Outstanding Russian Fashion Designer: Nadejda P. Lamanova

The exhibition of Russian costume of the late 19th - early 20th centuries from the Hermitage collection opened on 4 April, 2002, in the Grand Blackamoor Dining-room and Rotunda of the Winter Palace is a rare event because of fragility of old fabrics. The exhibition gives the visitor a chance to enjoy the artistic style and taste of the outstanding master of Russian costume Nadejda P. Lamanova.
Nadejda P. Lamanova (1861-1941) was the famous Russian fashion designer, one of the creators of the Russian version of art nouveau in dress and the Russian fashion design school in the Soviet time. Her studio, opened in Moscow in 1885, was quick to gain recognition of the nobility of Moscow and St. Petersburg, theater actors and Russian intelligentsia. In 1890 Lamanova became Purveyor of Her Imperial Majesty. In 1902-1903 she had success at the First International Exhibition of Historical and Modern Costumes held in the Taurida Palace in St. Petersburg.
In the early years of the 20th century the master gained fame both in Russia and Europe. The renowned French fashion designer Paul Poiret was very appreciative of Lamanova's talent. By the October Revolution of 1917 she from a simple tailor became a court purveyor and owner of a studio having an eminent clientele. In the postrevolutionary years Lamanova continued her business. In 1925 her dresses using the traditions of Russian national costume created in cooperation with the sculptor Vera I. Mukhina won the Grand Prix at the Paris International Exhibition. From the early years of the 20th century till the end of her life Lamanova worked for the theater and took part in the creation of costumes for films.
The State Hermitage Museum has a rich collection of costumes of the late 17th - early 20th centuries. They have been showed in the exhibitions Silver Age Costume, Nicholas and Alexandra and Charles Frederick Worth. The Nadejda Lamanova exhibition is one of this sequence.

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The curator of the exhibition Tamara T. Korshunova at the opening ceremony

At the exhibition