Why does not Alla Verber drink tea. Alla Verber, husband. Biography of Alla Verber
It is painful to believe this: Alla Verber, the legendary woman, vice president of Mercury and fashion director of TSUM and DLT, died. BeautyHack editors express their condolences to relatives and colleagues. We recall a conversation with this incredible woman: “the queen of Russian retail”, a first-class specialist and a sincere and sympathetic person.
About family
In my family, all women are beautiful. And this is not only the merit of genes - mother and grandmother always looked after themselves. They compensated for the lack of makeup products with cucumber and strawberry masks. And the best hair remedy was considered a mixture of sour milk or kefir, which was applied to the strands two hours before taking a bath. Then they were rinsed with vinegar and water - and they became brilliant. In the years of my youth, we did not know much. If people wanted to lose weight, they just sat on the kefir.
Mom every week went to the hairdresser on Tolmacheva Street in St. Petersburg - a famous place then. When my grandmother wanted to hurt her, she always said: “What do you know in this life? Only the road to Tolmachev! ”
Among the men of my family there was a real cult of female beauty. The ladies in their surroundings were supposed to be well-groomed and smart. Only knee-length hair, fresh manicure, well-groomed legs were accepted, and blue shades, for example, were taboo. Few people would pay attention to a woman with a 38th size. Honored were magnificent forms.
By the way, an interesting story happened to my hair somehow. My sister and I always braided them in braids, and only started to dissolve them when they were 14 years old. Around this time, I met a daddy hairdresser on the street who offered me a haircut haircut (in fact, he just wanted to sell cropped hair). Without a second's doubt, I lost a good part of my precious curls and did not know how to go home. So she waited for dad at the Theater. I will never forget his reaction: he was offended for a long time. I had to re-grow my hair, collecting it daily in the tail.
About raising a daughter
Girls from childhood should understand how important it is to have well-groomed hair, hands, velvet skin, and be clean. I told my daughter and my granddaughters about this. Who, if not mom or grandmother, will explain how to look decent and look after yourself.
About female beauty
At 30-40 years of age, women flourish and gain inner confidence, to which they have been going for more than a dozen years. And then time begins to work against us. Sophia Loren said that a beautiful woman dies twice. I agree with this: at a certain age, only a surgeon can help.
About the first makeup
Only my sister knew about my first experiments with cosmetics at the age of 13. It was she who told mom about them. But my mother acted very tactfully: she took all the cosmetics she could find, and offered to buy a new, good one. We went to Sadovaya, where at that time funds were being sold right in the passage that all Soviet women dreamed about. So I got Coty perfumes and powder (the latter, by the way, can still be found at my place - you can’t confuse her smell with anything), and also Lancôme powder. Only the mascara was Soviet, so it was impossible to cry with it.
I grew up on films with Barbra Streisand and Sophia Loren, so my makeup bag always had eyeliner and lip liners. Abroad, I first went to the Pupa cosmetics store, where my first purchase was a pink lipstick. Before, it was not customary to apply foundation, it was more than replaced by powder. The procedure for tinting the lips with the help of a mirror in the powder box was a special ritual for each girl.
About favorite beauty rituals
I like to take a bath with dry oils. In the morning I can devote this whole hour. Then I apply the cream on the face and body. Prefer La Mer cosmetics. Since 18 years I spend a lot of time on airplanes. In flight, I like to try the news that come to us at the Central Department Store: I put a mask on my face and neck and calmly fly to New York, for example.
About self love
For several years I was seriously ill. The fight against cancer has fundamentally changed my attitude towards myself. I learned to love.
You need to be sensitive to health and not neglect doctors in favor of cosmetologists. It’s also right to eat, drink a lot of water, swim, walk and not throw yourself, no matter how many children and businesses you have.
About makeup
Over the past few years, I have crashed a lot. This is a matter of inner confidence: with cosmetics on my face I feel more comfortable. But I will not do bright makeup in the morning if an event is to be held in the evening.
