Hollywood stars collect coats from Helen Yarmak.
Elena Yarmak is a bright, bold fashion person open to experiments. After receiving a doctorate in mathematics, she decided to connect her life with the fashion industry and achieved success. Fur coats from her personal brand are preferred by such world celebrities as Audrey Hepburn, Jennifer Lopez (who has a whole collection of couturier fur coats), Kim Kardashian, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and even Jim Carrey. Designer items have also been featured in The Devil Wears Prada, Shopaholic, and other films about the fashion world. You can buy fur clothes from the legendary fashion house Helen Yarmak on the official website of Intermoda.
You won't find standard clone coats in her collections. On the contrary, designer Elena Yarmak has gained popularity among fans of everything extraordinary and exclusive, combining furs of different textures and dyeing them in original colors. The couturier deliberately designs some models without lining - a tribute to the occasion when she decided to become a fashion designer. Having ordered a fur coat according to my sketch, it simply did not turn out to be a suitable fabric for lining, which became the highlight of the thing.
Elegance and self-irony
Brilliant in her boldness, the designer once released a line of fur swimsuits - needless to say, they were sold out immediately. Zippers, which fashion designers try to hide from the eyes, in the brand's creations reach incredible sizes - the width of a palm. Such original solutions have long been the hallmark of the Helen Yarmak fashion house.
Fur coats are designed in such a way as to elegantly complement both an evening dress and sets with jeans. They are also universal in their functionality - a warm fur product transforms into a vest or even a short jacket with a flick of the wrist. Accessories complete the look - muffs, hats, scarves and even designer jewelry. You can get acquainted with the assortment and buy the works of Elena Yarmak in our online store.
Materials for tailoring are purchased at the most prestigious auctions, the quality is strictly controlled. The brand works with a variety of furs - arctic fox, mink, fox, raccoon, sable, weasel and many others - the couturier is convinced that the choice of fur is very individual, so each client will definitely find what she wants.
The art of breaking the rules
The trendy lingerie style is reflected in coats from Helen Yarmak. Such an ironic model, despite the pronounced relaxed style, will serve as a great addition to an elegant trouser suit or evening dress. The official website of Intermoda also presents products of a feminine “cocoon” silhouette, straight, flared and transformer fur coats.
Customers can choose Helen Yarmak models from exquisite materials in both natural shades and branded rich colors. Products with a pattern or plain, long or short from the outstanding Russian fashion designer Helen Yarmak are presented in our online store.
Elena Yarmak
fur queen
Sometimes life makes truly unthinkable somersaults, as a result of which one person can be transformed into a completely different one. The life path of Elena Yarmak also made such a turn, which overnight turned from a professional mathematician into a successful fashion designer, having built a "fur empire" from scratch.
Elena lived in Kyiv and worked at a closed institute of cybernetics. Mathematician, Doctor of Sciences, Academician of the French Academy of Architecture and Design, Academician of the International Academy of Informatization, Academician of the New York Academy of Sciences, she was known in professional scientific circles as a specialist in the field of economic process modeling and never even thought that she could start a career in the fashion business.
Everything was changed by moving to Moscow, connected with the work of her husband - life had to literally start from scratch. At that time, there was simply no work for her in the capital in her specialty, and the earnings of her husband, a professor of economics, were not enough for life in the capital in a whirlpool of changes.
On one significant day, Elena caught the eye of pantaloons made of lace woolen fabric, and this material delighted her - she decided that a dress made of it could look very, very good. Having decided to sew such a dress for her husband's birthday, she literally went to get the material at the factory.
Here, a lively mind and ingenuity came to the aid of Elena, she pretended to be a representative of a Canadian company that wants to buy knitted fabric from a Moscow supplier. In support of her words, Elena showed her own models of dresses, which struck down the factory management - they immediately offered to sew the dresses on the spot. Only when everything was almost ready, Elena Yarmak admitted, but despite this, the factory did not stop its cooperation with her - the models were so good.
After this adventurous success, Elena created her own company. Fortunately, time contributed to the development of business in the country. Fur became the main direction - the original Russian value.
And what? A few years later, the Helen Yarmak brand appeared in the most luxurious boutiques in the world, and the creator of luxurious fur collections herself became the winner of many prestigious fashion awards. Now it is one of the most famous fashion houses specializing in luxurious furs and jewelry.
Today, the Fashion House includes the Moscow headquarters on Kadashevskaya Embankment, showrooms in the Crown Building on 5th Avenue in Manhattan, Via Monte Napoleone in Milan, the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the legendary The Plaza Hotel. Elena Yarmak's clients include well-known diplomats, politicians, businessmen and show business stars.
The secret of success is that Elena knows no taboos. She masterfully uses the latest technologies in combination with traditional ones and, as a result, overturns a stable understanding of materials and their properties. In the designer's collections, the so-called transforming fur coats stand out, two-sided and three-sided, which can be worn both inside with fur and outside.
