Private history model Leka Mironov. The sad story of the Soviet Audrey Hepburn

“Model, muse, dream…” – these are the epithets that the famous fashion model and one of the first Soviet models Leka Mironova heard about her. Vyacheslav Zaitsev called her his inspiration, not hiding his admiration, and colleagues compared her with Audrey Hepburn, the same burning and charismatic brunette.

Childhood and youth

Leocadia, that's what it sounds like full name model, was born in 1940 in Frunze. Unfortunately, the date of birth is not known. But a couple of years ago, Leka celebrated her 75th birthday. Her descendants were nobles, and the girl was accustomed to beauty and elegance from childhood. She inherited a gorgeous voice from her mother, so her dreams of becoming a singer visited Leka from an early age. However, this is not the only unrealized dream girls. Being at a young age, the heroine became very ill, as a result of which she damaged her vocal cords and had to say goodbye to her career as a singer forever.

At the end of school, Leka had a new hobby - architecture, so the specialty for getting higher education was chosen very quickly. But here, too, youthful dreams had to be broken, never becoming a reality. Suddenly, the girl's eyesight began to fall, so she had to put an end to her career as an architect. But still Leka enters the theater and art school. But even here troubles lie in wait - because of myopia, she cannot paint pictures from nature.

Modeling career

Who would have thought that future glory would come quite unexpectedly, and from where you do not expect it at all. Once a friend asked Leka to go with her to a garment factory for company. It is here that her first meeting with fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev takes place. Then he was just on the road to fame, but in a matter of minutes he managed to evaluate Leka's data and offer her to work as a fashion model for him. This meeting marked the beginning of a creative tandem that continues to this day. Mironova herself always remembers this day with awe and warmth.

It only took Leka a year to become popular. Soon she, already known throughout the USSR, was invited to work in the House of Models. Soviet Union. Zaitsev could not let go of his favorite model, and on new job they are already leaving together. Leka received her first official award in 1967 - she was awarded the title of the best fashion model of the USSR. But at that time, working as a model was considered not prestigious, and fashion models, as a rule, were sometimes equated with girls of easy virtue. But Leka never heard anything like that addressed to her. In turn, Western designers and fashion designers are increasingly beginning to compare her with Audrey Hepburn, outwardly women were like two peas in a pod.

Fateful meeting

One day, Leka is invited to Latvia, where a congress of fashion designers is taking place. The first trip abroad turned out to be wildly popular for her and a fateful acquaintance. It was here that the girl met the love of her life - the photographer Antanas. Love at first sight - this is how a fashion model, who finally met her prince, describes her feelings. The novel developed rapidly, Leka completely dissolved in her native eyes and thought that it would always be so. But Latvia has always had tense relations with the USSR, and those who had connections with foreigners were persecuted by the nationalists. The threats reached the point that Leka was afraid for the life of Anastas and decided to renounce herself. Great love own life. By the way, Leka could not fall in love anymore - she has no children, and she devoted her whole life to her career.

In order to somehow forget the love failure, Leka worked hard - traveled around the USSR, participated in shows, accepted invitations to star in feature films from domestic directors. She could easily conquer the world, only she was not allowed to leave the union.

Today Leka lives on the outskirts of Moscow and owns a small modeling agency. To this day, Vyacheslav Zaitsev invites Mironova to participate in fashion shows, as his one and only muse.

"Soviet Audrey Hepburn" - that's what the foreign media called the fashion model Leka Mironova. Despite the fact that Mironova was practically not allowed to go abroad, her face was known even across the ocean. The model was invited to work in the USA. But one of the officials said that Leka had a heart condition, so the flight could be fatal for her. And such obstacles were constantly repaired by Mironova.

Ballerina, architect, model

In fact, Leokadiya (Leka) Mironova never dreamed of becoming a fashion model. Moreover, in the Soviet years, this profession was not at all prestigious. Ordinary job with a regular salary, like everyone else. At first she wanted to become a ballerina, then an architect. It did not work out: in the first case, sore legs failed, in the second, poor eyesight. It seemed to be a dead end.

