The name of Elena Sotnikova has been associated with the French glossy Elle for 21 years. She stood at the origins of the Russian publication and created its history, which will soon become a legend.
Biography
Lena was born in Moscow in 1967 into a very ordinary family. Her mother worked as a pediatrician, her father as an engineer. Very strict parents always controlled their daughter and demanded more from Lena. Therefore, she graduated from school with a gold medal. She recalls that she studied very well and diligently and never skipped school.
After school I entered the Institute as a translator foreign languages which was successfully completed. After university, I worked in a secondary school as a teacher for a couple of months, but quickly realized that this was not for me and left there.
While still studying, she managed to marry a fellow student. It was he who became the guide to the world of gloss.
Her arrival at the magazine began with an accident. Her husband worked for the Reuters news agency. And during his illness, she came to temporarily replace him as a translator. The management immediately liked her, and Lena was invited to the position of journalist on economic issues. She worked on non-ferrous metals and other global economic trends. It had nothing to do with gloss.
Starting a career at Elle
Before 1995, there was a need in Russia for a new product that would show people how to dress, where to go and how to live. And the French magazine went around all Russian publications in its search for an editor-in-chief. According to Elena, she was ready to leave Reuters and, citing illness, went to Paris for an interview.
Despite the fact that Elena had absolutely no experience in glossy magazines and she didn’t know much about fashion, her employers were impressed by her rigor and decent experience in journalism.
At first I had to learn and work in this field from scratch. Also look for new faces - photographers, stylists and makeup artists. This glamorous machine began its work under the leadership of Elena and very soon gained recognition in Russia.
Elena understood that the magazine should be close, first of all, to the Russian reader, so the use of materials from the French Elle was not always appropriate.
After 10 years of working as editor-in-chief, the magazine’s circulation grew significantly; it became a brand that dictated the style of successful and strong Russians.
Marie Claire
In 1995, Elena fell into her comfort zone. She recalls becoming slack and losing her ability to reinvent herself creatively. Her French management decided to dismiss her permanently. But Viktor Shkulev stood up for Elena in time and understood that her potential would still be useful to the company.
And she was tasked with reviving Marie Claire, a magazine that was going through difficult times in those years. better times. And in four years, Elena not only breathed into him new life, but she also changed. She lost weight and stopped drinking a lot of champagne at dinner. Elena remembers this period of her life as leaving her comfort zone.
Return to Elle
Having seen the success of Marie Claire, the company's management realized that Elena urgently needed to be brought back. In 2009, a new stage in her life began. Firstly, the crisis required urgent changes in the direction of the magazine, and the team that came after Sotnikova could not cope with the new situation.
Sotnikova changed a lot. They started making all the covers without involving their French colleagues. Both the quality and quantity of domestic material began to exceed the total share on the pages of glossy magazines.
Elena is a participant in many fashion projects in Russia, her personality is an authority on stylish and fashionable life.
In 2016, Elena gave birth to a child and left the magazine. She left with a shine on the rise of gloss. Although her departure was forced, Sotnikova herself made a reservation that she wanted to devote herself to her family and raising her child.
Family and personal life
Sotnikova does not talk too much about her life, but her relatives work in the same publishing house. The daughter from her first marriage, Maria, runs a column about style.
Between her first and last husband there were two more official husbands. But nothing is known about them.
In 2011, Elena’s fourth husband was Alexey Dorozhkin, who is the editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration. Her chosen one is 10 years younger. But despite this, the couple has complete mutual understanding. In 2015, Elena gave birth to a son, whose birth was a real gift for Alexey.
Elena loves to read, plays the piano beautifully and looks very good, despite her age. Sotnikova does not hide the fact that several years ago she had facial blepharoplasty. But the secret of good appearance is not only in plastic, but also in healthy way life.
It is also interesting that in Lately Elena discovered painting.
Social media
Despite this, she has a personal page on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/pg/SotnikovaElena/about/. Here Elena led until the end of 2016 electronic diary.
The same situation with Twitter - https://twitter.com/yelenasotnikova.
Lena's Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/elenasotnikovastyle/. From the photographs in this social network we can say that the woman has developed excellent taste. She is not shy about her photographs, and many people like her paintings. Here she is followed by 35 thousand subscribers.
Unfortunately, we were unable to find personal pages on Odnoklassniki and VKontakte.
Elena Sotnikova became the editor-in-chief of the legendary Elle in Russia at the age of 27 and was able to “grow” her brainchild until she was 20 years old and set it on the “big voyage”. She always strived to do any job better and better in order to be an excellent student in work, family and life.