But the main thing, according to Elena Yarmak, is taking care of business, not money - because then everything will definitely work out, and the money will come.
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Through the work of many "cultured people", the so-called "intelligentsia", the impression was that nothing good is being done in Russia, and even for a fur coat you have to go exclusively abroad, as if our fur is bad, our designers can't do anything, but in Greece everyone there are better quality.
In fact, this is not so, today Greece is a poor country that has nothing to be proud of, except for history, but in Russia there are many prospects and impressive successes. Russia has always been famous for its fur crafts and products, but much has been lost during the USSR. Now fur farming is being revived in Russia - they grow minks of all colors and other fur-bearing animals, and sable is mined. And along with this, there are brands of Russian origin.
For example, Helen Yarmak
The fashion industry knows Elena Yarmak as the owner of a successful fur business. Helen Yarmak's name boutiques and showrooms are located in Petrovsky Passage and Manezhnaya Square, on the corner of 5th and 57th avenues in New York, via Monte Napoleone in Milan, in Zurich, and many other places, and the showroom in New York , located next to Chanel and Louis Vuitton boutiques.
Chloe Sevigny, Jim Carrey, Patricia Field, Melanie Griffith, Irina Khakamada, Arina Sharapova, Alla Pugacheva and many other celebrities have things from Yarmak. Even the magazine "Vogue" recognized the success of Elena Yarmak, calling her the Mistress of the Sable Mountain!
In addition, Elena's furs have appeared in many films and TV shows, here are some of them - "Sex and the City", "The Devil Wears Prada", "Ugly Betty", "Day Watch", "Night Watch", "Moscow Saga" .. .
Helen Yarmak products are more expensive than Greek ones, and this is quite justified, because only the best skins purchased at the best fur auctions are used to make fur coats and other fur products.
But not only in this lies the success of the Helen Yarmak brand. Industry experts say that the special, signature cut of Yarmak fur coats would not have been possible without the mathematical orderliness of the fur designer's thinking. This is due to the fact that Elena began with mathematics. Back in the early 90s, no one knew Elena's name in the fashion world, but she was known in professional mathematical circles as a specialist in the field of modeling economic processes. Then she worked in a closed institute of cybernetics and did not think about the fashion business. At the same time, Elena loved and knew how to dress well, she could create a stunning outfit out of nothing.
Then life in the expanses of the former USSR began to change rapidly, and Elena was forced to retrain from a mathematician to a fashion designer.
And already in 2003, Elena received the award - "Best Foreign Fashion Designer of the Year" ("Internation Fashion Designer of a Year") at the International Fashion Week in New York. Elena Yermak is the only Russian fashion designer to receive this award.
Fur coats by Elena Ermak, collection 2014
The success of Elena and her brand Helen Yarmak clearly demonstrates that you can change a lot in your life - or rather, change your whole life. This is a great example for girls who want to become designers, but do not take up this business, arguing that it is now impossible to create a new brand without huge financial investments and, in general, starting a business in Russia is dangerous and unrealistic.
By the way, in addition to fur products, the Helen Yarmak brand also offers collections of beautiful jewelry, but this is a completely different topic and will be covered in subsequent publications.
Elena Yarmak, the favorite of American stars, the grand lady of the business elite on both sides of the Atlantic, is sure that fur has a powerful energy that can make a person both peaceful and aggressive. Gray sables from Helen Yarmak become a collector's item for most of her clients, whose names the designer does not voice for known reasons. Elena does not think that it is necessary to shout about it. OK! decided to find out why
Photo: DR
FROM How old is Helen Yarmak and what challenges did you face as a startup?
We started in the mid-90s, towards the end. (“In 1992,” a PR manager present at our conversation prompts.) Already 22 years old? Really? You know, I see no point in celebrating pompous dates and treat them without much reverence. Answering your question, I will say that the most difficult thing at the start was the complete lack of money, the complete absence of connections and the complete absence of the necessary knowledge. There was only a desire to do a useful thing and mathematical logic - by the way, an excellent tool for establishing cause-and-effect relationships.
Is competent calculation or intuition more important in the designer's business?
When it comes to design, the word "calculation" is not suitable, it's more about intuition and logic. I'll give you an example. When developing the design of a particular model, in your mind you imagine one picture, then, in the process of creating it, new ideas appear, a lot of nuances arise related to both the features of the fur and the sewing technology, and in the end you understand that the thing turned out even better than you could imagine. Therefore, it is very important to find real assistants with whom you at least speak the same language - the language of fashion. Otherwise, such a situation gives rise to serious capital costs and the need to correct errors. In my team I take only "champions", a very important criterion for me is the independence of their thinking. I love to experiment and I hate compilations, especially when it comes to design. I draw my ideas only from lifestyle.