But one day, together with a friend Mironova, she came to a garment factory, where the now famous fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev worked then. He immediately noticed a tall and spectacular girl and invited her to work. So Leka Mironova became the first model of Vyacheslav Zaitsev.

More popular than Zbarskaya

It was thanks to Zaitsev that Mironova was on the list of the most famous fashion models of the Soviet Union. It happened on All-Union Congress young fashion designers, where Leka demonstrated outfits created by Vyacheslav Mikhailovich. Posters with photos of Mironova then appeared in all stores, ateliers and others. in public places countries. Leka Mironova was much more popular than the notorious Regina Zbarskaya. By the way, the latter was very annoyed when fans confused Mironova with her.

The fact that Zbarskaya in those years was clearly losing to Mironova is also evidenced by the fact that American journalists who visited the USSR chose documentary film under the name "Three Stars of the Soviet Union", along with the ballerina Maya Plisetskaya and the athlete Valery Brumel, specifically for Leku Mironov. Soon the picture was seen across the ocean. An invitation came from the USA addressed to Leocadia. But one of the officials replied that the model had a sick heart, so flights were contraindicated for her. Mironova found out about this conversation only many years later. So the Soviet bosses took revenge on the girl for her intractability.

Revenge for intransigence

According to Leokadia Mironova herself, party bosses more than once hinted at her intimacy, but every time the fashion model answered with a categorical refusal. And once she was brought to a photo shoot, which, as it turned out, was organized for a magazine intended for high-ranking members of the Central Committee. It was necessary to shoot naked. Having learned about this already on the spot, Mironova, having arranged a pogrom in the studio, simply fled.

From that moment on, Leka was under constant surveillance by the KGB. Wherever the fashion model appeared, people in civilian clothes followed her everywhere. The girl was not allowed to show abroad and even her relatives were intimidated. Mironova's mother was repeatedly summoned for interviews to the relevant authorities, and once even almost closed in psychiatric hospital. The woman was saved by her daughter's resourcefulness. When the orderlies came to the apartment, a relative who lived in Bulgaria came to visit the Mironovs. Leka introduced him to the doctors as a foreigner. Those did not go into details and retreated.

After leaving

In the end, Leka got tired of fighting. She filed a letter of resignation, while indicating that she was simply forced to take this step. Mironova was advised to rewrite the paper, but she flatly refused to do so. The consequences of such adherence to principles turned out to be deplorable: the fashion model was no longer shown on television, they were not invited to shows and shootings. With great difficulty, she managed to get a job at the House of Models in Khimki near Moscow, where Mironova worked for more than 20 years. For all these years, she has never made public the names of her offenders from the Central Committee, citing the fact that their children and grandchildren are still alive.

Today Leka Mironova is already over 70, but she continues to be friends with Vyacheslav Zaitsev and even sometimes goes to the podium. She is still pretty and holds her back straight. "Soviet Audrey Hepburn" advises everyone to do as she does, namely never give up.

The profession of a fashion model in the USSR was not prestigious and low-paid, but even then some girls were successful in this field. Now she would be called a top model, but then she was one of the most famous Soviet fashion models. Leka Mironova could earn much more than the official salary - 76 rubles, if she agreed to the offer to take part in a candid photo session and be more supportive of one of the members of the Central Committee. But the girl refused, for which she had to pay.

Leka Mironova

Leka (Leokadiya) Mironova never dreamed of the profession of a fashion model. She entered the House of Models on the Kuznetsky Most by chance, for the company of a friend. A young man approached her and asked: “Do you want to be a model?”. This person turned out to be Vyacheslav Zaitsev, and this meeting was decisive for Leka.

Leka Mironova collaborated with Vyacheslav Zaitsev for more than 50 years

The requirements for fashion models were significantly different from modern ones. Leka Mironova recalls: “Many were vertically challenged. I, for example, compared with current models of average height. There were models even with the 56th clothing size. It often happened: two slender girls walk along the catwalk, and between them is a plump beautiful lady.

The age of the employees was also different - from 17 to 70 years. Because the main task of the profession in our time was to show that any woman, of any weight category and of any age, can look like a beauty. By the way, getting into the world of fashion was not considered such a success - an ordinary job.