You need to feel the line between daytime and evening. During interviews, for example, catchy makeup and too expressive eyebrows push me away. Even if a woman looks fashionable, she must know the measure.
About the figure
For many years I have been working in the fashion industry, so my beauty canon is 180 cm tall and the 38-40th clothing size. And in principle, completeness is a clear sign of health and nutrition problems. Psychological addiction to food, like any other addiction, is not good. You have to fight it. It is important for a man to find his golden mean, so as not to plague himself with starvation or, conversely, to wave his hand at the figure. Education is important here: parents must guide their children from childhood and explain to them what is beautiful and what is not. One of my assistants once said: waiting for a miracle from nature is pointless, you need to take everything into your own hands and act. By the way, it proved the effectiveness of this theory in practice.
About nutrition
My mother and grandmother went through the blockade, so in the post-war period, food was a huge joy for them. The way you ate determined your status in society. Then no one thought about healthy food. We had borscht, dumplings, roast, mashed potatoes, croutons, tea with sugar on our table. Breakfast consisted of cheesecakes, pancakes, dumplings with cherries. And on Sunday morning on the table you could find herring, potatoes, fish and salads - this is a traditional Jewish breakfast. Now in my family no one cooks like this: soups with potatoes and meatballs with mashed potatoes have changed steamed dishes, vegetables, fruits. I practically do not eat meat (I prefer fish), once in a couple of months I can drop in a restaurant to order a steak.
About determination
When I brought the Chanel and Gucci brands to Moscow in the 1990s, there was a sea of \u200b\u200bdetermination in me. I think that with this quality are born. But experience in the West also helped me: in 1976, I left Russia, traveled extensively in Europe, knew all the brands. Then in New York there was a whole Delancey Street, where for five years the most fashionable clothing stores opened at great discounts, the so-called discount price. They were popular among Russian emigrants. Even then, one could find things from famous brands at half price, in contrast to the same Bergdorf Goodman and Saks. After working in several such stores, I decided to get an education at Macel Ely University of Tennessee, and then open my stores in Toronto.
In any business, there must be a place for courage, thoughtful decisions and common sense. You need to take risks very carefully to be able to stop at the right time. Risk is a noble cause if you are not burdened by your family and can easily take a step back.
Over the years in business, I have become tougher and more organized, I can’t forgive stupidity, but I treat young people with understanding, I am ready to give advice, help, because they helped me in due time.
About daily routine
I used to have chronic lack of sleep, it took ten hours to recover from a working day. The morning rises were the hardest. Now my regimen has changed: in the evening I can hardly sleep, and in the morning I wake up early. Therefore, I can solve working issues after midnight.
About the differences between Muscovites and Petersburgers
I am a Petersburger and clearly see the difference between the girls from the two cities. For those who live in St. Petersburg, the city leaves its mark already at birth. People are really proud of the city, they look different and do not seek to accelerate their pace of life, like Muscovites. This is evident in style. He is more confident with Muscovites, and Petersburgers have a good classic taste. At the same time, when I select clothes for DLT, I rely on more fashionable collections, because St. Petersburg also has its own audience.
Interview: Katya Domankova
Text: Julia Kozoliy
Similar materials from the heading
Alla Verber is a buyer and fashion director at TSUM, vice president of jewelry firm Mercury. She bought goods for prestigious stores in Russia and formed new collections. Alla was one of the most successful business women in the country and was distinguished by her unusual flair for everything regarding style and trends.
Her professional biography in the fashion industry began at the age of 18, and she claimed that she became interested in stylish clothes in childhood, when she looked out the window at foreign tourists - guests of the city.
Childhood and youth
Alla Konstantinovna Verber was born on May 21, 1958 in Leningrad (she is Gemini by the sign of the Zodiac). The parental home stood on the street, not far from the conservatory, Theater Square and the Kirov Theater. Alla's father worked as a dentist and led the denture department, and her mother was also a paramedic.
