Zaitsev was born March 2, 1938 in Ivanovo — a middle for the textile trade, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) north-east of Moscow — in a Soviet Union the place a lot of the usual apparel was grey, outdated and unimaginative. He rocketed to fame in his homeland — and to some extent the world — when Soviet chief Mikhail Gorbachev’s spouse Raisa wore his creations within the Eighties and early Nineteen Nineties.
Because of the visibility of the Soviet couple, the reform program often known as “perestroika”, and an financial and political program that elicited hope, Zaitsev went on to show his fashions in Paris, Tokyo and different world capitals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spouse Lyudmila wore one among Zaitsev’s clothes and equipment for a state go to to the UK in June 2003, which included an viewers with Queen Elizabeth II.
Amongst Zaitsev’s different accomplishments was his design in 1988 of costumes for the musical revue Refined Women, based mostly on the music of jazz composer and massive band chief Duke Ellington, in New York Metropolis.
He based his personal trend home in Russia, successful quite a few awards in his house nation and elsewhere.