Daria Shapovalova
It’s hard for Daria Shapovalova to remember a time in her life before fashion, but chances are it occurred somewhere in the vicinity of 1987, when she was born. Since then, the native of Kiev has dedicated her life to the industry, hosting and editing her popular Ukrainian TV program Fashion Week With Daria Shapovalova (which she’s been doing since age 20), blogging for Russian Vogue, attending fashion shows around the world and preparing to launch Kiev Fashion Week. It’s a dizzying schedule, but for the tireless Shapovalova, who holds degrees in Journalism and PR and attends courses at Central Saint Martins every summer, the challenge is invigorating. She’s diplomatically mum about her favorite designers (“I appreciate both the talent and diligence of them all”) but cites Irving Penn, Guy Bourdin, Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin as the photographers who most inspire her. Lest it seem that Shapovalova is devoted to fashion to the exclusion of anything else, there is at least one non-professional project she cops to pursuing: “inspiring my husband.”
Photo by Matt Irwin, 2009
