“I asked, ‘Aren’t you afraid to put ‘Russian dancing’ in America?” — Russian costume designer on his collaboration with Levito

Russian costume designer Svetlana Kolobova in an interview with recalled how cooperation with American figure skater Isabeau Levito began.

In December 2022, in an interview with , studio owner Axel and Svetlana’s husband Alexei Kolobov said that they cooperated with Levito for the second season.

— With Isabeau turned out a special story. Her trainer, Yulia Kuznetsova, was advised by Natalya Linichuk. Why special? When I was a child, my grandmother and I went to see figure skating at our relatives’ house, who were among the first to buy a color television. And believe me, I remember: I go to them, the TV is huge, there are stunning blue-white suits on the screen, and the announcer announces: “Natalya Linichuk and Gennady Karponosov.” And I remembered those names, and those costumes have been in front of my eyes since I was ten years old.

And suddenly, a few years ago, one of the customers came to wish a happy new year and said: “You know, I did not find modern skaters on magnets, so I will give you a magnet with Linichuk and Karponosov.” Can you imagine? In those suits! Three or four days pass, a message arrives (at work) at one or two in the morning: “Svetlana, they gave me your contact details, I need costumes for my skater. I know you have the night now, call back when you’re free. Sincerely, Natalia Linichuk. That’s it? Of course, as soon as I got home, I immediately called her. She asks, “Why don’t you sleep?” I answer: “We work because. We have many customers from other continents. Linichuk says, “Purely in Russian.

And then she advised us Yulia Kuznetsova. Yulia said that Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake” and “Russian Dance” were needed. I then asked, “Aren’t you afraid to put ‘Russian dancing’ in America? Let me do it for you under the “Gzhel”, but we’ll style it so it’s just a hint so you don’t get rejected. But Julia said everything went well,” Kolobova told .

Kolobova was nominated for an ISU award in the Best Costume category for American figure skater Levito’s dresses.