View this post on Instagram
Alla Verber
Together with her sister Irina, the girl often attended classical music concerts and performances. In an interview, Alla recalled how she didn’t like the clothes her parents made them wear “on the way out”: the scarce scarf suit had a strange cut, and the fur coat, although expensive, was uncomfortable and heavy. In the absence of a mother and father, the sisters took things out of the closet and dressed up. Alla often chose turtlenecks and short skirts in combination with boots or high heel shoes.
Read also 7 muses of Karl LagerfeldA taste for beautiful clothes formed in her early, and even those children's fantasy images came out successful.
Career
Parents wanted her daughter to follow in their footsteps and become a doctor. After the 8th grade, the girl obediently went to the medical school, but already then knew that she would not work in her specialty: her soul strove for graceful images, stylish things and accessories. Alla’s dream was to work in a fashion store, but then there were few of them in the USSR, and her father and mother believed that the trade worker was an un prestigious and unworthy profession.
View this post on Instagram
Alla Verber with mom
In 1976, the Verber family immigrated to Austria. They drove almost at random, with a tiny amount of money in their pocket in the hope of gaining personal freedom and growth opportunities abroad. Parents with older daughters changed several countries: after Austria they moved to their historical homeland in Israel (they were Jews by nationality), then settled in Canada. During a brief tourist visit to Italy, Alla fell in love with Rome - a real paradise for fashion lovers - and soon went there without her parents.
According to Alla’s recollections, before leaving, the father and mother gave her 4 fox skins with them - “You will sell them later and you will live on it”, but they were not useful. “So these skins have hung for me for 40 years,” she said in an interview.
Read also 6 stars who died shortly after giving birthAfter 3 months, the girl found a job. Despite the fact that Verber had difficulty speaking English and did not know Italian, she was still hired by a boutique on Via Vetto. The manager appreciated the attractive appearance of the Russian emigrant, deciding that this would attract customers, and was right. However, Alla did not work there for long: her father told her to prepare for moving to Canada.
Arriving in Montreal, a 19-year-old girl also got a job in a store. She managed to arrange everything much faster and more successfully than for the first time: by that time she had learned the language and at the interview she was able to show off her accumulated knowledge about the fashion world. Alla not only performed the duties of the seller perfectly, but also designed the windows in an original way, choosing clothes for mannequins that buyers asked them to collect the same image and take things in sets.
The owners drew attention to her talent, and soon the novice buyer already went to negotiations with famous designers and organized the delivery of new collections.
Today, Alla Verber is one of the most successful business women in the country, vice president of Mercury, and back in 1976 she emigrated to Canada - then she was eighteen years old and for some time Alla had to live away not only from her homeland, but also from her loved ones - when Verber's parents were about to emigrate, only she was given permission to leave.
In the photo - Alla VerberFirst, she ended up in Vienna, and then spent a whole year in Rome, and this time, lived in Italy, was decisive for her entire future life. With the help of a Russian friend, Alla got a job in a prestigious boutique, first finding herself in the very center of fashion. Then she moved to Canada, and there her career went straight uphill - Verber became a buyer, a specialist ordering clothes for the next season.
Then there were changes in her personal life - she got married. First alla Verber’s husband was a very handsome man - with him she lived for three years in New York. Alla had a daughter, Katya, but family life did not work out, and Alla Konstantinovna again had to become independent.
Alla Verber did not have the enterprise, and in 1984, having moved with her daughter to Toronoto, she opened her first clothing store - the Katia of Italy boutique. The project turned out to be successful, the store in which clothes of the most famous world brands were sold quickly became popular, and in 1991 one of the largest Canadian corporations offered Verber to become its representative in Russia.
Returning to her native St. Petersburg, she married again. The second husband of Alla Verber was David Averbakh - president of a large Russian food company. This marriage became happier for Alla Konstantinovna - she got a loving, understanding man, ready to put up with her constant employment.