Models getting ready for photography

For a long time Leka Mironova was restricted to travel abroad: her father was repressed and declared an enemy of the people, and her mother was of noble origin. But abroad, the model was known and even called the "Soviet Audrey Hepburn" - the external resemblance was really noticeable.

Soviet Audrey Hepburn - that's what they called Leka Mironova abroad

Leka Mironova was one of the first to openly declare the harassment of high-ranking officials. It is for this reason that her professional fate was very difficult. Once Leka was brought to shoot for a magazine, but they kept silent about the details. As it turned out, it was necessary to shoot naked - they were preparing something like Playboy for the workers of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

One of the most famous Soviet fashion models

Mironova still does not give names and surnames, referring to the fact that officials were too famous and influential. But she does not hide other details:
“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. Anonymous slanders were scribbled, accusing the girl who had resigned of espionage and connections with the enemies of the USSR. I myself fell under this pressure when I refused one big man, and then a year and a half sat without work. They threatened to put me in jail for parasitism, evict me from Moscow, and even hit me with a stone. But I didn't break. And I'm not ashamed for a second of my life."

Leka Mironova and Antanas

Mironova's personal life also did not work out - once she met a person with whom relations were impossible, but she could not forget him. Lithuanian Antanas was in nationalist organization, and for communication with the Russian he was threatened with reprisal. In order not to put him in danger, Leka herself decided to leave. After that, she never married, she had no children.

Leka Mironova and in adulthood worked as a model

But even at the age of 70, she continued to take care of herself and repeatedly appeared on the podium - their collaboration with Vyacheslav Zaitsev lasted more than 50 years.

Leka Mironova and after 70 goes to the podium
One of the most famous Soviet fashion models

This lady with rare name Leka is a cult figure in the world of Soviet fashion. She was the first model in the USSR, who was called the Russian Audrey Hepburn, Vyacheslav Zaitsev considered her his muse and only trusted her to demonstrate his collections. Having celebrated her 73rd birthday in 2013, Mironova still continues to appear on the podium.

- Leka, if you draw an analogy with your Western colleagues, they have long provided for themselves for life. How do you live today with regalia and merit? Did your stellar past give you something?

- I don’t know what to understand by a stellar past ... I was lucky in one thing: that Slava Zaitsev noticed me, and I was his first model - just like Gagarin was the first in space, so I am Zaitsev’s first in the fashion world. In material terms... I live in Moscow in the elite Sokol district. The house is good, the apartment, however, is small, but I don’t need more. For my 30 years of modeling experience, I receive the same pension as my neighbor, who has never worked anywhere in her life.

- Many Western designers said: "There are beautiful models in the USSR, but they do not look like Americans, and your Leka is our Audrey Hepburn." You have many times had the opportunity to go west. Why didn't they use it?

- What are you talking about. I was not allowed to travel abroad. And Slava was able to travel to Bulgaria for the first time only under Boris Yeltsin. Then from each country abroad invited best models, I was one of them. I was offered to sign a contract with a company where my hour of work was estimated at $ 2,000, and this was 1966. I haven't received that kind of money even in a year. With this rate, I could provide for myself for the rest of my life. At home, I was considered a worker of the fifth category and paid 76 rubles a month. At the same time, of course, there were some small jobs. For example, if your Kyiv model house came to us, I worked with them and received additional money. She also starred for a fashion magazine on Kuznetsky Most.

And then I also had an unsuitable pedigree to leave. The pope was repressed and declared an enemy of the people, although his family had served in the navy since the reign of Peter the Great! Mom was a baroness and could only marry with state permission.

- And you dreamed of becoming a model in such a difficult time?

— I grew up in a beautiful environment and have seen beautiful people since childhood. But I did not see anything beautiful in myself. I admired actresses, and they were always well-groomed. When my parents and I moved to St. Petersburg from Central Asia, I was six years old, and I did not know that there was a model profession at all. But I already had some makings. I remember that our apartment had a huge corridor, so I put chairs, and then I ran around all the neighbors and handed out tickets to my show. And she herself changed into her mother's hats and shoes, in which she could hardly stand, and walked along the corridor like a fashion model. But when I graduated from high school, I did not know where to go. Although my neighbor said: "Go to GUM, they take them as fashion models." And I had a shock: how can I go to offer myself as a beauty. I wasn't brought up that way.

