The fate of the brightest models of the USSR. Soviet fashion models: a beautiful weapon of the USSR The famous fashion model of the 60s and 70s Zbarskaya
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 personally signed 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 broke out: 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
It has long been an irrefutable fact that the most beautiful women live in our country. Even in the days of the stagnant USSR, the total shortage of beautiful clothes, they looked dignified and exciting. And Soviet fashion models, who did not have world fame, such as Twiggy, were in no way inferior to their external data. Rather, on the contrary, our models looked more attractive, due to natural restraint and inaccessibility - the domestic mentality.
Many foreign couturiers wanted to get beautiful and "forbidden" Soviet fashion models in their collection.
In Soviet history, there were big names in the field of catwalk fashion - among them are the famous Soviet fashion models.
One of the most famous Soviet fashion models of the 60-70s is Regina Zbarskaya. She was not at all an ordinary catwalk beauty. She was given a lot in life, incredible appearance, education, knowledge of two foreign languages. Of course, foreign couturiers noticed her. And she, of course, came under the supervision of the KGB. Regina was compared with many foreign film stars, they called Russian Sophia Loren. Trips abroad, the opportunity to personally talk with Pierre Cardin, try on all the gloss of the "expensive" abroad, turned the head of the modest Soviet fashion model Regina Zbarskaya at first. Although, before each trip abroad, Soviet models were tried to be politically informed so that they would maintain a strict Soviet moral character.
Regina Zbarskaya was unhappy in her personal life, an unsuccessful marriage, and then an affair with a Yugoslav journalist, the details of which the whole world learned about, broke the psyche of the most beautiful Soviet fashion model. The unscrupulous journalist gained fame by telling in the book “100 Nights with Regina Zbarskaya” not only about their close relationship, but also about Regina’s bold statements about the USSR. After that, the security authorities put Regina under tight control. They ruined her career. Nervous breakdowns led her to a tragic death in 1987.
Many Soviet fashion models were unhappy and, leaving the catwalk age, could not find a use for themselves, because, following the example of their foreign colleagues, Soviet clothing demonstrators, as they were also called, did not earn millions. Some managed to make a profitable game with foreigners, a few got a lucky ticket - work abroad.
The famous Soviet fashion model of the 60s Mila Romanovskaya, a real Cinderella from a fairy tale, she was lucky enough to work in France, and then open her own business in London. She succeeded, married well and was happy. But these were few.
Another fashion model of the 60s-70s, popular in the USSR, Lyoka Mironova, was endowed with an aristocratic appearance, but she could not travel abroad because of the noble origin of her ancestors. Lyoka Mironova, in her memoirs, repeatedly thanks Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who did more than all domestic couturiers for her career in the USSR. In her personal life, as well as in her career, there were many difficult days. To top it off, she couldn't be happy with the only person she loved. Leka recalled that she was the victim of persecution by a high-ranking official whom she rejected, and she was threatened with reprisals against her loved ones if she stayed with her lover, the Baltic photographer Antanis.
But no matter how difficult the fate of the famous Soviet fashion models, they look luxurious and inimitable in photo shoots that have survived to this day, in photos in magazines and shots from the film archive.
Victoria Maltseva
The sixties are the time of a revolution in fashion, in music, the very consciousness of a person turned upside down. The conservative post-war 50s gave way to the era of the Beatles. Bold attractive girls in mini-skirts with bright makeup and incredible hairstyles took to the streets to loud music. Like every time, the 60s had their heroines and style icons, women who were imitated in the manner of dressing, in hair and makeup. In this article we will talk about the models of the 60s.
Her real name is Leslie Hornby. World famous model, actress and singer from the UK. She received her pseudonym "Twiggy" for her incredible thinness (translated from English twig - reed, twiggy - thin). The future model was born in the suburbs of London in 1949.
At the age of 16 she became the face of a beauty salon. At 17, the Daily Express named her Face of the Year. She worked with cult photographers of the 60s: Helmut Newton and Cecil Beaton. She is called the first supermodel in the history of the fashion business. In 67-68, Mattel even produced Barbie Twiggy. She initiated a fashion for a very thin, childish body, which caused a wave of anorexia, girls wanted to be like her.
Her style is a cocktail of rock and roll, hippie culture, punk paraphernalia. She is like a child, like a big doll. Short skirts on her did not look defiant, but very cute, as if on a schoolgirl. Twiggy made the boyish haircut incredibly popular, against the background of the complex "Babylon" and "Babbet" it looked more than original. In makeup, she focused on her huge eyes, trying to visually enlarge them even more. Twiggy painted her eyelashes very thickly with mascara, painting over even the lower eyelashes, so that they practically stuck together, creating an absolutely doll-like impression. She emphasized the moving fold of the eyelid with a dark tone, which made her eyes simply huge. At the same time, eyebrows and lips were as natural as possible, and delicate porcelain skin acted as a backdrop for bright eye makeup.
