Katya leaves for Moscow and goes to Vienna Krotov, a fashion designer. Katya asks Venya to help her find a job. Krotov saw potential in a pretty girl and got her a job as a clothing demonstrator at the Fashion House. Very soon, Panova became the leading fashion model there.
Even in the village, Ekaterina Panova met the international journalist Felix Krutsky (the performer of the role -). Young people met at a dance in a village club. Felix fell in love with Katya at first sight, despite the fact that at that time he was in a serious relationship with Marianna Nechaeva, a film actress. Shortly after a trip to the countryside and returning to Moscow, Felix, against the will of his overbearing parents, ends the affair with Marianne and begins searching for Catherine. One day, fate smiles at him - he was able to find the one that won his heart.
CONTINUED BELOW
The romance of Katya and Felix is developing rapidly. They met each other's parents. Moreover, Felix's father, a high-ranking official, immediately warned his objectionable daughter-in-law that if she suddenly compromised their high-profile surname, he would personally destroy her.
Soon Katya found out that she was pregnant from her beloved. She wanted to leave the child, but Venya Krotov convinced her that now was not the time - fashion models were just being recruited for a trip to Paris. On the eve of the wedding, Panova decides to focus on her career for the time being, has an abortion, and then ... finds out that her name is not on the list of those who will go to the capital of France. It would seem that everything is gone! But then the situation changes and Panova still ends up in the city of her dreams.
Paris fell in love with Catherine. Local journalists called it the national treasure of Soviet Russia. While in France, news of the death of her mother reaches Panova. Later, at the funeral, Katya learns that her father is indeed not her biological father. Her mother really had an affair - with the artist Goncharov, the one who taught Katya French. After that, Panova learns another terrible news - because of the abortion, she will never be able to have children again. Plus, the enemies took compromising photographs of her with a German anti-fascist (of course, fake ones) and showed them to Felix. In addition, at one of the shows, someone put broken glass in her shoes. Everything around Panova begins to crumble - her husband left, she herself was taken to the KGB for interrogation, the Krutskys' apartment was searched, Felix's father was expelled from the party and fired, Katya's sister Lyuba, who had recently married, was abandoned by her husband, and Lyuba blames Katya for this, because thanks to her, now all the Panovs are relatives of the traitor Krutsky. Catherine has no choice but to try not to lose heart. She continued to work hard and fight off the attacks of those who did not like her.
Some time later, Panova was again approved for a trip to Paris. Ekaterina wanted to stay there forever, but right at the plane she was arrested.
Panova, because of the troubles that had fallen on her head, made an attempt to take her own life. She was immediately locked up in a mental hospital. Panova was helped by the French photographer Ram (played by Sebastian Sisak), who had long been in love with her and whom Katya herself suspected of betrayal. Ram helped Katya escape from the hospital and leave the country. Panova finally properly considered the fan and answered him in kind. Very soon, Rem and Katya got married, and a little later a miracle happened in their family - Panova gave birth to a healthy girl.
Until now, the biography of the most popular model of the Soviet Union, Regina Zbarskaya, is shrouded in mystery and mysteries. The fashion model became world famous in the early 60s. This spectacular woman, despite the Soviet passport, was able to get on a par with the world stars of the podium, was on a short footing with such legends of the fashion world as Pierre Cardin and Christian Dior. She gained great popularity in Paris, where she was called the most beautiful weapon of the Kremlin. Her name constantly became the object of rumors and gossip. She was credited with novels with high-ranking Soviet officials, famous Western stars. But behind the wild success of the most beautiful woman in the Soviet Union lies a tragic fate.
www.nn.dk.ruAccording to the official version, Regina Kolesnikova (she became Zbarskaya when she got married) was born in Leningrad in a family of circus performers who crashed while performing a complex acrobatic stunt under the circus dome. The girl was sent to an orphanage, where she lived until the age of 17. According to another version, allegedly told by her classmate, Regina is from Vologda, and her parents are employees of state institutions, her mother is an accountant, and her father is a retired officer.
Having received a certificate, at the age of 17, the girl went to conquer Moscow. Regina dreamed of acting in films and wanted to enter the acting department, but she understood that the chances of getting there were almost zero, and since she wanted to catch on in Moscow, she easily became a student of the economics department of VGIK.
livejournal.com
Regina did not leave attempts to become popular: she went to social events, attended bohemian parties. And once the artist and fashion designer Vera Aralova drew attention to the beautiful and spectacular Regina. She invited the girl to work at the All-Union House of Models on Kuznetsky Most.
