MOSCOW, May 2, by Pavel Surkov.Valentin Yudashkin came to the big fashion world at a key moment in the economic turning point: the Soviet Union was collapsing, a new life began, still not really understood by anyone, but full of excitement and adventurism. And in parallel, in the West, a fashion for everything Russian arose again. And Yudashkin caught this trend.
Bridge from the past to the future
Success was brought to him by the Faberge collection, where all models were associated with the famous Easter treasures created by the great jewelry house. Yudashkin ideally threw a semantic bridge from the past to the future, clearly defining his credo: he is ready to be true to historical and artistic traditions, but at the same time he will always be an innovator and even leave room for some artistic provocation. And his creation was an incredible success — one of the dresses for his collection of costumes was even purchased by the Louvre. -crop-ratio=»0.5625″ data-crop-width=»600″ data-crop-height=»338″ data-source-sid=»rian_photo» class=»» />
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Artist and businessman
Well, the young designer immediately took the path of deploying his own big brand: he created a collection of ready-to-wear, launched the production of perfumes. That is, it acted in the same way as any other European fashion house. And he showed himself not only as an artist, but also as a businessman who understands the laws of the market well. His fashion house receives the status of a corresponding member of the Paris High Fashion Syndicate, and then becomes a full member of the French Haute Couture Federation, the first in Russia to receive such a status.
From celebrity dresses to military forms
He gladly dresses his star friends: a Yudashkin dress on the red carpet of some film or theater festival causes no less gossip among journalists than a new model of French houses.
In 2008, he participated in the development of uniforms for Russian military personnel. The people immediately dubbed the new uniforms «Yudashkin's», although in fact the fashion designer designed only a dress uniform, and not everyday. He also offered it to the Ministry of Defense, but another project went into tailoring.
Recent years
He was incredibly efficient and median. He acted in films as himself, sang a couple of times on the stage with fellow artists. 
And even when in recent years Yudashkin was overtaken by a dangerous (and, as it turned out, fatal) illness, he did not give up. The family helped him in this: his wife Marina was always there and always supported her husband in all his endeavors. The fashion designer was not afraid to talk in an interview about his condition and how he is undergoing treatment. And received tremendous support from fans in all social networks. He continued to be active literally until his last breath: either he took part in the jury of various competitions, or he appeared at public events as a special guest. And he continued to come up with new collections. width=»600″ data-crop-height=»400″ data-source-sid=»» class=»lazyload» lazy=»1″ />
With his old rival , Slava Zaitsev, they shared the place of the main Russian couturier for a long time. And in the end they reconciled: last year, Moscow Fashion Week opened with the Zaitsev show, and closed with the Yudashkin collection.
It so happened that they stepped into eternity almost simultaneously, with a difference of a couple of days .