Kazakh Cinderella Alla Ilchun: How a dishwasher turned into a favorite model and muse of Christian Dior

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

When they talk about the favorite muses of the famous couturier Christian Dior, they usually call Marlene Dietrich and Mitzu Bricar. And only recently they started talking about the oriental beauty, which Dior himself called a talisman that brought him good luck. She has worked in his fashion house almost since its inception, invariably decorating fashion shows and inspiring the couturier to create new collections. Alla Ilchun, a girl with Kazakh roots, has gone from a simple dishwasher to a catwalk star.

Harbin to Paris

There is not so much information about the family and ancestors of Alla Ilchun. Her father, Zhuanghal Ilchun, was allegedly a railway engineer. He was able to get a decent education thanks to his wealthy father-bai, who lived in Kazakhstan. He participated in the construction of Turksib, and on the eve of the revolution ended up in Harbin. This city was founded as a station of the Sino-Eastern Railway, and accordingly, many Russians lived in Harbin. Zhuanhal Ilchun met here the beautiful Tatiana, an opera singer. They started a family, soon their daughter Alla was born.

However, life in Harbin in the first third of the twentieth century was very hectic. The Soviet authorities, the Chinese and the Japanese tried to take this city under their influence. Harbin periodically passed from hand to hand and this did not add peace of mind to the inhabitants. The family decided to go in search of a better life. Russia, where the October Revolution had already taken place, did not attract them, it was decided to go to France.

Only Tatiana and her daughter came to Paris, Zhuanhal Ilchun, according to the testimony of Alla Ilchun's son, ended up in the GULAG. And his wife and daughter had a difficult journey from Harbin to Paris. And the capital of France was in no hurry to caress two foreign women who decided to find their happiness here. But they firmly decided to start life anew in Paris.

Happy ticket

Alla, who has matured, began to work as a dishwasher in a restaurant. She did not dream of a modeling career at all, and she was not accustomed to complaining about fate. She just knew for sure that everything would be fine in her life.

And then the Second World War began. Alla Ilchun joined the ranks of the French resistance. She lost one of her friends, Ariadna Scriabin, the composer's daughter, and she herself repeatedly risked her life. And only after the war did Alla finally pull out her lucky lottery ticket.

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Alla's friend dreamed of a modeling career and was a constant participant in all kinds of castings. On that day, the girl felt unwell and asked Alla to replace her at the casting, with Christian Dior, who at that time was just starting his independent path in the fashion world. However, when she came to the casting, she found only a team of workers in the fashion house. The girl chatted merrily with them and left, deciding that her friend had obviously confused the time or place.

A few days later, a phone call rang in Alla's apartment, and Mr. Dior's secretary informed Alla Ilchun about the employment at the Christian Dior Fashion House. To the girl's remark about the failed participation in the casting, the secretary cheerfully noted: Mr. Dior was among the workers, and the oriental beauty and graceful figure of Alla conquered him at first sight.

Favorite model

Now a new, previously unknown life has begun for Alla. Now she was waiting for daily fittings, numerous shows and the glitter of spotlights. Christian Dior considered Alla his personal talisman, because every show with her participation was an unprecedented success. The outfits shown by the beauty, the stars were ready to buy immediately after the model went backstage.

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She was femininely fragile and possessed inimitable grace. High cheekbones and slanting eyes gave her image a unique charm, women all over the world began to imitate the model, trying to reproduce the long arrows that emphasize the eyes. The fashion for them continues today, just few people know that for the first time the world saw such an unusual make-up on Alla Ilchun's face back in the 1950s. Working with a French fashion designer became a happy one for the model herself. At one of the many photo shoots, Alla met Mike de Dulmen, Dior's staff photographer. She subsequently married him and gave birth to two sons.

For 10 years, until the death of the master, the collaboration between Alla and Christian Dior continued. However, even after his departure, she did not remain without work, for another decade she worked closely with Yves Saint Laurent.

Alla Ilchun decided to end her modeling career when she began to notice signs of age on her face. She wanted to remain young and beautiful in the memory of viewers and fans. For twenty years of work in the fashion world, her waist increased from 47 centimeters to only 49, but the mark of maturity was already noticeable on her face and body. After retirement, she did not participate in photo shoots and led a closed lifestyle.

When and where her life ended is unknown. In the summer of 2018, Berlin Irishev, chairman of the Association of Kazakhstanis in France, accidentally saw a portrait of Alla Ilchun by artist Leon Zeitlen in one of the Parisian antique salons. By the way, this is the only painted portrait of the model. Berlin Irishev decided to purchase the portrait, then forwarded it to Alma-Ata so that compatriots would learn the history of the Kazakh Cinderella.

When the portrait returned to Paris, Berlin Irishev sought out the model's son, Mark. Together with him, they decided to create a film about the fate of Alla Ilchun, the favorite model of Christian Dior, a French partisan with Kazakh-Russian roots. Only after the release of the film will the details of the biography of this amazing woman be known.

In difficult post-war times Christian Dior was the one who reminded the exhausted mature women that they are the fair sex. The designer did not want to make a revolution of consciousness, he just wanted "women to become beautiful again."