Initially, she wanted to enter the architectural institute, but due to poor eyesight, she could not get there. And then my friend gathered to her friend in the regional house of models, asked me to go with her for company. I came, and Slava Zaitsev saw me there and offered to become his model. It was all like a fairy tale. He entered the artist's room and said to me: "You will be my fashion model!" I only asked what I do. I was embarrassed, I say, they say, nothing special. He took me to the director and said: “A girl has come, such a charm, I want her to become my fashion model.” She immediately invited me to her office, I was issued according to the work book. And so on February 20, 1962, my fate was decided. My first show took place on the same day in Space City.

- Models have always been considered girls of easy virtue without high intelligence. What taboos did Soviet fashion models have?

- We were strictly forbidden to communicate with our customers or designers who came to us to show their collections and took Soviet fashion models to their shows. Only at the level of "hello-goodbye." And if there were also shootings, as was the case with me, permission was obtained through the ministry. Above us were, as we said, "art historians in civilian clothes", who made sure that we did not communicate with anyone. KGB officers talked to us, they didn’t allow us to talk to Western guests and forced us to hand over gifts to them. Western firms, for example, could not pay us money for our work. They had currency, and this in the Union is a direct road to prison. In the end, we were just given some cosmetics. But at the same time, of course, some girls managed to marry foreigners and went abroad.

- It's no secret that many models are often made, to put it mildly, unflattering offers: they offer to solve many problems through bed. Have you had to deal with this?

- I am immensely happy that in this swamp, which is called life, I was able to save myself. Never been for sale. She did not chase money, and she could not stand relationships for the sake of sex. I was not obedient, and when in the late 1960s they wanted to put me in an escort the mighty of the world this, she said: “There were no whores in my family and never will be.” Our bosses openly said: "Either you will be with them, or with them." And I said that I wouldn’t be there, I wouldn’t be there. For which she then paid the price - she was unemployed for 1.5 years. And then I was bullied for many years.

- In one of your interviews, you talked about models who have Soviet time there were illegitimate children from general secretaries and political officials. Affairs long ago past years maybe name names?

- I knew two girls who suffered from Lavrenty Beria. They were still quite schoolgirls, eighth grade. But they couldn't resist it. They were caught on the street. And it looked like this: if Beria was driving a car and saw a girl he liked from the window, he would point his finger, and they would bring her to him. The car just stopped, the girls were kidnapped and taken to a certain address. One of these martyrs became a model, she worked for us in the Moscow House of Models. And the other had two children from Beria (she was not a fashion model, but also worked for us). Beria then either gave them in marriage, or gave them apartments and left them for maintenance. As they say, he dishonored, but gave a livelihood.

- Tell us how fate brought you together with the late Mikhail Voronin?

- He introduced me to him. right hand Lily Popryga. I received a certificate from his fashion house at a competition in seasons near Moscow. When I began to show him my album, he frowned and said: “I can’t understand, did you start working in 1962? So you're almost my age?" I say yes". After that, he asked his assistant to bring his medals from the Guinness Book of Records. “I don’t understand why in Russia you are not in this book. If you were with us in Kyiv, I would certainly present you for an award, but so far no one has done this, I give you mine.

- You participated in the shows of the inimitable Coco Chanel in 1967 at the fashion festival. What impression did she make on you? They say that with the models she was very rude and pedantic.

- She saw me in our shows. But we couldn’t communicate with Koko herself, all the more so if you don’t take part in the fashion show. The day before the Chanel show, we showed our collections, we had the same dressing room where the Chanel models changed. So I just went to them by mistake, but when I opened the door, I was numb. In our country, there were no caprons yet, and on their models they were worn, and on naked body. But it was not a physique, but 100% anorexia. The faces are amazing. But the figure... This is the feeling of Auschwitz. Front and back - a washboard, instead of a chest - deflated balls, and buttocks, like a sick cow. I even felt sick from such horror. They had hands... How can I tell you, I'm 73 now, so their hands at 20 compared to mine are just two bones that were visible through the skin.

- Well, you also did not differ in completeness ...

