Valentin Yudashkin has passed away at the age of 59 after a prolonged illness
FILE PHOTO: Fashion designers Valentin Yudashkin and Slava Zaitsev, right, during the show of his new collection at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Russia at the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall. © Sputnik / Ramil Sitdikov
Renowned Russian fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin has died at the age of 59, it was reported on Tuesday. His death comes after another icon of the country’s fashion industry, Vyacheslav Zaitsev, passed away on Sunday.
Yudashkin’s wife shared the news of his death with Russia’s Channel 1. In 2021, the designer revealed he had been fighting cancer since 2016, when doctors found a tumor in his kidney that had metastasized. The designer had continued to work while receiving treatment for his condition.
Yudashkin began his career in the 1980s and created designs for numerous leading Russian public figures, including Raisa Gorbacheva – wife of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev – as well as pop icons such as Philip Kirkorov.
READ MORE: ‘Soviet Dior’ fashion designer dies
In 1991, he presented his first collection in Paris, which involved 150 models. Yudashkin designed the outfits for the Russian Olympic teams in 1994 and 1996, and created attire for the men’s and women’s national football teams in 1999. He participated in the development of uniforms for the Russian Armed Forces in 2008.
Yudashkin’s passing follows that of iconic Soviet and Russian fashion designer, Vyacheslav Zaitsev, who died on Sunday at the age of 85 after a battle with Parkinson’s disease and partial paralysis. Zaitsev emerged as the leading Soviet fashion designer from the early 1960s and even gained international recognition, often being referred to as the ‘Red Dior’.
