Whether then or now, modeling is one of the most mythologized professions. They bathe in luxury, the most hearts and wallets are laid at their feet. eligible bachelors. They lead a dissolute lifestyle and end their lives in luxury or oblivion. In reality, everything is much more complicated.
Working conditions
The Soviet fashion model was a completely anonymous employee of the podium. “They were known only by sight” - this is about fashion models. In order for the press to write about you and mention your name, you had to be on the cover of a foreign publication, no less. Only then did the woman have a name.
The fashion model's rate was from 65 to 90 rubles per month, depending on the category. Five-day work week on your feet, with constant fittings and in terrible quality cosmetics, almost in theatrical makeup.
Dresses that were demonstrated by models in real life they didn't get it, of course. Therefore, if you wanted to look good not only on the catwalk, you had to get out as best you could. You’ll agree that you won’t want to wear a curtain-colored cotton fabric on yourself if you know what decent clothes are.
A shoot for a fashion magazine could bring a fee of as much as 100 rubles, but not everyone got to shoot. And therefore there has always been fierce competition among models.
Competition
What kind of relationships reigned among the fashion models of the USSR is best told by their memories. “Women’s friendship?” - no, we haven’t heard. Intrigues, denunciations of colleagues in the KGB, baiting each other and arrogance towards less successful colleagues. To the girls who fell into model business, you had to grow thick skin and nerves of steel, otherwise you simply couldn’t survive. And don't get knocked out. The attitude of society towards the profession of a model as a profession of a prostitute only contributed to this.
Society's attitude
Yes, you could have the most beautiful and charming admirer, husband, boyfriend. But at the same time, this in no way protected you from the disdainful attitude of relatives, neighbors or your husband himself. By the way, not everyone was lucky with their husbands, regardless of beauty and popularity.
To be a beautiful and bright woman, if you were not an actress, was generally considered indecent.
The fashion world itself as a whole was officially associated with something vicious, just remember “The Diamond Arm,” where the main villain played by Mironov is a scoundrel, a smuggler and a fashion model. Or “The meeting place cannot be changed,” where each of the fashion models had connections with bandits, and Verka the milliner and tailor kept the loot.
Regina Zbarskaya
Retelling the fate of Regina, about whom the series “The Red Queen” was actually filmed, is a thankless task. The film shows everything: the path to fame, and at what price this glory was acquired, and a life full of betrayal, with its tragic decline. What was not included in the film were the memories of Regina’s colleagues. 30 years have passed since her death, but you will not meet one kind words about Zbarskaya in the memories of other models. This speaks not so much about the “Soviet Sophia Loren” herself, but about the people who surrounded her then.
Mila Romanovskaya
Zbarskaya's main competitor. Romanovskaya, a high-cheeked blonde, was considered abroad in the late 60s as “the embodiment of a Slavic beauty”; she was called “Berezka”. She received applause when she walked onto the podium in the “Russia” dress.
The “Russia” dress was originally made for Zbarskaya - in it Regina looked like a Byzantine princess, luxurious and arrogant. But when Romanovskaya tried on “Russia,” the artists decided that it was a more accurate fit for the image. In addition, unlike the “capricious” Regina, Mila turned out to be accommodating and calm - she endured many hours of fittings.
After the foreign fame that Mila gained, in 1972 she emigrated with her husband from the USSR. But it seems that she was interesting only as a curiosity from the land of bears, because after that there was no mention of her modeling career does not occur. Although some talk about her successful career and collaboration with famous fashion houses.
Galina Milovskaya
Galina Milovskaya was sometimes called the Russian “Twiggy” - because of her thinness, which was uncharacteristic for fashion models of that time: with a height of 170 cm, she weighed 42 kg. In the 1970s, Galina conquered not only the Moscow podium, but also foreign ones. She was invited to film in Vogue.
For her “blasphemous” posing on Red Square with her back to the Mausoleum, she received many criticisms and problems in her native USSR.
In 1974, Galina emigrated and remained to live in London. She married a French banker, left her modeling career, graduated from the Faculty of Film Directing at the Sorbonne and became a documentary director.
Tatiana Chapygina
Tatyana Chapygina, one of the most beautiful fashion models of the 1970s, according to her, never dreamed of a career as a “clothing demonstrator.” After school, she received the profession of a health worker and modestly worked in the sanitary and epidemiological station. Chapygina entered the All-Union House of Models on Kuznetsky Most only at the age of 23.
Vyacheslav Zaitsev himself hired her, and two years later the girl found herself abroad for the first time, in the GDR. Then there were America, Mexico, Japan. Left professional career, having married a loved one with whom she has been happily married for more than 20 years.
Tatyana still looks great and even now she shoots for fashion magazines from time to time.
Elena Metelkina
We know her best for her roles in the films “Through Hardships to the Stars” and “Guest from the Future,” but before her success in cinema, Galina was a fashion model and worked as a model in GUM.
Metelkina’s work in “Thorns” was highly noted by professionals - in 1982, at the international film festival of science fiction films in Trieste, the model was awarded a special jury prize “Silver Asteroid” for best actress.
Four years later, Elena starred in the children's fantasy film "Guest from the Future", where she played an episodic but memorable role as a woman from the future - Polina.
The personal life of the unearthly beauty, unfortunately, turned out sadly - her only husband turned out to be a marriage swindler, leaving her with her son.
Tatiana Solovyova (Mikhalkova)
Models were not trained for the profession in the USSR. The recruitment announcement sounded like “mannequins and cleaners wanted.”