Alla Verber’s husband is a very busy man himself, so he understands his wife well. They try to celebrate all family holidays together, and they do this exclusively at home, and not in a restaurant. These days, the closest people gather in their house - daughter Ekaterina with her husband and daughters Michelle and Elizabeth, mother Tatyana Abramovna. Together with her husband, Alla spends her vacation, however, this does not happen very often - once a year they always go to Israel to the mother of her husband Alla Verber, they like to relax in New York and Toronto, where Alla has many relatives and friends.
David loves to give gifts to his wife, and one of the most memorable was the engagement ring that David gave Alla Konstantinovna when he met her after another business trip right at the airport. Alla Verber believes that she has found her happiness and is trying to tell her husband about love as often as possible.
Bayer Date of birth May 21 (Taurus) 1958 (61) Place of birth Leningrad Instagram @verberalla
Who do you think is the trendsetter of the season? Not bloggers and journalists who write about fashion. In practice, buyers do this, who choose current toilet items for shops and fashion boutiques. In the capital, the most famous buyer is Alla Konstantinovna Verber. This unique woman is a buyer, Fashion-director of the Moscow Central Department Store, vice president of a major jewelry company Mercury. They know about it not only in our country, but also abroad.
Biography of Alla Verber
The future business woman was born in St. Petersburg, then still Leningrad, on May 21, 1958. The girl’s family was very wealthy by Soviet standards, so her father’s decision to go abroad was very surprised. In 1976, the family emigrated to Austria. Parents saw the future of their daughter in medicine, so even before leaving, Alla entered a medical school.
The family's plans included moving to Vienna, and then to Israel. Once in Austria, the girl was supposed to board a plane to Tel Aviv, but instead she flew to Italy. Verber was in Rome, where her new life began.
Her attractive appearance impressed the owner of the clothing store, where she was hired. Here she showed herself in the best possible way.
Later, the father and the whole family decided to move to Canada. The family settled in Montreal. Alla already had experience, she was hired in a fashion boutique. Here her talents did not go unnoticed.
Having gotten in touch, she began to open her own shops one after another. Once she received an invitation to K-mart. The owner invited her to lead the production of towels. Alla agreed, but this work seemed boring to her, and when she received a new offer from Mercury, she accepted it.
One of the country's most successful business women, TSUM fashion director, vice president of Mercury, Alla Verber recently admitted: 5 years ago, on the eve of her 50th birthday, she found out that she had third stage blood cancer. For a long time she felt unwell, but was afraid to undergo an examination.
“When the diagnosis was made, the depression was terrible. Cried. Everyone is crying. It’s impossible not to cry ... ”Alla admitted.
Upon learning of the disease, Verber prepared to die, but then decided to fight - for the sake of her daughter Katya, who was then 24 years old. Verber herself lost her father, who died of cancer at age 57, and still remembers the pain of this loss.
“I wanted to live for one reason only. When parents die and leave children who still cannot stand up for themselves, it is terribly painful. I remember when my dad, young, died, and I was left without him ... I remember this pain. And even now - I am 55 years old - this pain does not go away ... Therefore, I wanted to do everything so that my daughter could have a mother. I decided for myself that I will fight, I will live and do everything that depends on me, ”said Verber.
Alla Verber had to fight cancer for a long five years. Due to chemotherapy, she lost her hair and gained 20 pounds. But deciding for herself that she should recover at all costs, Verber did not allow herself to give up:
“I went to chemotherapy as a holiday - well-dressed, made-up, tidied up. She was waiting for medicine like manna from heaven, because 30 years ago he was not there. I was always in a good mood. "
Today, Verber is healthy, but regrets that she launched the disease. She urges all women not to hide and not to suffer, find time for a doctor and undergo an examination! Vezh Thirst for life stronger than all diseases!
Peter Criss: “Any pain is worth it to subsequently feel healthy!”
Dance to live!
The star of the series “Magnificent Century”: “The black bar in my life is behind!”
Daria Dontsova: “I want people to know: we will defeat cancer!”