Over 20 years of working at ELLE magazine, I have developed rules for the ideal wardrobe, which I hope will help you ease the process of choosing clothes for any occasion and solve the problem of compatibility of things. In this list I also included several cosmetic items (for example, red lipstick), some jewelry and accessories. And remember that simplicity is the basis of elegance. Forward!
1. Sheath dress black, or, as it is also called, a little black dress. It can be either a separate item of clothing or the basis of several looks at once. It can be complemented with large earrings or a necklace, an evening clutch and pumps for a classic evening look. It's easy. The main thing is to choose the length and cut that suits you.
2. Classic black high-waisted trousers. I suggest putting away all low-waisted trousers and jeans unless you're 16 years old, weigh 40kg, and plan on showing off your bare midriff. And you most likely are not going to.
3. A few perfect white shirts. It is advisable that some of them should be tucked into trousers/jeans, and some should be worn untucked. There are different situations.
4. Jeans light blue, classic blue and dark blue (be careful with the latter: as a rule, the paint on them is unstable, and this applies not only to affordable brands). Let your wardrobe have skinny jeans, straight and flared. Remember the high waist.
5. Pumps. Oddly enough, they can be had in just two colors - black and light beige (nude) to solve any problem.
6. The thing is red. Choose your shade of red and buy one simple thing this color. It could be a blouse, a simple dress, or even a pantsuit. As Coco Chanel said, “if you don’t know what to wear, wear red.” See point 5: beige pumps go perfectly with red.
7. Red lipstick. If you already know your shade of red, buy a matching lipstick. Red suits everyone, it is only important to choose your shade.
8. Classic cut trench coat, black or beige. The highest chic is to wear a light trench coat over a naked body (or rather, over underwear) and complement it with thick black tights and high-heeled pumps. Large jewelry in the ears - you are irresistible.
9. A spacious bag with strict lines for the office. Preferably black.
10. Evening clutches. Buy what you like. If the clutch is bright, has rhinestones and embroidery, treat it as a decoration and combine it with simple forms and don't overdo it with jewelry.
11. Evening dress. At least one. Try to find the most neutral option so that you can look different each time with different additions. Black lace in the style of Monica Bellucci suits many people. Attention to the figure! Choose options that highlight your strengths and mask your weaknesses. And here I am again talking about nude pumps - perfect!
12. Office suit to comply with the official dress code. We wear it with a white shirt or a light silk T-shirt to match. You can get by with buying a formal jacket if you have matching black trousers or a skirt.
13. Skirt. By the way, about the skirt. “Pencil”, godet, maxi, midi – I will not recommend either the shape or the length. You must do this yourself, based on the characteristics of your figure.
14. Leather biker jacket. Today it can even be worn over an evening dress. The French love it.
15. Vest. This is my favorite. We wear it under a formal jacket, leather jacket, trench coat; combine with jeans or wide black trousers.
16. Sneakers, sneakers, loafers on a moderate platform. It's not for sports, it's for almost any look. This is the fashion today.
17. Long earrings, massive necklace, large bracelet. Let’s remember the rule of two pieces of jewelry in one look. We don’t wear three-piece sets – it’s outdated.
18. Black high-heeled low shoes. They replace shoes with trousers (I emphasize - with trousers, skirts have nothing to do with it!).
19. A pair of bright blouses in your favorite colors. We wear a pink blouse with a black bottom and combine it with red lipstick - the highest chic!
20. Black turtleneck. Yves Saint Laurent said: “An elegant woman is one who wears a black pencil skirt and a black turtleneck and walks arm in arm with the man who is in love with her.”
Elena Sotnikova, who was the editor-in-chief of Elle Russia magazine for twenty years, decided at the beginning of this year to change her profession and, leaving glossy journalism and the position of vice president of a large publishing house, took up painting.
Have you always drawn? Or did it all start with the bird Varya, who appeared in your letters to the editor in the magazine several years ago?
I have been drawing since childhood. Dad, an engineer by profession, was naturally endowed with artistic talent, which, unfortunately, he did not develop. Basically he copied famous works classics, doing it for my own pleasure, and following his example, I began to practice drawing, first copying Disney characters, and then famous artists. In the family there was a cult of art albums and, in general, a certain cultural atmosphere that is so necessary for any person to general development, even if he does not intend to be an artist, writer or musician. Having connected my profession with journalism, I never left painting, but periods of passion were followed by periods of complete calm in artistically. The Varya bird is a naive, although quite solid, graphic element. This is a genre of caricature with a certain ironic thought. This is a little different.
