In April of last year I have found myself in the Museum of the City of New York completely mesmerized and unable to take my eyes of the single most fabulous dress. The dress was designed by Valentina and was built around one single seam. And before I even knew who Valentina was, I knew that she simply had to be incredible in everything. 
Exotically beautiful, talented beyond belief and hypnotically elegant in every gesture - Valentina lied about nearly everything. From the humble origins of her upbringing to the date of her birth, the legend of Valentina has remained in the shadow of mystery since her arrival from Russia to America in the early 20-s. Valentina's hauntingly glamorous appearance and carefully veiled past foreshadowed her unlikely triumph as the most successful independent female American couturier of the 20Th century. 
Posturing at various points in life as escaped Russian nobility, the niece of Prince Serge Obolensky, a convent-raised aristocrat destined to become a nun, an exiled countess and even a dancer in Diaghilev's Ballets Russes - Valentina, long before her rise to fame, had an undeniable presence of being someone. She became an embodiment of rarely encountered power of persona and sheer force of character. 
Shred, quick-witted and often mercilessly frank, Valentina created spectacular clothes for generations of Astors, Vanderbilts,Whitneys, as well as Greta Garbo, Marliene Dietrich and Katherine Hepburn. She was known to refuse her services to any lady whom she thought to lack potential to inspire - it didn't matter how rich, how wealthy this lady was.
"Even ugly women can be glamorous.." - Valentina
"From the very beginning I designed clothes for people who did things, who were alive, not these blank-faced dolls."- Valentina
"My house and my shop are like a clinic where I treat my patience for bad taste.."-Valentina.
" What you wear when you are in your own house is like a costume for the role of yourself."-Valentina
"To simplify a dress, I make as few seams as possible. And I am forever standing away looking at it, asking myself what I can take away from it rather than what I can add to it." - Valentina.
" No matter how broke you are, always travel first class - otherwise you'll never meet the right kind of people". - Valentina
"I don't design dresses - I dress women! " - Valentina
"I believe, that glamour, like every mystery, in the end is all about the pure science of proportions" - Valentina 
"I am - Theater. Drama, comedy, mystery, transformation - it all lives with in me. " - Valentina
All photographs are taken from the book "Valentina: American Couture And The Cult of Celebrity".
No comments:
Post a Comment