Regina quickly won the love of the whole world: men fell in love with a tall, dark-eyed brunette literally at first sight. The girl enjoyed her new life, and in 1961 she and other fashion models went to a show in Paris. It was the first trip of Soviet fashion models abroad. It must be understood that before 1980 it was forbidden to travel abroad just like that. The reason had to be very compelling. And showing beautiful Soviet fashion models abroad is advertising for the state. Naturally, all models underwent strict checks and inspections before leaving Russia and getting back.
fb.ru
As Arguments and Facts writes, when Regina returned to the Union, she was immediately made to understand: if you want to travel abroad freely, you will have to "work hard" for the good of the Motherland. During their foreign visits, fashion models actively communicated with very famous politicians, artists, businessmen and elites. Most of them were greedy for attractive interlocutors and under their influence could positively influence the image of the Soviet Union in the West. But these are just guesses. It is still not known for certain what information the queen of the Soviet podium obtained and disseminated. But it is known that she was the only model who, contrary to the existing strict instructions, was allowed to go to the city on business during trips abroad. Her colleagues did not even dream of such liberties.
Of course, there were oddities in Regina's behavior, which, if desired, can be explained by special training and belonging to the special services. For example, we didn't know any details about Regina's past. It seems to be from a simple family, she grew up in the provinces, and behaved like a girl from a society with exquisite taste and manners. She dressed beautifully, changed dresses, skirts, blouses all the time. Where she took things - she never told. The girls talked, made friends, shared experiences and problems, and she kept herself apart, as if she felt different from everyone else. A different kind of person. She was well educated and spoke foreign languages almost without an accent. This became clear when foreign trips began. She translated to colleagues from French and English and easily communicated with foreigners.
Kolesnikova, like any other girl, wanted to get married successfully. Of course, with her data, finding the perfect match was not difficult. In 1960, a real king appeared in the life of the queen of the catwalk - the artist Lev Zbarsky. It was under his last name that Regina was recognized all over the world. The newly minted husband was a real playboy. He enjoyed unprecedented success with women, but Regina managed to pacify her husband for a while. For seven years, the Zbarsky couple was one of the most beautiful couples of the Moscow beau monde. Thanks to her husband and fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev, the fashion model met a huge number of famous foreign guests who visited the Soviet Union at that time.
Talking about children was taboo for the spouses: Regina did not want to burden herself with unnecessary troubles and spoil her figure, and Leo was not ready to waste time on anything other than art and social events. Although many said that he simply did not want a child from Regina.
writervall.ru
In 1967 we were preparing for the international fashion forum. It was supposed to take place in Moscow, at Luzhniki. We were visited by fashion designers not only from the countries of people's democracy, but also from all the leading fashion houses of France and Italy. England. In this regard, the editors issued a special "demonstrative" issue of the magazine - a large format, on expensive paper. It was summer, the heat was monstrous. Regina was invited to the first shooting. As soon as they started filming, she became ill. We thought it was from the heat. They sat down, brought water. And suddenly Regina beckoned me and whispered in my ear:
Aya, I'm pregnant.
Congratulations!
What are you congratulating me on? I have to work at the forum, but here it is… You know, I have long wanted to go to Canada. And now everything is falling apart.
Well, to hell with it, with this Canada! The child is much more important. Is it possible to compare?
The models were removed, but after some time Regina disappeared. When she appeared on Kuznetsky, she told me in confidence that she had an abortion. Apparently, she decided that the child was not in time. In addition, her relationship with Zbarsky deteriorated. She worked at the forum and went to the treasured Montreal.
In the late 60s, the artist left Regina, first for the actress Marianna Vertinskaya, and then for Lyudmila Maksakova, who bore him a son. In 1972 Lev emigrated to Israel, then to the USA. And the catwalk queen left the House of Models. Regina loved her husband very much, so the break with him led her to despair. The girl fell into depression, began to take tranquilizers. Once I tried to take my own life. She swallowed pills, but she was rescued and put in a psychiatric hospital.
Regina was treated there. After the hospital, she returned to the podium - the leaders of the House of Models tried to bring the girl back to life. Zbarskaya gained weight, but still looked good. The fashion model began to shoot for the section of the magazine for obese women.
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pp.vk.meTrue, Regina has become somewhat strange. One day the girls were going abroad and buying groceries. They always cooperated - after all, there was nothing in the stores, sausage, canned food had to be obtained or stood in line for more than one hour. A new photographer, Eduard Efimovich Krastoshevsky, was already working for us. He sympathized with Zbarskaya and decided to take care.
Regina, did you buy groceries?
No. Yes, I don't want anything! No appetite at all.
You can not do it this way. What will you take on your trip? I will help you.
He had connections, and Eduard Efimovich bought her a whole bag of groceries. I brought it to Kuznetsky and gave it away for free. She took it for granted and didn't even say thank you. She simply reached out her hand, took the bag and silently left. Krastoshevsky was terribly offended. We consoled him: it was from her drugs, in a psychiatric hospital they fed him with potent drugs, and this does not happen from them ...
