Did you know that not only Shcherbakova is nominated for our country’s ISU award? A Russian costume designer can win!

– Does Svetlana know about the appointment or will we make her happy?

– For Svetlana it is still a secret, I want to surprise her. So, we can assume that you made her happy.

– Yulia Kuznetsova participated in the creation of the costume? How are Isabeau’s costumes created in general – do you work remotely, don’t try and send it to her?

– Julia sends us the compositions of the programs. Based on this, Svetlana creates several variants of sketches. We show the sketches to Yulia, the mother of Isabeau, the athlete herself. The main idea is chosen, then Svetlana refines it, then we start tailoring (absolutely all our tailors work under the careful control of Svetlana).

The parameters of the figure are measured remotely (via video link). We show on a mannequin how to measure this or that parameter, the customers take measurements, we record everything. In addition, according to these measurements, individual patterns are created for each dress / suit, according to which the products are cut. There are no samples. We have such high-level specialists that almost all images perfectly match an athlete’s figure when ordering from a distance.

When creating sketches, Svetlana already assumes what fabrics / materials / crystals will be used. Based on the sketch and the approved patterns, we make a dyeing pattern for the fabric, we send these patterns to the partner factory, where the industrial coloring of the orders accumulated with us is carried out, and we bring these fabrics to Russia . Before the pandemic, it was simple: twice a week, our Milan agent made shipments by plane. Now everything is much more complicated, but in any case we bring it (via Turkey, Emirates or Hungary).

We are working with Yulia and Isabeau for the second season. This season, Isabeau’s ready-to-wear dresses were picked up by Yulia herself (she flew in). Shipped last season via DHL. We met very simply: at some national competitions in the USA, she saw our dress on an athlete, clarified who the author was and contacted me. Then I introduced her to Svetlana and the work began.

Usually, in commissions like Isabeau, the process of creating an image is very creative. During the work, Svetlana makes a lot of adjustments and changes in order to ensure that the final result corresponds 100% to the idea and expectations of the coaches and the athlete. The main reward for Svetlana is the “wow” effect when trying on a dress or costume. With Isabeau, in all the pictures there was such an effect. Both this season and last season.

Does Isabeau speak Russian?

– Practically not, but this is not critical, since Yulia has a professional team of trainers who know English very well.