When I first started working at Elle and started going to shows, on my trips I collected invitations and made huge collages out of them, which I roughly painted over with white paint on top. It turned out very artistic. I don’t know where these works are now - I never attached any importance to this. She painted still lifes and urban landscapes with colorful houses pressed closely together. Then, in the late nineties, I lived in cottage village. When neighbors came to me, were surprised and asked where these paintings were from, I gave them away without a shadow of a doubt. I made many copies of Goncharova, Matisse, Saryan, Falk. Working with children, she showed how easy it is to achieve the effect by copying the characters of famous cartoons. But let's say this: I never had the time, or, most importantly, the courage to make a big story out of my painting. This was probably what had to come to this. That moment is now. Late? It's never too late to take up painting and music. Another thing is that I have an artistic base, albeit not a professional one, which is now blessedly supported by the visual experience of the twenty years that I worked in glossy magazine.
I want my paintings to bring joy to their owner
And yet, why now?
In recent years of working in gloss, I have not left the feeling that I have already done everything in this field. That I can give people something more, personal, energetic, positive and inspiring. My departure from Elle coincided with my studies in large-format acrylic painting in International school design. When the teacher gave me a palette knife instead of a brush, I realized that this was mine. A palette knife (this is a special narrow spatula) gives the necessary scope, courage and even some kind of arrogance in what you do on the canvas.
How would you describe your style? What are your works?
It is difficult to classify yourself as any style. Rather, I am close to neo-expressionism, although my style is still “walking” and has not been consolidated. In any case, the term “expressionism” is very close to me. If you look, there is almost no static in my work. For example, roses seem to be flying towards you or moving in a circle, charging the surrounding space with energy. In one of my most popular works, “Holiday in New York,” you see a girl in a beautiful dress walking through the city in a whirlwind of evening lights. Her dress is caught in the wind, she moves forward and radiates happiness, although I didn’t even draw her face - this work doesn’t need it. I put a lot of personal energy into each painting, I paint impulsively, intuitively. Sometimes in a few hours I’m as exhausted as if I’d run ten kilometers across rough terrain. People read this instantly. They don’t need a long explanation: “Look, here I wanted to say this and that.” I really love the phrase “If you need to explain, then don’t explain.” I want my paintings to bring joy to their owner, to charge them with positivity and energy, or, conversely, to relax and bring a calm feeling of happiness into the home. Yes, this painting is mostly for interiors, but I am not at all shy about it. On the contrary, I am happy that my works bring into the house the emotion that its owners need.
Any person needs a certain cultural atmosphere in the home, even if he does not intend to be an artist, writer or musician
Who is your work for?
For people who need paintings not only as an ideal interior decoration, but also as things that radiate positivity and provide the right energy boost. I know I can share it, then I quickly recover and am ready to invest in the canvas again. I've been to collectors' houses contemporary art and I can say that, for all their progressiveness, many works are very depressing, they “pressure” and evoke unpleasant emotions. By the way, collectors themselves began to complain about this. “I’m tired of all this,” one collector told me. - Completely negative. I want to put everything in storage and fill the house with something more joyful.” This is what I work for.
Do you write only according to your mood or do you create works to order?
One thing flows into another. For example, I wrote “Holiday in New York” spontaneously, but the work was a great success, and I now have several orders for it. Another thing is that I don’t make copies of my works, this is wrong. Each of the new paintings on this topic will be purely individual.
Do you feel like an artist?
Yes.
Would you like to organize an exhibition of your works?
This will definitely happen. But for now everything I draw for the exhibition is “going away”. We need to work more, write more, devote as much time as possible to it, and perfect our style. I hope to see you at my exhibition in the fall!
(eng. Yelena Sotnikova; born August 22, 1967, Moscow, Russia) - Vice President, Editorial Director of the publishing house Hachette Filipacchi Shkulev and InterMediaGroup, Chief Editor women's magazine about fashion and style.
Biography and career
Elena Sotnikova was born on August 22, 1967 in Moscow, in the family of a pediatrician and engineer.
Parents strictly monitored their daughter's progress, and Elena graduated from school with a gold medal. Then Sotnikova entered the translation department at the Institute of Foreign Languages. Maurice Thorez and received a diploma with the qualification “Linguist, Translator”. For four months after graduating from the institute, she worked as an English teacher and German languages V high school, but soon quit.
The incident brought Sotnikova to the Moscow Reuters agency: Elena’s husband worked there as a translator, and when he got sick, she was asked to replace him, and then offered a job at permanent basis. So Elena worked for some time as a simultaneous translator, and then moved to the position of correspondent on economic issues.
"Glossy" career
In 1995, Elena Sotnikova received an offer to head the Russian Elle. Elena remained as editor-in-chief for ten years since the publication of the first issue of Elle Russia.
