Russian fashion designer Vyacheslav (Slava) Zaitsev has died at the age of 85. The couturier was known in the world with his dresses taking up the flamboyant motifs of the traditional shawls of his country.
His first collection of work clothes for female workers was banned by the Soviet authorities in 1962. In 1963, Paris Match became the first magazine in the West to present him as a pioneer of Soviet fashion. "This is a great loss for the world of fashion," Russian designer Sergei Zverev was quoted as saying.