Solovyova was one of the few among her colleagues who had higher education, for which she received the nickname “institute”. But Vyacheslav Zaitsev called her a Botticelli girl.
Her life was quite successful - marriage to Nikita Mikhalkov, birth of children, social life. In 1997, Tatyana created and headed the Russian Silhouette Charitable Foundation, established to support Russian designers and domestic fashion clothing manufacturers.
Although, if we return to the question of the prestige of the profession, Nikita Mikhalkov, until the early 90s, hid from friends and relatives that his wife was a model, calling Tatyana simply a “translator.”
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 was poorly paid. Clothes demonstrators received a maximum rate of 76 rubles - like fifth-class workers.
At the same time, the most famous Russian beauties were known and appreciated in the West, but in their homeland, work in the “modeling” business (although there was no such thing then) often created problems for them. From this issue you will learn about the fate of the most prominent fashion models of the Soviet Union.
Regina Zbarskaya
Her name has become synonymous with the concept of “Soviet fashion model,” although for a long time O tragic fate Regina was known only to people close to her. A series of publications that appeared in the press after the collapse of the USSR changed everything. They started talking about Zbarskaya, but until now her name is more shrouded in myths than covered in real facts.
The exact place of her birth is unknown - either Leningrad or Vologda; there is no exact information about her parents. It was rumored that Zbarskaya was connected with the KGB; she was credited with affairs with influential men and almost espionage activities. But those who actually knew Regina say unequivocally: none of this is true.
The only husband The sultry beauty was the artist Lev Zbarsky, but the relationship did not work out: the husband left Regina first for the actress Marianna Vertinskaya, then for Lyudmila Maksakova. Zbarsky died in 2016 in America, and Regina was never able to come to her senses after his passing: in 1987, she committed suicide by drinking sleeping pills.
Regina Zbarskaya was called the “Russian Sophia Loren”: the image of a sultry Italian with a luscious pageboy haircut was created for her by Vyacheslav Zaitsev. Regina's southern beauty was popular in the Soviet Union: dark-haired and dark-eyed girls seemed exotic against the background of standard Slavic appearance. But foreigners treated Regina with restraint, preferring to invite blue-eyed blondes for filming - if, of course, they managed to get permission from the authorities.
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Mila Romanovskaya
The complete antipode and longtime rival of Zbarskaya is Mila Romanovskaya. A gentle, sophisticated blonde, Mila looked like Twiggy. It was with this famous British woman that she was compared more than once; there was even a photo of Romanovskaya a la Twiggy, with lush false eyelashes, round glasses, and combed-back hair.
Romanovskaya's career began in Leningrad, then she transferred to the Moscow Fashion House. This is where the dispute arose about who is the first beauty big country- she or Regina. Mila won: she was entrusted with demonstrating the “Russia” dress by fashion designer Tatyana Osmerkina at an international exhibition light industry in Montreal. The scarlet outfit, embroidered with gold sequins along the neckline, was remembered for a long time and was even included in fashion history textbooks.
Her photos were readily published in the West, for example in Life magazine, calling Romanovskaya Snegurochka. Mila's fate 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 got divorced, started a bright affair with Andrei Mironov, and remarried the artist Yuri Cooper. With him she emigrated first to Israel, then to Europe. Romanovskaya's third husband was British businessman Douglas Edwards.
Galina Milovskaya
She was also called the “Russian Twiggy” - the type of thin tomboy girl was extremely popular. Milovskaya became the first model in the history of the USSR who was allowed to pose for foreign photographers. The shoot for Vogue magazine was organized by Frenchman Arnaud de Ronet. The documents were signed personally by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kosygin, and the list of locations and the level of organization of this photo shoot could even now be the envy of any gloss producer: Galina Milovskaya demonstrated clothes not only on Red Square, but also in the Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund. The accessories for that shoot were the scepter of Catherine II and the legendary Shah diamond.
However, a scandal soon broke out: one of the photographs in which Milovskaya sits on the paving stones main square countries with their backs to the Mausoleum, was recognized as immoral in the USSR, and the girl began to be hinted at leaving the country. At first, emigration seemed like a tragedy to Gala, but in reality it turned out great success: in the West, Milovskaya collaborated with the Ford agency, attended shows and acted for glossy magazines, and then completely changed her profession, becoming a documentary director. Galina Milovskaya’s personal life was successful: she lived in marriage with French banker Jean-Paul Dessertino for 30 years.
Leka Mironova
Leka (short for Leocadia) Mironova is a model of Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who still appears in various photo shoots and takes part in television programs. Leka has something to tell and show: she looks great at her age, and the memories associated with her work are enough to fill a thick book of memoirs. Mironova shares unpleasant details: she admits that her friends and colleagues were often forced to give in to harassment powerful of the world this, while she found the courage to refuse a high-ranking suitor 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 a regular baby 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 don’t slouch!
Tatiana Mikhalkova (Solovieva)
People are used to seeing the wife of the famous director Nikita Mikhalkov worthy mother large family, and few people remember her as a slender young girl. Meanwhile, in her youth, Tatyana appeared on the catwalk and posed for Soviet fashion magazines for more than five years. She was also compared to the fragile Twiggy, and Slava Zaitsev dubbed Tatyana a Botticelli girl.
They whispered that it was her bold mini that helped her get the job as a fashion model - the artistic council unanimously admired the beauty of the applicant’s legs. Friends jokingly called Tatyana “Institute” - unlike other fashion models, she had a prestigious higher education, received at the Institute. Maurice Thorez.