In March 2005, Sotnikova was appointed editorial director of the publishing house Hachette Filipacchi Shkulev (HFS), and from June 1, 2007, vice president and editorial director of the HFS and InterMediaGroup group of companies.
In May 2005, Sotnikova left the post of editor-in-chief, and Irina Mikhailovskaya was appointed in her place. However, the new team was unable to withstand the economic crisis and adapt to the changing demands of the audience, so the popularity of the publication fell sharply, and the main competitor pulled far ahead. In connection with this, the management of the publishing group decided to remove Irina Mikhailovskaya from the position of editor-in-chief, as well as replace key employees.
In 2009, Elena Sotnikova returned to Elle Russia. Thanks to her, the magazine has undergone significant changes, which affected not only the team, but also the entire structure of the publication. For example, covers for almost every issue began to be created in-house, the quality of photo sessions has significantly increased, many of which are discussed in international fashion blogs.
The results of the work done are shown by statistics: Elle’s current readership is more than two million people (the traditional publication combined with the iPad version).
Elena participates in television projects. In 2011, Sotnikova became a member of the permanent jury of the “Podium” project on the MTV Russia channel, and also participated in the filming of the MTV Special documentary “Design in Russian.”
Personal life
Elena has a daughter from her first marriage, Maria Yudina, who works at Elle as a producer in the fashion department, runs the automobile section and is involved in the “Lifestyle” section.
On June 2, 2011, Elena got married for the fourth time. Her chosen one was Alexey Dorozhkin, editor-in-chief of Elle Decoration magazine.
Elena Viktorovna Sotnikova does not like the hype around her name and does not give out interviews. According to the actress, she was born in the wrong century - it would have been more comfortable in the 19th century. She is disgusted by bad manners, dishonest people in power, and the insecurity of citizens. Flashing on television, fussing with image and fame is not her way.
Theater helps to distance oneself from tinsel and hide in another world, albeit a fictional one. If not for acting, Elena Sotnikova would have chosen the profession of a psychologist or writer. But she became an artist, which makes fans of her talent endlessly happy.
Childhood and youth
The actress is a native Muscovite. She was born in April 1961 in the famous 25th maternity hospital. I spent my childhood and youth on Leningradsky Prospekt, next to the Airport metro station.
Elena Sotnikova remembered her childhood for the echoes of the atmosphere of aristocracy, the remnants of which the girl saw on the old Moscow streets, in the green courtyards of Stalinist buildings. Intelligent grandmothers in lace sat on benches, famous writers, actors and painters walked along the streets.
Children and directors studied at school with Lena. The dream of becoming an artist was also born at school, although Sotnikova’s parents had nothing to do with artistic bohemia. Mom is a teacher, father is a pilot. Their romantic acquaintance also took place at school: Viktor Sotnikov came to meet his younger sister’s teacher, who told his brother that he should definitely marry her teacher.
They met at the school door. The young teacher's notebooks were scattered and the handsome pilot helped her put them back together. The aviator proposed marriage after 3 days. Elena Sotnikova grew up in an atmosphere of love and constant expectation of her father, whose every visit home was a holiday. Lena has been preparing for acting since childhood. The girl attended the figure skating section, participated in school amateur performances, and enrolled in the drama club at the Palace of Pioneers.
I heard the first applause at the CSK stadium when I went onto the ice with flowers to congratulate the famous skaters and... fell. The audience clapped their hands to support the girl. Elena suddenly felt that she absolutely loved being in public.
Her film debut took place in 1976, when Elena Sotnikova was in 8th grade. The young director was selecting actors for his debut film - the school melodrama “Prank”. Lena came to the audition and was approved for a cameo role - a schoolgirl.
On the set of the film, young Elena Sotnikova watched with bated breath the performance of the stars of Soviet cinema. And the beginner appeared in the film. After the release of the film, Elena Sotnikova confirmed her desire to connect her biography with the stage. I didn’t consider any other options.
The first role on stage was played at the Theater of Young Muscovites on Leninsky Gorki. Theater teacher Elena Galkina entrusted the girl with the role of Lida in the play based on the story “The House with a Mezzanine.”
After graduating from school, Elena Sotnikova, having overcome a huge competition, entered the Shchukin School on her first try and took the course of Lyudmila Stavskaya. This is how the romance with Arbat began, because “Pike” and the future place of work - the Vakhtangov Theater - are located on the famous street. Sotnikova graduated from “Pike” with honors and in the same 1982 she joined the troupe of the Vakhtangov Theater.