I was thin, but never skinny. Designer Madame Curwen called me the Venus de Milo. Although her models were great for me. At first I wondered why she addressed me like that. But after I saw Chanel fashion models, I understood. After all, compared to them, I was normal female body. My largest weight is 54 kg, and the smallest is 45 kg. But usually with a height of 1.75 cm, the weight varied between 52-54 kg. I had the breasts of an emerging teenager. I remember when Karven recruited models from the Baltics for her collection, she kept telling them: “Girls, don’t eat.” And to me: "Leka, let's go to dinner." And this is not surprising. I had three shows a day, rehearsals and shooting between us. I came home only to eat, take a shower and change clothes. From fatigue, she fell asleep in the subway and often came to the depot.

- How did you eat?

“In no way do I look like the average person. Including in nutrition. For example, I don’t eat in the morning and I can’t stand regimes. Getting up in the morning is a tragedy for me. All my life I loved fatty, starchy and sweet. And all this in large quantities and at night. Mom baked pies in a gas stove. A layer of potatoes, a layer of village fat, onions and meatballs were laid out on the dough. All this was 5 cm thick. And when I came home sometimes at midnight, sometimes at one in the morning after the shows, my mother cut this cake into four pieces. I took this slice for myself and washed it down with cream. They also made cheesecakes, dumplings, khachapuri...

- Interestingly, were Soviet models taught to walk, stay on the catwalks, take care of themselves?

— There was no such thing at all. This appeared when the gates opened, and fashion models ceased to be regular units. We didn't have stupid auditions. I wouldn't go to them now. And take care of yourself ... All my life, except for the baby cream of the Leningrad company, I did not use anything. And even now. From cosmetics, I had mascara, again from Leningrad, and Polish shadows from Wanda. No one painted us on the catwalks either - as we ourselves make up, it will be so. And they did their own hair. I still cut my own hair.

- Not everyone now remembers the scandalous story with the French actor and singer Yves Montand, when he came to the Union and ridiculed women's underwear, which was not sexual. Did this situation somehow affect the fact that models began to dress better for shows?

- When we arranged collections for us, I told the bosses on whom it all depended: “You know, good gentlemen, we ourselves know what we can and cannot do. Remember that after that incident with Montan, you said that he was not a friend of the Soviet people, but an enemy. If the same underwear is worn by Soviet fashion models, you will find yourself your own enemies. If you don’t take action and provide us with decent underwear, history will repeat itself and you will be even worse off.” And it worked. We were brought the 200th section of linen from GUM, which was worn only by ministerial and Tsik employees.

I myself usually didn’t wear under clothes at shows. upper part and took panties in children's world- flowered or white. Fortunately, the size allowed, I only rearranged the elastic so that they were on the hips. What was to be done? I did not go abroad, I was not sold to anyone for money, so that someone would undress and dress me. She pulled herself out of position.

- Modern models have not adhered to the generally accepted standards of 90-60-90 for a long time. Do you like the models of today's era?

“Now the quality of the models has turned into quantity. Many beautiful girls, with good figures. But designers depersonalize and turn them into stampings. Faces are covered with a lifeless mask. They are like butterflies. They are not connected to the past or the future. I think that when 14-year-old girls walk on the catwalk in adult clothes, it looks like pedophilia. A model who has not yet known anything in life cannot convey and convey something ... They wear clothes on hangers, like mannequins. A woman must decorate her clothes, and if she is empty inside, she cannot look good even in the most luxurious clothes.

- If you look at the biographies beautiful women in history, most of them had everything but personal happiness. Why don't you have a family and children now?

- I had a husband, he worked as a director on television. He studied at the same course at GITIS with Mikhail Kazakov. But when my father died, I decided to dedicate my life to my mother. She was also very sick with me, and I had no time for anything and no one. My husband, of course, did not want me to devote so much time to her. And I made my choice: I packed my things and went to live with my mother.