True, having changed her surname from her maiden name Solovyova to Mikhalkova, Tatyana was forced to part with her profession: Nikita Sergeevich rather sharply told her that the mother should raise the children and he would not tolerate any nannies. IN last time Tatiana appeared on the podium in the seventh month of pregnancy, wearing her eldest daughter Anna, and then completely plunged into the life and upbringing of the heirs. When the children grew up a little, Tatyana Mikhalkova created and headed charitable foundation“Russian Silhouette”, which helps aspiring fashion designers.
Elena Metelkina
She is known for her roles in the films “Guest from the Future” and “Through Thorns to the Stars.” Metelkina’s role is a woman of the future, an alien. Huge unearthly eyes, a fragile figure and an appearance completely atypical for that time attracted attention to Elena. Her filmography includes six film works, the last one dating back to 2011, although Elena has no acting education; her first profession is a librarian.
Metelkina's rise 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 Western models. Elena worked mainly in the GUM showroom and posed 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.
Her biography has many sharp turns, including a criminal story with the murder of businessman Ivan Kivelidi, whose secretary she was. Metelkina was not injured by accident; her replacement secretary died along with her boss. Now Elena appears on television from time to time and gives interviews, but most He devotes his time to singing in a church choir in one of the churches in Moscow.
Tatiana Chapygina
Probably every housewife in the USSR knew this girl of ideal classical appearance by sight. Chapygina was a very popular model and, in addition to participating in fashion shows, she starred a lot for magazines, demonstrating the trends of the next season in publications that offered Soviet women sew or knit yourself fashionable clothes. Then the names of the models were not mentioned in the press: only the author of the next dress and the photographer who captured it were signed, and information about the girls representing stylish images, remained closed. Nevertheless, Tatyana Chapygina’s career was going well: she managed to avoid scandals, rivalry with colleagues and other negativity. She left the profession at a high point, having gotten married.
Rumia Rumi Rei
She was called only by her first name or by the nickname once given by her friends - Shahinya. Rumia's appearance was very bright and immediately attracted the eye. Vyacheslav Zaitsev offered to hire her - at one of the screenings he fell for bright beauty Rumia and soon made her his favorite model.
Her type was called “the woman of the future,” and Rumia herself became famous thanks to not only her beauty, but also her character. He, by her own admission, was not sugar, the girl often argued with colleagues, violated accepted rules, but there was something attractive in her rebellion. In her mature years, Rumia retained slim figure and bright appearance. She still maintains friendly relations with Vyacheslav Zaitsev and looks, as they say, her best.
Evgenia Kurakina
Evgenia Kurakina, an employee of the Leningrad Fashion House, a girl with an aristocratic surname, performed in the role of a “sad teenager.” Evgenia was photographed a lot by foreign photographers, and to work with the girl they specially came to the Northern capital to capture Zhenya’s beauty against the backdrop of local attractions. The model later complained that she never saw most of these pictures, because they were intended for publication abroad. True, in the archives of Evgenia herself there are many of the most different photos, filmed in the 60s and 70s of the last century, which she sometimes makes available for thematic exhibitions. Evgenia’s fate was happy - she got married and went to live in Germany.
How did models live during the era of " Khrushchev's thaw"? Why did the simple fashion model from the USSR Regina Zbarskaya captivate foreigners? Why was she nicknamed the “Soviet Sophia Loren”? And how were fashion models made into Soviet spies? Read about this in the documentary investigation of the Moscow Trust TV channel.
Soviet Sophia Loren
1961 An international trade and industrial exhibition is taking place in Paris. The USSR Pavilion is a great success among the public. But Parisians are attracted not by combines and trucks, but by the achievements of Soviet light industry. The best clothing demonstrators of the Moscow Model House shine on the catwalk.
The next day, an article appears in the Paris Match magazine, in the center of which is not the leader of the Soviet country Nikita Khrushchev, but Regina Zbarskaya. French journalists call her the most beautiful weapon Kremlin. Ill-wishers in the USSR immediately accuse successful fashion model in connections with the KGB. Until now, the fate of the beauty from Kuznetsky Most is shrouded in mystery.
Federico Fellini calls Regina Zbarskaya the Soviet Sophia Loren. Pierre Cardin, Yves Montand, Fidel Castro admire her beauty. And in 1961, Paris gave her a standing ovation. A model from the USSR appears on the catwalk wearing boots from fashion designer Vera Aralova. In a few years, all of Europe will be wearing these, and Western couturiers will dream of working with Regina.
Regina Zbarskaya
“She was really very cool. She knew several languages, played the piano superbly. But she had a peculiarity - her legs were crooked. She knew how to position them in such a way that no one had ever seen it. She showed it perfectly,” says clothing demonstrator Lev Anisimov .
Lev Anisimov came to the All-Union House of Models in the mid-1960s, following an advertisement. And it remains for as long as 30 years. The spectacular blond is not afraid of competition - there are few people who want to walk the catwalk, and the profession of clothing demonstrator in the USSR is one of those condemned. Spectacular fashion models from Kuznetsky Most instantly become the object of rumors and gossip.
"A male model - of course, the idea was that it was easy work, easy money. Moreover, they thought it was a lot of money. For some reason they were considered blackmailers, although there were great amount in Moscow, not fashion models,” says Anisimov.
Anisimov is a member of all Soviet delegations. Among girls, only Regina Zbarskaya can boast of this. They whisper behind her back: she’s some kind of provincial girl, but she goes abroad more often than anyone else, and there she walks around the city alone, unaccompanied.