Regina continued to work and was still popular. She tried to start novels, but all the men seemed boring to her. Meanwhile, several of Regina's colleagues married foreigners and went to live abroad. This was considered the greatest success.
dayonline.comSoon there was a scandal. A Yugoslav journalist - either her lover, or just a good friend - published the book One Hundred Nights with Regina Zbarskaya in Europe. He wrote that the “envoy of the Kremlin” poured water on the Soviet system from the bottom of her heart and confessed to him that she had carried out KGB assignments and snitched on other fashion models. Regina had a nervous breakdown, she cut her veins. She was rescued again, but after that the road to the Zbarskaya podium was closed. She did not communicate with any of her former colleagues (they shunned her), only with Slava Zaitsev - Zaichik, as she called him.
Slava Zaitsev by that time managed to open his own Fashion House. He was constantly harassed, and even in his beloved offspring he was considered just an artistic director, directors were appointed from above, and they dictated what he should sew. Couterier took Regina Zbarskaya to his job, he tried with all his might to save his beloved model and girlfriend from depression.
24smi.orgIn the mansion on Sretenka, I saw Regina Zbarskaya. She was forty-five years old, and she looked beautiful. In my opinion, the photographs do not fully convey the charm of this woman. Regina was not even a queen - a goddess. Well-groomed, chic. We talked with Regina Zbarskaya for about two years, while I worked for Zaitsev. At first, he simply tried to pull her out into the people so that she would not sit at home and go crazy. And then released to the podium. Slava treated Regina very carefully, choosing special models. We took from the salon things forty-eighth size, the so-called "models for women of elegant age", and she showed them. Regina walked the catwalk superbly, these are fairy tales that she could hardly stand on her feet from tranquilizers. When Zbarskaya appeared on the podium, Slava presented her in a special way: "This is my muse, my favorite fashion model."
yaplakal.comStaying in a psychiatric clinic affected her mental health. I sometimes noticed some crazy look. Once Zbarskaya came to work in a fur coat turned inside out and buttoned up.
Sanya, look at my fur coat! Is it really beautiful?
Are you walking down the street like this?
In my opinion, it's even better, it looks original. You know, I wanted something new.
I was shocked. Regina had panic attacks, she locked herself at home and threw clothes out the window. Could disappear for a few days. Slava was worried, called:
Regina, where are you?
Are you all right? Why don't you go to work?
And I have nothing to go out.
He urgently threw some clothes into a bag and went to her.
The most serious disruption happened before the Olympics-80, when the book “One Hundred Nights with Regina Zbarskaya” was published in the West. The author was a certain Kostya, a journalist who came to the Union to cover the preparations for the Olympics. Then many countries declared a boycott on us and tried in every possible way to discredit us. The journalist came up with an interesting move - he had an affair with the most famous Soviet fashion model. Regina trusted him and was too open, did not hide her anti-Soviet sentiments. He took advantage of this and wrote a book based on her revelations. When this libel came out, a scandal erupted. They began to drag Zbarskaya for interrogations at the KGB, shouted, threatened and drove her to a suicide attempt.
I know about it from Regina. Somehow he could not resist and asked why she opened her veins. She had very noticeable scars on her hands, she had to wear gloves at the shows. Zbarskaya mainly demonstrated knitwear. In such cases, the sleeves are supported, made in three quarters - this way things look better, and her scars immediately became visible.
When she told me everything, I asked:
It hurt?
No, it doesn't hurt at all. Just lie in the bath in warm water and fall asleep. I was not lucky. The water overflowed the edge and flooded the neighbors from below. They came running, opened the door and found me.
On November 15, 1987, 52-year-old Regina Zbarskaya decided to commit suicide for the third time. While in the hospital, the woman drank a handful of pills. This time, no one could save Regina. Her death was reported by the Voice of America radio station. True, in the USSR, the departure of one of the most famous fashion models of the 60s went unnoticed - too much time has passed. No one came to the funeral of the fashion model, and no one knows where her grave is. The blue notebook, Regina's diary, where she described everything that happened to her, also disappeared without a trace.
- The feature film "The Red Queen" was shot about the life, career and death of Regina Zbarskaya, where the role of the famous woman was played by the aspiring actress Ksenia Lukyanchikova. Multi-part cinema became very popular, but Regina's real colleagues were outraged by the film. “There is an image of Glory in the film, like my image, which has absolutely nothing to do with me. Those who have seen the film and know me are outraged because everything is a lie. And Regina is no prostitute. The picture should not be allowed to the screens. Regina is one of the best domestic models. Traveled abroad, always enjoyed success. I completely made an American collection on it in 1969. Today she would be called a top model,” concluded Vyacheslav Zaitsev for Pravda.Ru.
- In the film "The Red Queen" the fate of other Soviet models - Regina Zbarskaya's colleagues - is also shown. Mila Romanovskaya, Galina Milovskaya, Tatyana Chapygina currently live abroad. All of them managed to successfully marry foreigners and leave the USSR.
- Regina's only husband, Lev Zbarsky, died in 2016 in America from lung cancer. He was 84 years old.