Igor Chapurin, was involved in the world of fashion from a very tender age. He is widely known to open public for his Haute Couture «Russian straw». And apart from it he made popular Venetian fabric, Byzantine fanciful pattern and a color palette so individual to artistic traditions of the Russian vanguard. It seems like Chapurin inherited his passion to fashion. His grandfather was the first one to open Soviet textile factories on production of linen, his father reorganized sewing enterprises and his mother heads the large Russian knitting factory. Thus, the future profession was doomed for Igor Chapurin, as the garment designer and the fashion artist.

Chapurin started his first press-conference saying, «When I was younger…».  When he was only 2б he already succeeded in life. Igor Chapurin was born in 1968; he graduated from the Vitebsk Engineering School qualified in «women wear design» and worked as an artist-designer at the High Class Fashion Salon in Vitebsk. In 1991 he was accepted as the first-year student at the Institute of Engineering in Vitebsk. And he followed selfish ends since he was planning to take part in the Competition of Young Designers held to honor Nina Ricci and only students were allowed to that. And Chapurin was lucky, he fell in the top ten winners and in December 1992 he visited Paris presenting Russia at the Х International FestiIgor Chapurinval of Young Designers. The Competition was sponsored by the UNESCO and such celebrities as Sonia Rykiel, Kenzo and Pierre Cardin were presented in the jury. Paris newspapers published that another star is shined in Vitebsk after Chagal.

After Igor was trained in Paris, he was invited by the Company «Мах Мага». However he rejected that offer. The young designer was offered rather alluring perspectives – he proceeded to creating dresses for the Beauty Queens. So, starting from the year 1992 all Russian beauties competing for «Miss World», «Miss Universe», «Miss Europe», «Miss International», «Miss Eurasia and Oceania», «Miss Russia» and so forth presented evening gowns by Igor Chapurin. Dresses by Chapurin are likely to bring luck and in 1993 Yulia Alekseeva was awarded «Vice-Miss Europe» in her elegant outfit by Igor Chapurin made of 45 meters of green silk fabric with rococo elements. Following such success Igor receives invitations to design seven evening gowns for the finalists of the first «Miss Russia» Competition.

Igor Chapurin preferably works for solid women over thirty who are capable of perceiving aesthetic nuances of his ego ideas and his muses are presented by three women – Alla Demidova, Tatyana Vasilyeva and Marianna Petrovskaya. Marianna is the image of Givenchy cosmetic line Igor Chapurinand journalists of West find her face ideal and angel like. After photo session in dresses by Chapurin, Marianna stated, «My look is treated more gently and womanly here. The image created by Igor Chapurin appeared to be very close to me and it was a discovery for me».

Between 1997 and 1998 Igor Chapurin develops the first pret-a-porter de luxe line by the invitation of the princess Iren Golitsina at the famous Italian Fashion House Galitzine that made attires for Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Sophia Loren. In 1998 Chapurin won the ultimate prize of the association – The Golden Mannequin. The related collection «Sevastopol, November 20s…» was devoted to the friend and teacher, Irina Golitsina, the Princess, and all Russian emigrant, their courage during expatriation, their constancy and beauty. The Prize «Golden Mannequin» (1998), the Russian National Award – «Ovation» (1999), the «Style Prize-98» Harper’s Bazaar Russia. All these awards granted to Igor Chapurin as a designer witness of acknowledgment of the original artistic concept typical to CHAPURIN COUTURE House. In its turn it allowed professionals to state on appearance of the Russian Company of high European level. And in March 1999 following these landmarks Chapurin became a brand and the Chapurin Fashion House was born and a boutique opened in Moscow, in the ancient commerce street Myasnitskaya.

In his work Chapurin is always the first to try the latest technology: he weaves straws himself, he embroiders his pieces with beads and artificial stones, he sculptures bustier from papier-mâché decorated with Venetian lace. And the works of Igor Chapurin are really many-faceted. He designs interior, he creates costumes for theater performances and movies, and he makes designs of jewelry. Thus, in 1997 under the designs by Chapurin the costumes were made for the famous play, «Vocal Parallels» by Rustam Khamdamov; yet, in 1998 he made Haute Couture for the theater performance «The Woe from Being Shrewd» using tailor’s traditions of the XIX century. In 1999 CHAPURIN COUTURE Company created its first jewelry, in cooperation with Vasily Konovalenko Art. They created the first jewelry collection CHAPURIN COUTURE – a winter tale from the diamonds and dark-blue sapphires from Sri-Lanka.

From: luxemag.org