“Who knows, maybe she was put in a group so that she could provide information on how someone behaves - if a person is connected with the KGB, he doesn’t talk about it,” says Lev Anisimov.
"Naturally, there was a stereotype that the most beautiful models, who were models at these exhibitions, had a direct connection with the espionage business,” says intelligence services historian Maxim Tokarev.
Alexander Sheshunov meets Regina at the Vyacheslav Zaitsev Fashion House. Then, in the early 1980s, Zbarskaya no longer appears on the podium, she lives only with memories. And the brightest of them are related to trips abroad.
“Moreover, she was released alone! She flew to Buenos Aires. She had two suitcases of sable fur coats and dresses. Without customs, like personal belongings. She traveled like a “slender envoy of Khrushchev,” as the press called her,” says Alexander Sheshunov.
Catch up and overtake
At the end of the 50s, the “Khrushchev Thaw” was in full swing in the USSR. Iron curtain opens up to the West. In 1957, Nikita Sergeevich at a meeting of workers Agriculture pronounces his famous “catch up and overtake!” Khrushchev's call is being echoed by the whole country, including the designers of the Model House on Kuznetsky Most.
"The task of the Model House was not just to create fashionable, beautiful things. It was intellectually creative work on creating the image of a contemporary. But the artists of the Model House did not have the right to their name. There was one name: " Creative team“Kuznetsky Most” model house,” says artist Nadezhda Belyakova.
Moscow. During a demonstration of clothing models, 1963. Photo: ITAR-TASS
Nadezhda Belyakova grew up in the workshops of the Model House. It was there that her mother, Margarita Belyakova, created her hats. In the 1950s, clothing demonstrators wore them on fashion shows. Frequent guests of the fashion show, representatives of factories, carefully select models for production. But locally it is not appreciated original style, but ease of execution. Away with all unnecessary details - the artist’s plan changes beyond recognition.
“They chose models in the form as the artist created them, and then thought about how to save money, how to replace the material, how to remove the finishing. Therefore, they had an indecent, but very well-known expression: “Introduce your ... model into the factory!” says Belyakova.
Alla Shchipakina, one of the legends of the Soviet catwalk. For 30 years she commented on all the demonstrations of the Model House.
“The strap won’t work - there’s a lot of waste of fabric, the flap too - make a welt pocket” - we were very constrained, so our brains worked very well,” says art critic Alla Shchipakina.
"Very talented artists worked, but their work remained in line with views in order to represent the USSR throughout the world as a country where intellectuals live, the most beautiful women(which is actually the honest truth), that is, it was ideological work,” says Nadezhda Belyakova.
The All-Union House of Models does not set any commercial goals. Clothes from the catwalk never go on sale, but the wives and children of the Kremlin elite and members of delegations sent abroad flaunt them.
“Exclusive production, on the verge of creativity, a little anti-Soviet, and generally closed, elitist, something that is not needed at all for mass production. Unique things were made from expensive materials. But all this was done for the prestige of the country, for demonstration abroad at international industrial exhibitions "- says Alla Shchipakina.
The idea to export Soviet fashion, and with it our beauties, to international exhibitions belongs to Khrushchev. A regular at the closed shows of the Model House, Nikita Sergeevich understands: to create a positive image of the country beautiful girls it won't be difficult. And it really works - thousands of foreigners come to look at Russian models. Millions dream of meeting them.
“Naturally, along with the fashion show, usually in groups, they also carried another load. If it was an international exhibition, in free time To attract attention, girls were at the stands and participated in protocol events and receptions,” says Maxim Tokarev.
“I often saw that at receptions, beautiful women were sitting in the front row as a backdrop. This had an effect on foreigners - girls were invited to sign contracts,” says Lev Anisimov.
Imaginary luxury
For the girls themselves, traveling abroad is perhaps the only plus in their work. Models cannot boast of light bread. They go to the podium three times a day, spend 8-12 hours in fitting rooms, and in terms of their salary of 70 rubles, a clothing demonstrator is equivalent to a fifth-class worker, that is, a tracklayer. In those years, only the cleaning lady received less - 65 rubles.
“When I came in 1967, I received 35 rubles, plus progressive - 13 rubles, plus trips for 3 rubles. In general, I got up to 100 rubles,” recalls Anisimov.
Fashion show in Moscow, 1958. Photo: ITAR-TASS
There is no woman in the Soviet Union who does not dream of French perfume and imported lingerie. This luxury is available only to ballet and film stars and beauties from Kuznetsky Most. They are among the few who travel abroad, but not everyone takes them on these trips.
“We traveled abroad very little, with difficulty, there were several commissions: with the Bolsheviks, in the Chamber of Commerce, in the Central Committee, in the district committee - 6 or 7 authorities had to go through in order to go. The models even wrote anonymous letters for each other,” says Alla Shchipakina.
In the late 50s, Regina Kolesnikova (this is her maiden name) does not miss a single sample at Mosfilm. The daughter of a retired officer, she has dreamed of being on stage since childhood. But the girl from Vologda does not dare to go to acting, she enters the Faculty of Economics of VGIK. Her provincial origin haunts her, and she composes a legend for herself.
"She said that her mother was a circus performer, and that she was killed. Regina, indeed, was an orphan, and she had difficult childhood. She was one of those people who are described as “self-made,” says Nadezhda Belyakova.
Regina is noticed by fashion designer Vera Aralova and offers to try herself as a clothing demonstrator at the House of Models on Kuznetsky.