I had a great love, which is worthy of a writer's pen. Once at a fashion festival, I saw a young man of amazing beauty. He was Lithuanian and his name was Antanis. In his appearance there was something between Brad Pitt and Sergei Yesenin. He worked as a photographer for fashion shows and always took pictures of me. Of course, we didn't know him. But I noticed him in the hall, and even when I walked along the catwalk, if I met my eyes, I stopped and posed. Behind the scenes, we could not communicate, because it was strictly forbidden. Then the festival passed, but the boy sunk into my heart ... They tried to introduce me to someone, but I didn’t need anyone.

And then it so happened that in 1970 we went on a business trip to Vilnius and there we met again and got to know each other. But I didn't recognize him right away. I thought: how much he looks like that Swede (I was sure that he was a Swede) who photographed me, and he thought: how much she looks like a French model (he had no doubt that I was a foreigner). After a while, he came to me in Moscow, I began to show him photographs, he looked at me with a strange look, left in the morning, and flew back in the evening with photographs: “So it was you?” I was 27 at the time and he was 19.

Then he went into the army, and when he returned, we broke out fantasy novel which lasted two years. And such a force of attraction to each other that sex was not needed. It looked like an attachment to everything else. This feeling has turned into some kind of illness. His mother and sister later told me that he did not like it when someone touched him, even if they, his relatives, wanted to hug him, he hissed at them like wild cat, and with me turned into a little kitten.

We broke up because at that time there was terrible Nazism in Lithuania. We are in this wave. From the Lithuanian fashion house, they told me later that he was almost stabbed to death because of me. They said to his face: “If you meet with this Russian, we will beat you. And she will come to you, we will send her to the next world. And if you go to Moscow yourself, we won’t leave your mother and sister alive.” So in any case, they would not give us life. This is how two destinies broke.

Now he is no longer in this world, I was told that he died in an accident, but never married. Once I watched the program for the anniversary of the film "Juno and Avos", and there they asked the question: "Could Juno wait so long for her beloved?" And I haven't let anyone near me for over 40 years. And I didn't need anyone else.

And the children... I really wanted to take the child from the orphanage, but time has passed, there is no health. Now I want to throw off all the burden of accumulated life, fall asleep to have a little rest, and then wake up in 10 years and see what has changed in our country...
Author: Milichenko Irina

Visiting the site is one of the most famous Soviet top models, Slava Zaitsev's favorite fashion model Leka Mironova. The professional fate of Leka Mironova cannot be called easy. Leka Mironova one of the first openly spoke about the harassment of beauties by those in power.

- You are the only top model in the world with fifty years of experience and Slava Zaitsev's favorite model. What was Soviet fashion like? How did this area work? What is fashion in general? And what does she mean to you?

Every woman wants to look good. The House of Models, of course, was then state-owned. And our organization had to clothe all women. But then and now, if a woman is 54 sizes, she does not need to look at me, but to see women of her size. A woman chooses for herself.

A variety of women come to any fashion show - such a diverse flower garden - and all women - small, thin, plump - want to dress beautifully. Our All-Union House of Models worked mainly to provide factories with work. But from our models they made patterns for ordinary people.

- So you walked along the catwalk in beautiful dress. And then it was possible to get a pattern of this dress?

Yes, they sold them to everyone. A woman came, looked, decided that this suits her. She writes down the model number, goes downstairs, buys a pattern and sews such a dress for herself or goes to order from a dressmaker, in an atelier.

- How did the House of Models work? How often did you have shows?

We had three sessions every day except Saturday-Sunday. were workshop and exhibition. I was exhibition, participated in these shows. The guilds came at nine and sat there all day. They made samples. We had a light clothing workshop, an outerwear workshop, and an experimental workshop. Experimental is the best, especially valuable then, because the choice was really small.

It is now that we are already starting to poke around if there is no Parmesan cheese or some other little thing. And then there was nothing at all, you could only try to somehow get it. It was necessary to be sophisticated in order to find the right piece of fabric somewhere. It was impossible to buy normal clothes at all. We only showed samples at the session, these models were numbered, they already had a pattern that you could immediately buy.

Our sessions were at one, three and five, then moved to two, four and six hours. The session is an hour, then a break, we also had fittings. Sometimes we were loaded onto a bus and driven somewhere to the show, if some organization ordered a model show.

- This is how to invite to a corporate party now?