Are you a good leader?
Horrible. My employees often complain that we don't have meetings or meetings. I seriously considered implementing them until I came across a book by an American management guru. He writes that only a fool does not change his mind, and the most effective way to manage a company is corridor management. How can you not change your mind if you think about the end result, and the situation changes every second? It turns out that I intuitively adhered to the right path.
Are you a business person, can you give advice on how to act in the current crisis? The company, which appeared at the stage of formation of a market economy in Russia, survived the most troubled times ...
I do not like to teach, I love to learn, so I do not undertake to give advice. There will be day and there will be food. You know, the topic of my thesis was "Differential games on the plane" - so let's allow ourselves to integrate games and the most daring decisions into reality.
Any moment of crisis should activate the creative forces? Can we say that being ahead of consumer expectations is the key to success?
Yes. It is also important to understand and understand the markets: now we are paying close attention to our boutique in Seoul, we are looking at China ...
Future for Asia?
Don't know. May be. But the future belongs to a real quality product. I am ready to declare with all responsibility: what we do is always more art than fashion. And in any times of crisis, people want to buy true values and invest in genuine works of art. Our things, unfortunately, are worn for too long. ( Smiling.) Clients come to us who bought a fur coat 18 years ago, and it looks like they bought it just yesterday ... We do not save on quality.
This is great!
This is great for buyers, but not for the manufacturer. ( smiling.)
The voice of the heart and the voice of reason are always in conflict. Sometimes one wins, sometimes the other ... There is always a dilemma when a capital-intensive model is in operation, for example, a gray-haired sable, which costs fabulous money. In such cases, I think I will wear it myself if they don’t buy it. And what do you think? The most expensive product, I would say fashionable and “meaningless”, goes first. As you can see, these art objects are more than appropriate. Also, personalization is very important. Once we received the most luxurious sable, "impudent" - too expensive to process and purchase - from which we created a wonderful product. By the way, a sable pelt costs from $200 to three thousand, and the technology for processing one skin costs from one to 100 euros. Therefore, you can say with accuracy what you will succeed in the end. One client, a businesswoman, asked him to try on - he was her face. In a conversation with me, she began to lament that she would never buy it, but rather build something with this money ... I was in solidarity with her. She left, and after some time her son returned for a fur coat, as a gift to his mother. A few years later I meet this client, I find out that she has started having problems with her business, many things are not going well, but the sable hanging in the closet still brings so much happiness and joy! “Here,” she says, “I come home, open the closet, stroke the sable and think to myself: but life is still a success!”
At one time, Vogue magazine dubbed you the mistress of the sable mountain. Is sable still your favorite material?
Yes, this is the most worthy fur. Perhaps my love for him is explained by the fact that I have, in fact, the same surname as the man who discovered Siberia, presented it to the Tsar and brought these valuable skins for the first time. Sable has a special energy. Previously, there was a law according to which only monarchs could wear sable. In 1928, at an auction in London, eight kilograms of pure gold were given for the skin of Russian sable. And when crowned persons got married, such a skin was hung over the bed of the young in order to stimulate the birth of the best heirs. It's like a charm, like a trophy.
At what age can you wear a sable coat?
Don't believe in myths - there are no age limits. All our products are distinguished by the so-called family-code: they can be worn by both mother and daughter. And sable is good with ski boots and on the red carpet.
The main thing - to be able to wear?
Knowing how to wear is important. But the main thing is to be able to make an excellent option. Each of our things, albeit a classic silhouette, has its own "rock and roll", and most of the models are transformers. All models can be worn on both sides, and some of them offer all 24 ways to put them on. Therefore, buying a product is a real entertainment.
Elena, you have achieved a lot, you have regalia that none of our designers dreamed of. It seems that you are more famous in the West than in Russia, right?
We, thank God, feel good here and there. There are many regalia, but is this the most important thing?.. After all, real art does not scream, but whispers. At one time, my business card indicated that I was a professor, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences, and so on, but now it’s just a name and a phone number, without statuses and regalia. The main goal of my work is to make our customers happy. Not even clients, but like-minded people. I often see my friends tired, tortured by life, and when they try on my things, they immediately transform and cheer up, start circling around the mirror and even hum something to themselves ...
Photo: Legion-Media.ru
Life Elena Yarmak makes one doubt that a person can be either a physicist or a lyricist: the mathematical mindset and Elena's love for school subjects related to logic and analytical thinking, which manifested itself in childhood, became not an obstacle to high creativity, but a considerable help. Experts say that a special, signature cut of Yarmak fur coats would be impossible without the mathematical orderliness of the fur designer's thinking.