Theater
On the stage of the theater, which had become home, Elena Sotnikova was introduced into the performance after 2 weeks. The young actress got a role in the production of “Leshy”, where Vakhtangov’s masters shone, and. The atmosphere of the theater, according to the actress “homely,” was to Elena Sotnikova’s liking. Since 1982, the artist has never thought about changing the stage, although she had to perform in other theaters.
At the time of Sotnikova’s arrival, the Vakhtangov Theater was directed by Evgeniy Rubenovich Simonov, who gathered talented actors under his wing. In addition to the above, his troupe included,. Soon Elena Sotnikova became one of the theater's leading artists. She was involved in all repertory and sold-out productions.
The actress calls her meeting and collaboration with a talented director, whom she calls her teacher, a success. In the production of “You are our Sovereign, Father,” Pyotr Naumovich entrusted the actress with the role. Then there were works in the master’s performances “Guilty Without Guilt” (Otradina), “The Queen of Spades” (Princess Polina), “The Miracle of St. Anthony” (Mademoiselle Hortense).
Movies
Elena Sotnikova also had a successful film career, although the actress did not act very much. In her last year at Shchuka, she played a cameo role in the hit movie “The Beloved Woman of Mechanic Gavrilov.” Sotnikova got the role of the bride who is kidnapped.
In the same 1982, viewers saw the aspiring actress in a larger role: Sotnikova played Connie, Margaret’s sister, in Leonid Pchelkin’s drama “Theft” based on the story. She appeared in the image of the main character, Margaret, and played her father. Besides them, other stars also played in the film - and.
In the 1990s, the artist appeared in the films “Just Don’t Leave,” “Method of Murder,” and “Guilty Without Guilt.” In the melodrama “Just Don’t Go,” Elena Sotnikova played the main character, Olga Zemtsova, a charming woman, successful in everything. But life deals Olga an unexpected blow: she is diagnosed with AIDS. He became the director of the melodrama, and he also played the main character.
Sotnikova combined work on the set and on the theater stage. While playing in films, she was involved in the production of “The Stone Guest” on Malaya Bronnaya, which was staged by. At the same time, Elena Viktorovna was invited to the Theater. , where they offered a role in the play “The Law of Eternity.”
Elena Sotnikova is a versatile actress. She is capable of tragic and deep roles (Queen Elinor in the play “The Lion in Winter”, Henrietta in “The Three Ages of Casanova”), but the artist is also organic in the image of the gossip Farpukhina in the lyrical farce “Uncle’s Dream”.
The artist's friends and colleagues are amazed at her energy and hard work. Working in the theater and acting in films, Elena Sotnikova manages to write scripts for skits in the House of Actors, participate in concerts in “Russian Houses” in Berlin, Vienna and Prague, write poetry and voice-over radio shows.
Personal life
There is no information about the artist’s personal life: she does not talk about her family. It is unknown whether Sotnikova has a husband and children. There are no photographs of the family to be found.
It is known that the actress spends all her free time and money on travel: she has traveled around America and Europe. The secret of unfading beauty is readily revealed: in the life of Elena Sotnikova there is no envy and vanity, she eats right, does not eat meat, does not forget about gymnastics and goes to the pool.
Elena Sotnikova now
On the stage of the theater, the actress is involved in the plays “Uncle’s Dream”, “Games of Lonely People”, “Last Moons” and “”, which are staged on the Vakhtangov stage these days.
Fans of the artist are happy to come to poetry evenings at the Art Cafe, where Elena Sotnikova delights the ear with a filigree combination of poetry, music and beauty. An irresistible attraction lurks in the aristocratic calm of the actress.
Sotnikova is a member of the board of the House of Actors, a member of the acting “Women’s Battalion” of the Vakhtangov Theater. Communicates with, and.
Filmography
- 1976 - “Prank”
- 1981 - “Theft”
- 1981 - “The beloved woman of mechanic Gavrilov”
- 1984 - “Manka”
- 1984 - “Through all the years”
- 1989 - “Called in the Spring”
- 1992 - “Just don’t leave”
- 1993 - “Method of Murder”
- 1994 - “Guilty Without Guilt”
- 2000 - “Uncle’s Dream”
- 2014 - “Last Moons”
Performances
- "Leshy"
- "Anna Karenina"
- "The Three Ages of Casanova"
- "Mary Tudor"
- "Little Tragedies"
- "Zoyka's apartment"
- “You are our sovereign, father...”
- "Lion in Winter"
- "Cyrano de Bergerac"
- "Royal Hunt"
- "Chulimsk last summer"
- "Deep blue Sea"
- "Last Moons"
- "Lonely Games"
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