Fashion icons Valentin Yudashkin and Vyacheslav Zaitsev die of incurable illnesses

Soviet and Russian fashion designer Valentin Yudashkin died at the age of 59, his wife Marina Yudashkin said on Tuesday, May 2.

Valentin Yudashkin died of cancer.

The Fashion House of Valentin Yudashkin officially confirmed the death of the fashion designer.

The family wanted to send the fashion designer for treatment Valentin Yudashkin, but foreign doctors refused to take on such a difficult case.

Yudashkin was undergoing treatment at Moscow's Blokhin Cancer Center. He was taking expensive anticancer drugs to slow down the development of metastases.

In 2016, Yudashkin was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. He lost one of his kidneys as a result of the disease. Afterwards, metastases were found in his head.

Valentin Yudashkin was born on October 14, 1963 in the Moscow region. In 1991, he became the first Russian designer who showcased his collection at Paris Fashion Week. Yudashkin became famous all over the world over the years.

In 1994 and 1996, he created costumes for the Russian Olympic team, in 1999 — for the women's and men's football teams.

In 2012, Valentin Yudashkin became a confidant of Vladimir Putin. The same year, he took over as president of the Dance Sports Union of Russia, and then became the editor-in-chief of the Style and Fashion TV channel. He had the title of People's Artist and Honored Artist of Russia.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev dies of stomach ulcer

Russian fashion designer Vyacheslav Zaitsev died at the age of 86 on April 30.

On April 30, Zaitsev was hospitalized with internal bleeding and subsequently died in intensive care. The designer had Parkinson's disease (was diagnosed in 2016). It was said that the bleeding was caused by the stomach ulcer that Zaitsev was suffering from.

Vyacheslav Zaitsev was born on March 2, 1938 in Ivanovo. In 1962 he graduated from the Moscow Textile Institute with a degree in fashion design. In 1982, a fashion house named after Zaitsev opened in Moscow.

In the late 80s, he became one of the first Soviet designers whose creations were shown at fashion weeks in Paris. Later, his collections were shown in the USA, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Japan and other countries.