In 1924, husband and wife team Felix Yussoupov and Princess Irina Romanova founded IRFE in Paris. They were exiled from Russia after Yussoupov supposedly murdered Rasputin. Despite the controversy, IRFE thrived for several years, but closed for financial reasons in 1931. In 2008, Belarusian model Olga Sorokina resurrected the line with the blessing of Irina and Felix’s granddaughter Xenia Sfiris. The new IRFE is designed with the spirit of the old IRFE in mind. Style setter and celebrity fan Alexa Chung, called the line “clever, fluid and architectural.” That’s an understatement. The new IRFE is everything women’s clothing should be, almost to a point of perfection. IRFE perfectly combines bridge and haute, every garment being as wearable as it is unique.
Why and how did you decide to re-open a fashion house that had been dormant for 80 years?
I learned about French fashion house IRFE for the first time from the book Beauty in Exile. When I was a child, we were always told that the only way to learn about something was by reading books. While I never believed that the story would affect me in any way, after reading Beauty in Exile my life really changed. The book itself was written by props designer and fashion historian Alexander Vasiliev, and it’s magnificent in the way that it exudes the ineffable charm and fragrance of forgotten decades. The book presents the work of established Russian artists and fashion designers, as well as the story of Russian fashion houses founded in Paris by the offspring of Russia’s most noble families: Irina and Felix Yussoupoff, Grand Duchess Mariya Pavlovna Romanova, princess Trubetskaya and princess Obolenskaya, and the fate of beautiful Russian socialites who became famous models. In 2006 I met Xenia Sheremeteva-Sfyri (granddaughter of Irina and Felix) and decided to throw myself in the adventure of the creation and the rebirth of a legendary house.
For designers like Donatella Versace, it was easy for her to design in the spirit of her brother. Having no personal connection to the original founders of the label, Felix Yussoupov and Irina Romanova, how does the new IRFE remain true to their vision?
To have a certain vision, I don’t believe it is necessary to have a blood relationship with the founders of the brand. What’s key is to understand the brand . They used to create fashion that was appropriate for their time, and I’m creating fashion for our our time, while staying true to the traditions of the brand. When I started to work on the first collection after almost 80 years of dormancy, I made the decision to work as though the house of IRFE had never stopped operating. To create a new chapter in the history of IRFE, I shouldn’t look back, but only forward.
All of IRFE‘s designs, even on the runway, are actually wearable and accessible for most women. Was this intentional?
I cannot say that it was planned, it just turned out that way. IRFE is very wearable, since I believe that modern women are no longer in need of couture. Fashion is not an art and we don’t have a look at clothing as an art piece. Contemporary art is a big part of our lives, but clothes… you just have to want to wear them. IRFE collections represent the wardrobe of a modern woman, which allows her to freely express her style without any restrictions. You can wear IRFE clothes in various combination, each and every piece perfectly complements the other, and helps women create an effortless, accessible style.
How does being a model influence you as a designer?
The modeling career allowed me to see the process from the inside and helped me find myself. I have a clear vision of what I want how I want it done. Working as a model, I always found something that I didn’t like—I would redo my make up before a show, and I would always try to choose the clothes by myself. Designers didn’t like that.
As you look towards a successful revival of the line, what direction do you see IRFE heading in the future?
IRFE is undoubtedly a part of the history of fashion, but the Maison IRFE is more than just a brand with an important history. IRFE founders lived in palaces that have been converted into museums, where people, those not even necessarily interested in fashion, can learn about IRFE. I try to respect such heritage. Now, IRFE is once again a fashion house that produces four collections per year, both luxury accessories and prêt-a-porter and we hope to be doing it for a long time. After four years of hard work, I hope I managed to create something meaningful. And I hope for IRFE to ultimately become a competitive player in the luxury fashion market.
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