Fashion House IRFE Rises From The Ashes

Eight decades after the prominent Russian fashion house was closed, IRFE creations were presented during the couture week in Paris on June 30, 2008.

The 23-year old designer Olga Sorokina presented the first collections of Irfe through models parading on the Palais de Tokyo contemporary art museum. The collection includes bias-cut silk gowns and rich astrakhan fur jackets.

Irfe was founded in Paris in 1924 by Prince Felix Yusupov and his wife Irina who was the niece of the last Russian Czar Nicholas II. The fashion label became popular among the aristocrats but two years later, the fashion house was shut after the prince got involved in the murder of Rasputin and eventually lost many of his prosperous clients.

Belarus fashion designer Olga Sorokina was very interested to relaunch Irfe and together with the granddaughter of the founders Xenia Sphiris, Irfe was reborn. The fashion label is financially backed by Russian businessman Andrei Strukov.

The relaunch of Irfe is said to be the “testament to the growing purchasing power of Russia's new rich, who have joined the exclusive coterie of haute couture clients in recent years.”

Russian fashion house Irfe plans to open its first store on Moscow's exclusive Stoleshnikov Lane with further shops in Paris, Milan and New York. It also plans to introduce a perfume range and a line of jewelry based on the legendary jewels of rich Russian families including the Yusupovs.