“She saw in her a new emerging image. Regina, indeed, as an actress, tries on the image, and it becomes her essence, so Regina Zbarskaya embodied the image of a woman in the mid-60s,” says Belyakova.
The Soviet government skillfully exploits this image at international shows. Candidates for foreign trips of participants of the Moscow Fashion House are approved by KGB Major Elena Vorobey.
"She was the deputy director of the inspector for international relations. Such a funny lady, with humor, so round and plump. Of course, she was a snitch, she kept an eye on everyone and kept discipline. She reported her arrival very funny: “The sparrow has arrived,” recalls Alla Shchipakina.
The swaying of the iron curtain
On the eve of departure, Elena Stepanovna personally instructs the girls. All selected models are not only good-looking, they own one or more foreign languages, and can easily support any conversation, and upon returning to their homeland, retell it verbatim.
“She said: “Foreigners are approaching us, then you must provide me with a detailed dossier of what they said.” I answer: “I don’t know how to do this.” She: “What, it’s difficult for you to write down what they say, what they ask What do they like and what don’t they like? It’s nothing difficult, it’s creative work,” says Shchipakina.
“Acquaintances that girls could not even make on their own initiative later became the subject of use by special services, simply for the purpose of lobbying for some transactions of foreign trade organizations,” says Maxim Tokarev.
Lev Zbarsky
But there were cases when the security services did everything to prohibit girls from communicating with foreigners. During a trip to the USA, Rockefeller's nephew fell madly in love with fashion model Marina Ievleva. He comes to Moscow twice to woo the beauty. After some time, Marina receives a warning: if you go to the West, your parents will end up in prison. The Soviet government did not want to part with its secret weapon so easily - the most beautiful women in the country.
The fate of Regina Kolesnikova was simpler. “She saw Leva Zbarsky somewhere - they were the Moscow elite, amazing, wonderful artists. And Regina said: I want to meet Leva,” says Alla Shchipakina.
Lev Zbarsky immediately proposes to Regina. Some admire them, call them the most beautiful couple Moscow, others are jealous.
“There were conversations because she liked her - once, artists sewed a lot of products for her - two, they said that she had an affair with Yves Montand. But at the same time, it was so difficult to meet a foreigner that they began to talk about her connections with the KGB,” says Lev Anisimov.
Rumors about Regina's affair with famous actor and Zbarsky’s frequent infidelities gradually destroy their marriage. Soon Lev leaves his wife, and she starts an affair with a Yugoslav journalist. After their short relationship, the book “One Hundred Nights with Regina Zbarskaya” was published. A recent fan quotes the fashion model as saying negative things about Soviet rule.
“No one read the book, but we knew what was in it. Maybe she told him something, but there was no need to write it - he knew perfectly well Soviet life. They began calling her regularly about this. She tried to commit suicide several times, and then mental problems began. She was left alone, Levka left her, went to Maksakova, then left. Everything started spinning like a snowball,” says Alla Shchipakina.
In the 70s, clothing demonstrators retired at 75. Along with skinny women, women of sizes 48 and even 52 walked the catwalk. After a course of treatment, the aged and plump Regina tries to return to Kuznetsky Most, but this is no longer possible. Regina is summoned to the KGB. After another interrogation, she makes a second suicide attempt and ends up in the hospital again.
“They wanted to recruit her, but how? It was double work, it was necessary to give information, but what kind? So that no one would get hurt. It was internal self-destruction,” says Shchipakina.
Nadezhda Zhukova came to the Model House in the late 70s. At that time, new types came into fashion.
“When I first arrived, the girls were almost half a head smaller than me, petite, fragile, with small shoulders, feminine. And just at that time they began to select girls who were more athletic, larger, taller. Probably this was preparation for the Olympics “recalls clothing demonstrator Nadezhda Zhukova.
Nadezhda recalls that in those years none of the Soviet fashion models does not become a defector, which cannot be said about ballet stars. So, in 1961, the soloist of the Leningrad Theater Rudolf Nureyev refused to return from Paris, and in the 70s the theater lost Natalya Makarova and Mikhail Baryshnikov - they also preferred to go abroad.
"Basically, they were fashion models married women, accomplished, able to behave, trustworthy. Of course, they did not pursue the goal of emigrating; this allowed them to be nice, smiling, and knowing their worth,” says Zhukova.
Unknown death
Soviet fashion models are officially emigrating. So, in 1972, Regina’s main competitor, Mila Romanovskaya, left her homeland. Once upon a time, at a light industry exhibition in London, she was entrusted with wearing the famous “Russia” dress. And in the 70s, Berezka (as she is called in the West), following her husband, the famous graphic artist Yuri Kuperman, left for England. Before leaving, the spouses are invited to Lubyanka.
“There was an interest in emigrants there refraining from loud anti-Soviet campaigns. Beautiful woman, if she had given a lecture on restricting human rights or the departure of Jews from the USSR, she could have caused serious damage to Soviet interests. That is, most likely, they had a conversation with her so that she would not do so much harm,” says Maxim Tokarev.
Another blonde from the House of Models, Russian Twiggy, Galina Milovskaya, ended up in the West not of her own free will. The blond beauty became the first Soviet model whose photograph was published on the pages of Vogue. In one of the photographs, Galina is sitting in trousers on Red Square with her back to the portraits of the leaders. The girl was not forgiven for taking such liberties and was excommunicated from the podium.
Regina Zbarskaya
“After this photo shoot, she was not only fired from the Model House, she was forced to leave the USSR,” says Tokarev.
