Soviet fashion designer Vera Aralova: biography, activities and interesting facts

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:53

Vera Ippolitovna Aralova - fashion designer, graphic artist, painter and set designer, was a member of the Union of Artists of the USSR, participated in many exhibitions of arts and crafts, painting, graphics and sculpture. She was an Honored Artist of the RSFSR. Her paintings can be found both in private collections and in some museum collections.

Biography

Aralova Vera Ippolitovna was born in 1911 in Vinnitsa. She was the daughter of a scout who served in the 1st Cavalry Army under the leadership of S. Budyonny. She practically did not remember anything about how the family survived first World War I, the revolutionary events of 1917, and then the Civil War. Presumably, her parents moved from Vinnitsa to Moscow even before these tragic events, and settled there.

In early childhood, Vera was found to be able to draw, so after graduating from school she already knew exactly what she would do. The girl went to study at the Moscow Fine Art College, where such famous artists as E. N. Yakuba became her teachersand S. F. Nikolaev.

Start in employment

In 1930, Vera Aralova was offered to work at the Moscow Film Studio as a theater artist. There she was engaged in the design of performances not only for the theaters of the capital, but also for the stages of Simferopol, Tula and Kalinin. Aralova was also the author of sketches of costumes and scenery for a number of well-known productions: "A Month in the Country" by Turgenev, "Truth is good, but happiness is better" by Ostrovsky, "The Great Sovereign" by Solovyov and others.

Working in the theater, the girl never forgot about painting - she painted landscapes, portraits, still lifes, and also actively participated in almost all art exhibitions.

Private life

In 1932, a certain youth troupe of actors came from the United States to the Soviet Union, who wished to create their own theater here. It also included a 22-year-old guy named Lloyd Patterson, a graduate of one of the American theater colleges. The foreigners did not succeed in fulfilling their dream, and they soon left for home. Only Patterson remained, who was extremely delighted with the unprecedented enthusiasm that then reigned in the country. He was invited to work as an announcer for foreign radio broadcasting, which was under the jurisdiction of the All-Union Radio Committee.

Lloyd Patterson met Vera Aralova at one of the many theater parties. They got married, and a year later they had their first child - a charming boy Jim, who soonwill become a real screen star, starring in the film "Circus" (1936), and later a famous Soviet poet. The marriage of Vera Aralova and Patterson turned out to be happy - two more boys were born in their family.

First models

I must say that family life and three children did not prevent Aralova from doing what she wanted - painting and theater scenery. In addition, she began to develop sketches of her own models of women's shoes. Given the specifics of the light industry of the Soviet Union, they certainly did not go into mass production. However, shoes from Aralova were in unprecedented demand among the wives of not only theatrical figures, but also numerous Moscow officials. As for the paintings, they were quickly sold out by Soviet and foreign connoisseurs of painting.

When the war started, the whole family except for Lloyd was evacuated to Siberia. Patterson remained in Moscow and during one of the enemy raids on the city received a severe concussion, from which he soon died. When the war ended, Vera Aralova returned to Moscow with her children. In 1948, she became the leading fashion designer of the All-Union Model House.

Our fashion abroad

As you know, during the reign of Stalin, Soviet fashion models were not allowed abroad, because they were considered spies. After the death of the leader, already under Khrushchev, unnecessary guardianship and strict censorship were significantly reduced, and domestic fashion models managed topenetrate the Iron Curtain.

Among the first girls who went to a foreign show was Regina Kolesnikova. This 20-year-old beauty in 1956 lit up at one of the many bohemian parties. Soon she married Lev Zbarsky, the most prestigious knight of Moscow, the son of the famous doctor who embalmed the body of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin himself.

As a famous fashion designer, Vera Aralova could not help but notice a girl like Regina. She offered her a job as a fashion model. Vera with her models took part in the International Clothing Contest, held in Warsaw, and received a gold medal there. It is worth noting that Aralova's talent and Zbarskaya's spectacular appearance managed to bring Soviet fashion to a new, higher level, but, unfortunately, not for long.

"Russian" boots

It is known that at that time in the Soviet Union they simply did not know how to make beautiful and elegant shoes. Yes, she was very strong, but dull and rude. In the mid-1950s, high-top boots began to appear on the market, but they were very uncomfortable. Vera Aralova also wanted such shoes for herself, but her somewhat plump legs did not want to enter them, because the high instep interfered. It was then that a brilliant idea came to her mind: what if we sew a zipper into her boots?!

In 1959, an event occurred that affected the entire world shoe industry. The fact is that France and the USSR agreed to hold a Russian Fashion Week in Paris. Soviet fashion designer Vera Aralova decided herselftake this collection to Paris. At the show, Regina Zbarskaya showed a fitted squirrel coat, and on her legs were red leather boots with a low heel with a fancy appliqué, with a fairly long bootleg and a snake sewn into it. What he saw made an unprecedented sensation! Foreigners immediately called these shoes "Russian" boots.

Unfortunately, none of the Soviet factories took up their tailoring. They were made in the workshops at the Bolshoi Theater, and Aralova herself paid for them. Immediately, French shoe manufacturers vying with each other began to turn to Soviet representatives with a single request - to sell samples of these unusual boots, but they were categorically refused. The fact is that at that time such laws were in force, according to which things exported abroad must be returned back. The innovative shoes of the Soviet fashion designer Vera Aralova were brought back to the USSR, sent to a warehouse and safely forgotten about.

Interesting facts

However, in Europe, her wonderful boots were well remembered. Less than a year has passed since all the companies involved in the manufacture of shoes began their mass production. Then in the Soviet Union it was not customary to patent their inventions, so the Europeans preferred to quickly forget about who owned this idea. Two years later, imported shoes began to be imported to the USSR, for which long queues lined up. A reasonable question arises: what were domestic factories doing at that time?

Winter boots with heels and with a snake in the USSR beganto sew only 15 years later, and even then after many years of pressure from Soviet fashion designers and journalists. In them one could easily recognize the very “Russian” boots of fashion designer Vera Aralova. The biography of this talented woman in the future was no longer so successful. Most of us do not even realize that Moscow was the birthplace of such familiar and comfortable shoes for us.

Life in exile

Gradually, Vera Aralova, whose biography has been inextricably linked with modeling for many years, began to be invited to fashion shows less and less. Now she had more time to paint. When the Soviet Union disappeared from the map of the world, political and economic chaos reigned in the territory of the former once great country. Therefore, Aralova's eldest son Jim decided to leave for the United States and bring his mother to Washington.

In America, the former fashion designer started selling her paintings, but the proceeds for them were sorely lacking. Mother and son quickly realized that living in the United States is not much better than living in their homeland. Shortly before her death, Aralova returned to Russia. She died in 2001. Her second son Tom buried his mother in Moscow, at the Armenian cemetery. Her grave is next to that of her youngest son, Lloyd, who tragically died in a car accident in 1960.