Biography

Alexandre Vassiliev is an internationally acclaimed fashion historian, scenographer, and television personality whose career bridges the worlds of art, design, and scholarship. Born in Moscow in 1958 into a family of theatre professionals, he began designing sets and costumes for stage productions in his teens and quickly developed a lifelong fascination with the evolution of style. After moving to Paris in 1982, he established himself as one of Europe’s leading costume and set designers, collaborating with major opera houses, theatres, and ballet companies across more than twenty-five countries.

In parallel with his design career, Vassiliev built one of the world’s largest private collections of historic fashion—now exceeding half a million items dating from the eighteenth century to the present. This vast archive, preserved and exhibited through the Alexandre Vassiliev Foundation, has become an unparalleled resource for scholars, curators, and fashion enthusiasts alike. His exhibitions, staged in prestigious museums throughout Europe and beyond, are renowned for combining historical depth with theatrical flair, revealing the intimate connection between clothing, identity, and the cultural spirit of each era.

A prolific author and lecturer, Vassiliev has written more than thirty books on the history of costume and fashion, including the influential Beauty in Exile, which chronicles how Russian émigrés transformed global style in the twentieth century. He has taught at ESMOD in Paris since 1984 and regularly delivers lectures and master classes around the world. In Russia and Eastern Europe, he is also celebrated as the charismatic host of the long-running television program Fashionable Sentence, where his insight and wit have made the history of style accessible to millions.

Today, Alexandre Vassiliev continues to inspire audiences through his exhibitions, publications, and media work, illuminating fashion not merely as adornment but as a living reflection of social history and human imagination. Dividing his time between Paris, Moscow, and exhibition venues worldwide, he remains devoted to preserving the artistry of dress and to sharing the stories that garments continue to tell.

He is the creator of sets for operas, theatrical productions, films and ballets – he has designed over 100 productions in theatres in 25 countries. The author of three dozen books, most of which are illustrated with photographs from the author’s collection. Alexander Vasiliev owns one of the largest private collections of ancient and theatrical costumes.

Among the exhibits of his collection are outfits of world celebrities: Maya Plisetskaya, Olga von Kreutz, Jacqueline de Bogourdon, Princess Maria Shcherbatova. From 2009 to 2022, he hosted the TV show “Verdict By Fashion.” He is based in Paris.