In 1987, the prima donna of the Soviet catwalk Regina Zbarskaya passed away. According to one version, she died in a psychiatric hospital from heart attack, according to another, she died at home in all alone. IN last years Only her closest friends were with the former fashion model. Among them is Vyacheslav Zaitsev.
"Vyacheslav Mikhailovich took her to his Model House when she left psychiatric hospital", says Lev Anisimov.
It is unknown where and when the queen of the Model House, Regina Zbarskaya, was buried. After death, every fact of her biography becomes a legend.
“She was an ordinary girl, her last name was Kolesnikova, she was named Regina, or maybe she was changed from Katerina. But she was fantastically beautiful! Maybe it was her lot to endure so much suffering for her beauty,” says Alla Shchipakina.
The late 80s are coming to an end cold war. To travel abroad, you no longer need to obtain approval from the Party Central Committee and undergo instructions from the KGB. The generation of the first top models is also becoming a thing of the past. It was they who revealed to the West the beauty of Soviet women.
But while they received a standing ovation from Paris, Berlin, and London, in their homeland the girls from Kuznetsky Most were called informers behind their backs. The envy of their colleagues and constant control by the intelligence services - this is the price that each of them had to pay.
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 was poorly paid. Clothes demonstrators received a maximum rate of 76 rubles - as fifth-class workers.
At the same time, the most famous Russian beauties were known and appreciated in the West, but in their homeland, work in the “modeling” business (although there was no such thing then) often created problems for them. From this issue you will learn about the fate of the most prominent fashion models of the Soviet Union.
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 Regina’s tragic fate. A series of publications that appeared in the press after the collapse of the USSR changed everything. They started talking about Zbarskaya, but until now her name is more shrouded in myths than covered in real facts.
The exact place of her birth is unknown - either Leningrad or Vologda; there is no exact information about her parents. It was rumored that Zbarskaya was connected with the KGB; she was credited with affairs with influential men and almost espionage activities. But those who actually knew Regina say unequivocally: none of this is 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 for actress Marianna Vertinskaya, then for Lyudmila Maksakova. After his departure, Regina was never able to come to her senses: in 1987, she committed suicide by drinking sleeping pills.
Regina Zbarskaya was called the “Russian Sophia Loren”: the image of a sultry Italian with a luscious pageboy haircut was created for her by Vyacheslav Zaitsev. Regina's southern beauty was popular in the Soviet Union: dark-haired and dark-eyed girls seemed exotic against the background of standard Slavic appearance. But foreigners treated Regina with restraint, preferring to invite blue-eyed blondes for filming - if, of course, they managed to get permission from the authorities.
Mila Romanovskaya
The complete antipode and longtime rival of Zbarskaya is Mila Romanovskaya. A gentle, sophisticated blonde, Mila looked like Twiggy. It was with this famous British woman that she was compared more than once; there was even a photo of Romanovskaya a la Twiggy, with lush false eyelashes, round glasses, and combed-back hair.
Romanovskaya's career began in Leningrad, then she transferred to the Moscow Fashion House. This is where a dispute arose about who is the first beauty of a big country - she or Regina. Mila won: she was entrusted with demonstrating the “Russia” dress by fashion designer Tatyana Osmerkina at the international exhibition of light industry in Montreal. The scarlet outfit, embroidered with gold sequins along the neckline, was remembered for a long time and was even included in fashion history textbooks.
Her photos were readily published in the West, for example in Life magazine, calling Romanovskaya Snegurochka. Mila's fate 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 got divorced, started a bright affair with Andrei Mironov, and remarried the artist Yuri Cooper. With him she emigrated first to Israel, then to Europe. Romanovskaya's third husband was British businessman Douglas Edwards.
Galina Milovskaya
She was also called the “Russian Twiggy” - the type of thin tomboy girl was extremely popular. Milovskaya became the first model in the history of the USSR who was allowed to pose for foreign photographers. The shoot for Vogue magazine was organized by Frenchman Arnaud de Ronet. The documents were signed personally by the Chairman of the Council of Ministers Kosygin, and the list of locations and the level of organization of this photo shoot could even now be the envy of any gloss producer: Galina Milovskaya demonstrated clothes not only on Red Square, but also in the Armory Chamber and the Diamond Fund. The accessories for that shoot were the scepter of Catherine II and the legendary Shah diamond.
However, a scandal soon broke out: one of the photographs, in which Milovskaya sits on the paving stones of the country’s most important square with her back to the Mausoleum, was recognized as immoral in the USSR, and they began to hint at the girl leaving the country. At first, emigration seemed like a tragedy to Gala, but in reality it turned out to be a great success: in the West, Milovskaya collaborated with the Ford agency, attended shows and acted for glossy magazines, and then completely changed her profession, becoming a documentary director. Galina Milovskaya’s personal life was successful: she lived in marriage with French banker Jean-Paul Dessertino for 30 years.
Leka Mironova
Leka (short for Leocadia) Mironova is a model for Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who still appears in various photo shoots and takes part in television programs. Leka has something to tell and show: she looks great at her age, and the memories associated with her work are enough to fill a thick book of memoirs. Mironova shares unpleasant details: she admits that her friends and colleagues were often forced to give in to the advances of the powers that be, while she found the courage to refuse a high-ranking suitor 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 a regular baby 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 don’t slouch!