Even at the age of five, Elena did not like to do everything like everyone else - she considered the rules in kindergartens hard labor. Later, in order not to get bored at all at the Scientific Institute, she opened the Club of Interesting Meetings of the Academy of Sciences, whose guests in different years were Andrey Bitov, Vasily Aksenov, Mikhail Zhvanetsky. Gorbachev's times, when it was fashionable to start everything from scratch, led Elena to a business that fully accumulated her seething energy, the gift of an artist and her ability to achieve her own.
The fashion world knows Elena Yarmak as the owner of a successful fur business. The personalized boutiques of her Fashion House are located in the Petrovsky Passage and on Manezhnaya Square. She owns a VIP salon on Kadashevskaya Embankment in Moscow and a showroom on 57th Avenue in New York (Chanel and Louis Vuitton boutiques are located next door). Melanie Griffith, Goldie Hawn, Luciano Pavarotti have things from Yarmak. Politicians, artists, well-known businessmen constantly attend Moscow shows.
And back in the early 90s, Elena Yarmak was known in professional mathematical circles as a specialist in the field of modeling economic processes. Then she lived in Kyiv, worked in a closed institute of cybernetics and did not think about the fashion business. She loved and knew how to dress well, she could create a stunning outfit out of nothing.
Moving to Moscow was connected with the work of her husband, a professor of mathematics. But the move brought a lot of disappointments: her husband's salary was not enough for life in the capital, and Elena herself did not manage to get a job in her specialty. I had to save - including on outfits. And it was this economy that played an important role in a fashion career.
One day, in some store, Elena caught the eye of ... pantaloons made of lace woolen linen. Elena was not particularly interested in the product itself, but she liked the material. It seemed to her that a dress made of this material would look good. Wanting to sew this for her husband's birthday, she went to the factory. Naturally, just like that, no one would have sold anything to her. Therefore, Elena came up with a story that she is a representative of a Canadian company that is looking for suppliers in Moscow and wants to buy knitted fabric from the factory. Elena attached sketches of models to the story - the factory management liked them so much that they offered to sew these models right at their place. Elena Yarmak decided to take a chance, and when the order had already been actually completed, she admitted to a gamble. But the models were so good that cooperation with the factory did not end there.
Later, Yarmak registered her company and took up furs. Her things are much more expensive than the Greek ones that fill the market - and all because the skins are purchased at the best auctions in the world. At first, while the brand was not yet sufficiently promoted, Elena Yarmak hid the Russian origin of her luxurious models. She developed an original advertising policy: when the company opened a showroom in New York, everyone around said that it was impossible to gain fame without a traditional advertising campaign - insanely expensive. And Elena Yarmak just made people talk about how they like her things: word-of-mouth advertising turned out to be a win-win. Clients came back and brought friends. Confirming the success of Elena Yarmak in the fashion business, Vogue magazine named her the Mistress of the Sable Mountain.
The products of Elena Yarmak, the founder and designer of the House, are always accompanied by an invariable intrigue: each model of the collection can be transformed with a slight movement, turning into a completely different thing, at the request of its owner.
Helen Yarmak boutiques and showrooms are open in the most iconic places in the world - the legendary The Plaza hotel and the Crown building at the corner of 5th and 57th avenues in New York, via Monte Napoleone in Milan, Zurich, Kadashevskaya Embankment, Ritz Carlton and Akter Gallery in Moscow and Zhukoffka Plaza in Zhukovka, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Luxury models from Elena Yarmak have won recognition and love among connoisseurs of haute couture all over the world. Famous athletes, business elites and Hollywood stars became friends and collectors of the fashion house, and Helen Yarmak furs appeared on the big screen in such works as Sex and the City, Devil Wears Prada, Ugly Betty, Dirty Sexy Money, Day Watch, Night Watch Watch, Moscow Saga.
Special attention should be paid to the method that is used to create most of the clothing models of the Helen Yarmak Fashion House. Thanks to the mesh base, through which thin strips of fur are passed, fur coats, mittens and muffs have fur not only on the outside, but also on the inside, which creates additional warmth and comfort.
The secret of the success of Yarmak products in Russia - and her fur coats are worn by Irina Khakamada, Arina Sharapova, Alla Pugacheva - would seem to be simple: luxury (trimming with rhinestones, river pearls, gold embroidery), lightness (the most voluminous fur coat can be put in a small bag), warmth (Elena's favorite fur is sable) and exclusivity. But among Elena's clients are Melanie Griffith, Jack Nicholson, Goldie Hawn, David Copperfield ... In the designer's New York boutique, the cheapest fur coat from Yarmak costs 20 thousand dollars. Our things, - Elena says not without humor, - this is something superfluous, without which it is impossible to do without. And when journalists too persistently seek an answer to the question - how did she manage to succeed so much ?! – Yarmak responds with his favorite quote from Dumas père: Every day there are a lot of situations when a person can completely change his life. But only a few know how to use it.
