Vyacheslav Zaitsev, the famous Russian fashion designer who was dubbed “Red Dior” by the French press in the 1960s, has died at the age of 85.

Zaitsev became the first Soviet designer to have the right to wear his trademark on clothes. Among his clients were music stars, actors and politicians. Raisa, the wife of the last leader of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, chose his clothes, and Lyudmila, the ex-wife of current Russian President Vladimir Putin, was also his client.

Zaitsev was born into a working-class family in 1938 in Ivanovo, a city of 400,000 people northeast of Moscow. In 1962, his first clothing collection – a floral work suit and colorful boots – was rejected by the Soviet authorities.

However, this collection also brought the designer his first international recognition, as the French magazine Paris Match wrote extensively about his work.

In 1965, he began working as artistic director of the experimental All-Union House of Fashion Designs in Moscow, and some of his designs, which often depicted floral traditional Russian motifs, were introduced to the West.

In 1969, the Museum of Modern Art in New York hosted an exhibition of women’s dresses based on sketches, including those by Vyacheslav Zaitsev. After the demonstration, Vyacheslav Zaitsev received offers to open stores in the West, which the Soviet authorities rejected.

Among his other accomplishments was designing the costumes for the 1988 musical revue Sophisticated Ladies, based on the music of jazz composer and big band leader Duke Ellington, in New York City.

According to Bloomberg, AP.