Tatiana Mikhalkova (Solovieva)
The wife of the famous director Nikita Mikhalkov is used to being seen as a worthy mother of a large family, and few people remember her as a slender young girl. Meanwhile, in her youth, Tatyana appeared on the catwalk and posed for Soviet fashion magazines for more than five years. She was also compared to the fragile Twiggy, and Slava Zaitsev dubbed Tatyana a Botticelli girl.
They whispered that it was her bold mini that helped her get the job as a fashion model - the artistic council unanimously admired the beauty of the applicant’s legs. Friends jokingly called Tatyana “Institute” - unlike other fashion models, she had a prestigious higher education, received at the Institute. Maurice Thorez.
True, having changed her surname from her maiden name Solovyova to Mikhalkova, Tatyana was forced to part with her profession: Nikita Sergeevich rather sharply told her that the mother should raise the children and he would not tolerate any nannies. The last time Tatyana appeared on the podium was in the seventh month of pregnancy, carrying her eldest daughter Anna under her heart, and then completely plunged into everyday life and raising her 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 Thorns to the Stars.” Metelkina's role is a woman of the future, an alien. Huge unearthly eyes, a fragile figure and an appearance completely atypical for that time attracted attention to Elena. Her filmography includes six film works, the last one dating back to 2011, although Elena has no acting education; her first profession is a librarian.
Metelkina's rise 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 Western models. Elena worked mainly in the GUM showroom and posed 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.
Her biography has many sharp turns, including a criminal story with the murder of businessman Ivan Kivelidi, whose secretary she was. Metelkina was not injured by accident; her replacement secretary died along with her boss. Now Elena appears on television from time to time and gives interviews, but devotes most of her time to singing in a church choir in one of the churches in Moscow.
Tatiana Chapygina
Probably every housewife in the USSR knew this girl of ideal classical appearance by sight. Chapygina was a very popular model and, in addition to participating in shows, she starred a lot for magazines, demonstrating the trends of the next season in publications that offered Soviet women to sew or knit fashionable clothes on their own. Then the names of the models were not mentioned in the press: only the author of the next dress and the photographer who captured it were signed, and information about the girls presenting stylish images remained closed. Nevertheless, Tatyana Chapygina’s career was going well: she managed to avoid scandals, rivalry with colleagues and other negativity. She left the profession at a high point, having gotten married.
Rumia Rumi Rei
She was called only by her first name or by the nickname once given by her friends - Shahinya. Rumia's appearance was very bright and immediately attracted the eye. Vyacheslav Zaitsev offered to hire her - at one of the viewings, he fell for Rumia’s bright beauty and soon made her his favorite model.
Her type was called “the woman of the future,” and Rumia herself became famous thanks to not only her beauty, but also her character. He, by her own admission, was not sugar, the girl often argued with colleagues, violated accepted rules, but there was something attractive in her rebellion. In her mature years, Rumia retained her slender figure and bright appearance. She still maintains friendly relations with Vyacheslav Zaitsev and looks, as they say, her best.
Evgenia Kurakina
Evgenia Kurakina, an employee of the Leningrad Fashion House, a girl with an aristocratic surname, performed in the role of a “sad teenager.” Evgenia was photographed a lot by foreign photographers, and to work with the girl they specially came to the Northern capital to capture Zhenya’s beauty against the backdrop of local attractions. The model later complained that she never saw most of these pictures, because they were intended for publication abroad. True, Evgenia’s own archive contains many different photographs taken in the 60s and 70s of the last century, which she sometimes provides for thematic exhibitions. Evgenia's fate was happy - she got married and went to live in Germany.
Professions "model" in Soviet times did not exist, so the girls who walked the catwalk were called “clothing demonstrators” or “mannequins.” But in reality, the model also included top level. The Soviet fashion model Galina Milovskaya was precisely from this caste, but her life in her homeland did not work out. But she successfully realized herself in the West.
The beginning of the way
Galina Milovskaya was born in the capital of the USSR - Moscow, into a poor family. She and her sisters were raised by one mother; their father died when Gala was 13 years old. The girl dreamed of becoming an actress, especially since her external characteristics were quite decent: tall, thin blonde, with subtle features face and huge eyes, she embodied the modern ideal female beauty. Galina successfully passed the exams and entered the theater school. B. Shchukina. It was interesting to study, but there was always not enough money, the scholarship was only 30 rubles. A friend at school told Galina that at the All-Union Institute of Light Industry Assortments she could work part-time as a clothing demonstrator. Milovskaya came there and was greeted with a bang. With a height of 170 cm and a weight of 42 kg, she ideally fit modern modeling standards, and her appearance made her look like the ultra-fashionable Western model Twiggy. Galina was hired to work in the fashion perspective department, and she began to learn a new profession. At that time there were no courses for fashion models, and the girls themselves learned to walk on the catwalk and developed a model gait. Galya quickly learned the tricks and became a sought-after fashion model.
Historical context
At the time when Galina Milovskaya decided to become a fashion model, in the USSR this profession, to put it mildly, was not at all prestigious. During times Brezhnev's stagnation the public paid great attention to morality Soviet citizens. Nudity of the body (open knees, cleavage, even completely innocent) was considered an insult to public taste. A woman had to embody the traits of a worker, an exemplary mother and a respectable wife; there could be no talk of any femininity, much less sexuality. Hypocritical Soviet morality believed that female attractiveness and its display were degrading Soviet women. Also, society vigilantly monitored the patriotic sentiments of the population. Any disrespectful attitude towards the symbols was severely punished. You could go to prison for telling a political joke, and you could lose your job for mishandling portraits of leaders. Against the backdrop of such instilled patriotism, any admiration Western culture and way of life were perceived as an insult to the Soviet system. The West was the enemy, and one could only scold it, one could not praise it, and one could not encourage the implantation of Western values in Soviet society. People were no longer sent to prison for communicating with foreigners, as under Stalin, but they took note of the person and closely looked at his behavior. The suffocating situation led to many freedom-loving citizens and simply open-minded people leaving the country under any pretext. Emigration was perceived by many representatives of the creative intelligentsia as liberation.