The German model Veruschka is actually blue-blooded, she is the nee Countess Vera Gottlieb Anna von Lendorf. Nazi meetings were held in their possessions during the Second World War, but later, her father appeared before a military court and was executed, and little Vera, with her mother and sisters and brothers, ended up in a concentration camp, where the family's surname was changed.
Vershuka's first serious contract as a model was with the American agency Ford Models, to which she was invited when she moved to work in Paris. After that, she leaves to work in America, but soon comes from there with nothing. Returning to her homeland, in Munich, she becomes famous, starring in a short episode of Antonioni's legendary painting "Blowup". Photographer Franco Rubartelli discovered her as a big model with a series of avant-garde photographs. After that, she worked with the great provocateur Salvador Dali. During her career, she has appeared on more than 800 magazine covers!
The experience of working with Dali did not go unnoticed for the formation of her style. It was very unexpected and avant-garde even for the revolutionary fashion of the 60s. Having met the artist Holger Tryuch, Verushka found not only a husband in his face, but also a colleague in creativity, with whom they created body painting masterpieces. We can admire ingenious photographs where Verushka becomes part of nature or architecture, merging with the landscape around her. It is interesting that in life she preferred black in clothes, which acted as a frame for her body, which became a real canvas for her husband's paintings.
Jean Shrimpton
British model Jean Shrimpton was born at the height of the war in 1942, in Buckinghamshire. At the age of 17, she met director Saem Endfield, who opened her way to the big modeling business. She entered a modeling school and very soon looked from the covers of such glossy monsters as Harper`s Bazaar "and Vogue. As in the fate of many models, her meeting with photographer David Bailey turned out to be very important and fateful in her life, who made her wildly popular.
She was called the most beautiful model in history. She was really good, all her parameters were perfect, big eyes, thick hair, easy gait. She also had the title of "highest paid model." Jean was very fond of miniskirts and made them incredibly fashionable.
Her face was recognized as the standard of beauty. For almost her entire modeling career, she exploited the image of the “scared doe,” as many called it. Her charming bangs, high bouffant made her features even more pretty. Raised eyebrows in eternal surprise made the face even younger, it turned out such a slightly capricious, but very beautiful Jean doll.
Marisa Berenson
The daughter of an American diplomat, Marisa Berenson, has been accustomed to living beautifully since childhood. She was born into a wealthy and famous family. Her love for fashion was passed on to her by her grandmother Elsa Schiaparelli, an artist and fashion designer who chose surrealism as a means of expressing her thoughts.
The beginning of her career was very loud, she almost immediately got on the covers of Vogue and Time magazines. But being just a model was not enough for her, born in such a famous family, and she began to realize herself as an actress. Marisa has starred in a large number of films throughout her career. Marrisa's life ended tragically - she was a passenger on one of the planes hijacked on September 11, 2001.
Her image, which pops up in memory, is, first of all, a mane of hair framing a beautiful face. Her bottomless eyes, always with "a little too" painted lashes, were her calling card. She knew how to very skillfully present classic things and at the same time look in absolutely avant-garde outfits as if she was born in them - this is a real gift of the model. Her makeup must-haves are colored eyeshadows, eyeliners, mascaras and false eyelashes.
The unusual appearance of the model is remembered at first sight. Thick straight bangs like a little pony, huge eyes, porcelain skin with a scattering of freckles and plump lips, which she liked to emphasize with the shine of delicate shades. Come to think of it, she was the girl that the Beatles and Eric Clapton sang about. Of course, everyone wanted to be like her. She borrowed a lot from the hippies, in the style of clothes, hair, makeup, wore floral prints, flying dresses, braided her golden hair in pigtails, wore funny round glasses.
Follow the fashion blog from FACE nicobaggio, we will tell you the most interesting things about the history of fashion and makeup, remember the most beautiful and influential women in the fashion industry, tell you about men who create beauty.
How is the rating calculated?◊ The rating is calculated based on the points accrued in the last week
◊ Points are awarded for:
⇒ visiting pages dedicated to the star
⇒ vote for a star
⇒ star commenting
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.
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 at 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 the level 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, donated to Russia by Iran after the death of Griboyedov. 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 - 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 fate abroad was successful - 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 in front of her, how she sat without a job for a year and a half 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 the 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 from a fashion model unknown to the "broad masses" turned 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.