娱乐英语新闻:Feature: Slava Zaitsev wheels Russian vogue on par with West fashion

MOSCOW, Nov. 1 (Xinhua) -- With "Trick or Treat" sweeping over Western streets during the Halloween period, hundreds of fashionists lined up in downtown Moscow to attend an ongoing Russian style fashion show.

Starring the week-long Mercedes-Benz fashion festival, which opened on Oct. 25, was Slava Zaitsev, a 75-year-old gentleman nicknamed "Red Dior" since Soviet times.

With seven sets of his 2014 spring-summer pret-a-porter collections displayed in over an hour, Zaitsev testified to the standing ovation that Russian style is no worse, if not more respectable, than that of the West.

"Recently I have stopped going to Milan and Paris, because Russian fashion is closer to me by spirit," the man in his symbolic red windbreaker told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Unlike fashion festivals in Paris, Milan and New York, the Russian fashion week has its own limitations because there are "no serious referees, nor traders." Still, the 12-year-old show "is very interesting," he said.

As the "Zaitsev Laboratory" expands, more and more apprentices in his Russian style have grown into rising icons.

Noting that he has been in the fashion industry for 50 years and can not stop, Zaitsev said fashion gives "a gulp of fresh air" to him, thus making him always energetic and aspired.

"So I'm going to work till the end. I am very, very happy," he said.

What makes him happier could be his only son, Yegor, and granddaughter, Marusya, who have inherited his talent and injected more vitality into the "Zaitsev club."

"He is not only my father, he's also my teacher... He never let himself do mediocre collections," Yegor told Xinhua.

Yegor said his father combines Russian vision, global trends and avant-garde, "sometimes he even goes ahead of trends."

Eugenia Tereshkova, a model for Zaitsev and a freshman at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, said the legendary designer has a sensitive taste of fashion while adept in combining it with Russian traditions.

Yelizaveta Tiron, a student majoring in design, said "all the Russian designers will thank him, because he's one of the first Russian designers who brought Russian fashion to the world."

As for the Halloween show, Tiron said "it was just awesome!"

"For men's collections, they remind me of some fairy tales and some literature heroes... For all the women's dresses, (I) have no comments actually, because there's so much talent in them," said the young lady.

Fashion expert Mariana Kovalevskaya told Xinhua that Zaitsev always deserves the applause.

"He is an engine, a lawmaker of the fashion world," she said. "I am proud of him, of Moscow, of Russia, that we make such a fashion."