Model career
Against this historical background, Galina Milovskaya (fashion model) chooses a lifestyle that is not entirely correct, from the point of view of power and morality. She succeeded quite well in her new profession. She worked a lot, demonstrating clothes from the Moscow Model House. Gradually she became famous in her circles, she was called the “Russian Twiggy”. In 1967, she, among a few carefully selected demonstrators, participated in the only International Fashion Festival in the USSR. This event brought together many foreign journalists and photographers; they came, among other things, in search of new faces. One of the finds was Galya Milovskaya, her image was remembered by the leading photographer of Vogue magazine.
The history of the famous photo
Two years after the Fashion Festival, photographer Andre de Ronet comes to Moscow to conduct a photo shoot for Vogue magazine and he saw only Milovskaya as his model. The magazine did a lot of preparatory work and received unprecedented permission to film in the Kremlin and Red Square. Galina Milovskaya said that the filming in the treasury took place under the supervision of 17 machine gunners. She was given the staff of Catherine the Great and the greatest diamond, “The Shah,” into her hands. Vogue allocated 8 pages of the magazine for this shoot. Milovskaya did not receive a penny for her work; the entire fee was sent to the state treasury. The most famous was the photograph in which Galina sits with her legs spread, against the backdrop of the Kremlin and the mausoleum.
Conflict with the authorities
This footage infuriated officials. Galina was called “on the carpet” by the Minister of Light Industry, who literally yelled at her in obscene terms, accusing her of insulting the saint himself - Lenin. “You could walk around Red Square naked,” he shouted. Thus, Galina Milovskaya, whose biography depended 100% on officials, lost her part-time job in foreign magazines. Despite her boss’s attempts to blame everything on her “stupidity,” she was banned from filming abroad. But the troubles didn't end there. Her leaders from the school somehow strangely ended up at the swimsuit show in which Galya took part. They said that she had become so morally degraded that she could not claim the title Soviet actress- She was expelled from the school.
History with body art
The last nail in the coffin of his career was the scandalous event for the USSR with experiments in body art. Galina Milovskaya, a fashion model, became a model for the artist Anatoly Brusilovsky. He organized an event for his friend, Cayo photographer Mario Garrubba from the Italian magazine Espresso. a bright photo shoot. At his home, he gathered several friends, invited Galya as a model and made a beautiful painting on her naked body in the form of flowers, butterflies and birds. The photographer filmed this whole process and published it in his magazine. The scandalous nature of the action with a naked body was enhanced by the fact that under the artist’s photo, the poem “Terkin in the Next World” by V. Tvardovsky, banned in the USSR, was printed. All this infuriated the Soviet authorities and Milovskaya was cut off all oxygen. She was categorically not allowed to work, despite the fact that she received very profitable offer. Thus, the owner of a very large modeling agency, Eileen Ford, did a lot to sign a contract with Milovskaya, she even ensured that a letter from President Nixon was sent to the USSR. But the Soviet government did not give Galina the opportunity to work.
Emigration
Model Galina Milovskaya was forced to start thinking about leaving the country. Her emigration was not political; she repeatedly emphasized that there was never any anti-Soviet in her actions, that she simply participated in interesting art events and in no way fought the system. A. Brusilovsky helped organize the departure; he was able to call her to Israel. On April 14, 1974, she flies to Rome, where Eileen Ford was already waiting for her. She arranged for Galina to participate in the competition. Galina was pursued by photographers, they were surprised that she never smiled. She had a hard time leaving, thinking about the fate of her relatives.
Career in the West
Galina Milovskaya was able to integrate into the Western modeling business. She settled in London, posed for many European magazines, and often visited Paris. She didn't become a top model, but decent life I could earn money for myself. At this time, she met a lot of people, learned a new way of life, but always remained a Russian girl. Regardless of her wishes, her career still acquired a political connotation, she was even called “Solzhenitsyn in a skirt.”
Marriage
At one of the meetings in Paris, Galina meets banker Jean-Paul Dessertin. Within 15 minutes he proposed to her, and she accepted him. The next day, the couple signed at City Hall and have been together for more than 30 years. Galina Milovskaya, whose date of birth (1949) is a closely guarded secret, considers her new birthday the moment she left the USSR, when she was able to change her whole life in an instant. The couple had a daughter, who today is one of the leading ethnologists on Guinea.
New life
After getting married, Galina abandoned her modeling career and decided to finally get an education. She entered the Sorbonne to study film directing. She succeeded in this profession, filming several documentaries, including “The Moment When Memories Come,” about residents of a nursing home, and “Those Crazy Russians,” about Russian avant-garde artists forced to leave their homeland in the 1970s. And today she films reports and short stories about Russian art in the West.
Even during the years of Soviet power, thanks to her husband’s connections, Milovskaya was able to visit her homeland three times as part of official delegations. After perestroika, she can regularly meet with relatives and visit Russia. She even presented her film at the Leningrad Film Festival. Galina Milovskaya is now successful, self-sufficient woman with a happy destiny.
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