Yes, not only the House of Models was paid money, but also every fashion model for every show. If it was in Moscow, then they paid three rubles, and if outside of Moscow, then five rubles. Without this, she received a salary of 76 rubles, only 16 rubles more than a cleaner.

And to show on the podium is a performance. It is necessary to change clothes 10 times in each session. This is 30 times a day you change clothes and go to the podium. Moreover, in the breaks you measure some other models.

Modern models are driven to exhaustion

- Were you somehow taught the art of the podium?

No, there was no school then. This is now being done with fashion models and made of beautiful girls something so breathtaking. They are all beautiful, but they are all different, and they will comb them one size fits all, as if they would insert glass instead of eyes ... As fashion models now walk along the catwalk, then we could only dream of this in a nightmare. No one would have believed that this could become fashionable.

We performed as artists, everyone had their own role, and everything should be combined. The music is stimulating and easy to follow. For example, outerwear - more serious music is on, then costumes - also serious, but different.

Some elegant things, evening, wedding - lighter, airy. Music goes to the theme, and of course, a person must go to the rhythm of the music, then the author's work of a fashion designer turns out. fashion model too creative person. When all this coincides, harmony is obtained.

- Previously, fashion models were more feminine, softer forms. Now they are so skinny that, apparently, they are sick, their hormonal processes in the body are disturbed. This is not at all what a woman should strive for.

I'm afraid that someone might just beat me because I'm struggling with it. And now fashion models are walking along the catwalk as if on a scaffold. They are all some kind of lifeless, some kind of synthetic dolls, despite the fact that they are all very beautiful by nature.

- It is believed that in Soviet times there were not very beautiful dresses ...

Of course, there was a shortage for everything, especially for good clothes. But the models were great. Our fashion designers tried and created, took out some pieces of fabric in order to make models.

- And where did they send the dresses from your shows?

They were sent to some special store for the authorities. There were all sorts of ministerial, obkom, city committee and other special distributors. Only these important people could buy there.

"Playboy" for the Central Committee

- Didn't you get anything? Did you buy any of this?

You're welcome to joke. We didn't get anything. And where was it to go in beautiful clothes in our Soviet time?

We had a separate collection for foreign delegations. There was a lot of different things, depending on who was shown. I was invited to the parade of the best fashion models in the world in 1966 at a rate of 2 thousand dollars per hour. I have never earned so much in my entire life. But they didn’t let me in - the pedigree let us down. The girls almost all went abroad. I did not go, because of noble origin.

And then I met Slava Zaitsev, I was invited, and we have been working together for a long time and are friends. There is harmony between me and Slava. And when he saw me, he immediately said: You will be my fashion model. All. And next year it will be 55 years since we are friends.

- Did you leave fashion models because one of the high officials was very interested in you?

I really got into a very unpleasant story, which threatened me with very big troubles. It began with the fact that the film crew came to the directorate, they said: We need this girl for filming. The director calls me, removes me from the sessions, and I go to the shooting. We arrive in a very well furnished apartment, to the mother of one famous person, and they tell me: We are shooting for the Central Committee. We will pay very well. I asked what and how?

It turned out that they are doing something like Playboy for the workers of the Central Committee of the CPSU. They wanted to shoot a half-naked or naked woman in this interior. I said I don't play those games. - And we received an order from the Central Committee for you. I say: you never know who has any fantasies. This is out of the question. - No, undress. But I can concentrate my attention. Then I took somewhere what was at hand - some expensive electronics - and I said: If you don’t let me go right now, I’ll arrange a pogrom here, I’ll throw this thing out the window and scream.

They say to me: Such and such an artist has already acted, such and such ... I say: Well, the flag is in their hands. I'm not the morality police. They like it - for God's sake. I don't want it, I don't need it.

After that, they began to call me and threaten me, to lie in wait somewhere, to persecute me. And then, when I left, they didn’t hire me for a year and a half. And when the girls went abroad, they were watched how they behave so that they did not go anywhere. But our diplomatic staff themselves tried to get into them so that the girls would serve them. The girls were terrified, complained, scandalized, all that sort of thing. Nightmare. They need it, so let them go to the panel and take it. No, they needed their own.

Prepared for publication by Yuri Kondratiev