“It’s exciting when people around the world meet for one week and introduce themselves through their clothes” says Perminova over an alfresco lunch at Palazzo Terranova, the 18th-century estate in Umbria, Italy, where she and Lebedev vacation in summer. “Fashion is loud-speaking.”
Born in Siberia, she had modest beginnings. “Siberia wasn’t depressing but it was cold, so I wore a lot of fake cheap fur,” says Perminova, who is now an ambassador for Chanel. “We didn’t have a lot of money. We were a simple family.” When a bad-news boyfriend came along, she found herself unwillingly dealing Ecstasy in Russian discos at age sixteen. She was soon arrested and sentenced to 6 years in prison, at one point restricted to a very small jail cell, about which she has said, “There was a stinking toilet and no soap … and an iron bed clamped to the wall.” Perminova’s father pleaded with Alexander Lebedev, then a member of the Russian parliament, to come to her aid. He did—and not long after, the pair fell in love. “I was so young,” Perminova says of her dark past. “I was blind—completely.” She is grateful to Lebedev, who not only rescued her from a life of ruin but also introduced her to a world of privilege. “He was my angel,” she says. “There is no other word for it.”
Describing her childhood she said: “There are lots of bears walking in the street there and it is always -40°C. I’m joking!” Her predilection for feathers marked her out from her peers at an early age. “All the girls at the infant school dressed as snowflakes in for the Christmas matine show. I was a yellow baby chicken. It’s very important to have a personality. I was nine years old when I realized my style was different from the rest. Blue hair, fox tail on the bag, jeans with hand-made stars sewn on – people were surprised at the beginning, but by the end, they asked, ‘Where did you get this?'”
Perminova made her high-fashion debut by stepping out in a slashed Rodarte sheath at a CFDA event in 2008. And she continued taking part in the most extravagant fashion runways and being the front row guest star by famous designers such as Giambattista Valli, now she is at the top of the fashion world due to her eccentric, extra personal style.
Lena Perminova in London during LFW, in a green feathered fur coat!
White fur collar.
Elena Perminova attends the Giorgio Armani Prive show as part of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2015 on January 27, 2015, in Paris, France.
With Mira Duma in London wearing a double-color long fur collar.
Elena Perminova attends the Giambattista Valli show as part of Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2015 on January 26, 2015, in Paris, France.
In Paris wearing fur mittens and an amazing fur hat. For sure a winter outfit!
Sources: Harper’s Bazaar, Stylecaster
