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New Year in figure skating began with a scandal. Designer Alena Kuklycheva accused European champion Alena Kostornaya of not paying for orders, not fulfilling a number of conditions and not returning costumes to the studio.
Background
Such public conflicts have never happened before, despite the fact that internal problems in this area arise constantly. The designer, who is also a costume designer, is generally one of the most silent and powerless creators of an athlete’s victory in figure skating — this has happened in recent decades. The coach and choreographer are visible all the time, journalists have access to them, they can exert disciplinary and physical influence on the athlete. A designer sometimes may not receive not only money for his work, but even just gratitude. Coaches don’t mention them in interviews, athletes don’t tag them on social networks, and at the moment of triumph, designers are rarely remembered.
So this was not always the case: costume designer Natalia Bolshakova said in an interview that before her and her colleagues, work was a sacred task, a semi-magical process, almost an art, in which neither athletes nor coaches dared to rudely interfere. The artist’s word carried weight, and this is how masterpieces for centuries appeared, like Alexei Yagudin’s black and white costume for the “Winter” program.
But gradually all processes became simpler, the requirements for the qualifications of artists decreased, and then they were almost universally replaced by tailors. They know how to sew, but may not have an art education. The coach dictates his vision to them, and they carry out the order without question. Hence there are so many costumes similar to each other and the overall conveyor belt appearance of the skaters. This, according to Bolshakova, was the reason for the decline in the prestige of the role of costume designer in sports.
Alena Kuklycheva is a relatively new name in figure skating. Her career began with a collaboration with Alexandra Trusova in 2020. Then Kuklycheva, a highly sought-after leotard designer in rhythmic gymnastics in the premium segment (several hundred thousand rubles per item), was called to sew a dress for Sasha that would radically change her style in the first program under the direction of Evgeni Plushenko.
< br>That green outfit of the forest nymph turned out to be controversial — it was warmly admired by some and heatedly criticized by others. But it was really different from everything that athletes and fans were used to, so new clients flocked to Kuklycheva — for figure skating dresses.
Essence conflict
Kostornaya became the most famous client. From the red dress for the Harley Quinn show in July 2022 to the latest black swan costume, there have been no problems publicly. Moreover, this union seemed idyllic from the outside — Alena was like a muse, fans set their relationship as an example to others and wanted their favorites to find a designer who would look at them like Kuklychev looked at Kostornaya.
In an interview, the designer herself proudly shared the details of the collaboration, sincerely defended Alena from attacks from ill-wishers for being hot-tempered and spoiled, and generally emphasized in every possible way how much pleasure this relationship brings her. Kostornaya, for example, was a guest star at a fashion show of a collection of costumes from Kuklycheva’s workshop.
Apparently, at some point the relationship began to deteriorate when the designer began to delegate the sewing of dresses for Kostornaya to her students. At first, she did this herself, spending nights in the workshop and coming to the skating rink at any time to fit the outfit to her figure. And she even said that the best reward for her work would be simple gratitude and the happy eyes of Alena, who feels like a million dollars.
Now everything is different. Leaking of scraps of correspondence on social networks, screenshots of contracts and misunderstanding of payment terms, mutual accusations and a poorly hidden desire to hurt the other side. It doesn't seem surprising if the ladies end up going to court. Especially if the conditional Yana Rudkovskaya comes out on Kostornaya’s side. It is difficult for us to take sides in a conflict, because the true reasons are hidden, and each will shield itself. But it’s quite sad to watch such a dirty spectacle.
The interesting thing is this: if, despite all the media advantages of their cooperation, Kuklycheva decided to go to war against Kostornaya, really big contradictions should have accumulated there. In fact, such a public expense means that they will no longer work together. And this is really sad. Dresses from Kuklycheva were very different from what the most sought-after figure skating masters make today. They looked more like cocktail dresses, like looks from the red carpet, than utilitarian suits, where pieces of fabric, ribbons and rhinestones are simply sewn onto a flesh-colored jumpsuit.
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