Vladislav Lisovets in an interview with Edgar Shabanov: “A person cannot be beautiful if he is perfect”

Fashion expert, stylist and showman Vlad Lisovets, in his early fifties, grows his hair, wears flared trousers, paints his nails and looks young and manly. HELLO! became interested in this phenomenon and asked the president of the RIVE GAUCHE group of companies, Edgar Shabanov, to find out what the secret is. And also find out how fashion has changed, how much a man should be a little more beautiful than a monkey, and whether it is worth trying to disguise age.

Vlad, you look amazing. How do you do it?

I think this is the result of the fact that I hear my body well. I eat what I want, but I don’t eat much. I don’t do sports, but I take care of my face. For ten years in a row, I have been applying eye cream every morning. Since childhood, I understood that I have very dry skin and I shouldn’t let it run, so when I lived very poorly, I even smeared my face with foot cream, because it was at hand. Of course, now I don’t have bad cosmetics, because I am friends with good brands. Well, I’m also fun and funny. Yes, at the same time I drink, do not lead a healthy lifestyle and allow myself absolutely everything – I just know when to stop. In general, I am sure that it is necessary to take care of everything that you have: an apartment, a house, a face, a skin, a mood.

Is food a ritual for you?

I want the food to be beautiful. I was born in the Caucasus, where any dish looked very appetizing. Food for me is not just a means of survival, but part of the beauty of this world (although, of course, I can stand near the refrigerator and eat a sausage sandwich). I am very amazed at people who say: “I haven’t eaten! I need to eat! I’m starting to shake!” For me, food is a need of my nature, and not mine personally. I would love to live without sleep and food.

But what about genes? By the way, who gave you such a European appearance.

Mostly from my mom. I took the best from my parents. It would be strange to say that I just laugh, have fun, take care of myself, that’s why I look like that. Of course not. My dad was very cheerful, he was never afraid to be different – both stupid and interesting. And my mother is an absolute European, and the most surprising thing is that at the same time she is a fantastic patriot of Russia. I moved her to Moscow in 1998, now she is 77 years old. Having lived in Azerbaijan for 55 years, she loved Russia all this time!

Abroad, probably the last thing they think about you is that you are Russian.

Yes, I have a list of countries that are most often attributed to me: Italy, Germany, France, something Scandinavian, former Soviet Union countries like Croatia or the Czech Republic. The answer “Russian” confuses foreigners. By the way, I am always pleased to surprise them with this – I want people to see that Russia can be like this. But no matter how insulting it may sound, for the last ten years I have been learning not to look like a Russian, because we are still arrogant, we have a fear of misunderstanding on our faces. It really betrays us in any country. When we are afraid, we do not become children, we become very old, weary of life. But the Europeans, when they get scared, turn into children, and this is a different signal.

Let’s talk about Russian men then. We have such a stereotype that a man should be a little more beautiful than a monkey. But recently, young people have clearly begun to take care of themselves more. What exactly has changed in their minds?

In the last 30 years, freedom of expression has penetrated Russia. Men were allowed to look a little prettier. Unfortunately, the Russians were brought up harshly, the concepts of “man” and “beauty” in the USSR were incompatible – because it seemed to the Soviet society that there was no other way to bring up a patriot, a defender of the fatherland and family. Now everything is changing, there are many examples that show that a man can be characterized by something else. Behind the brutality and rigidity in behavior, many signals unpleasant for society can be hidden. And at some point, society began to understand this.

In general, a person just has to be himself – with or without a smart manicure. He has only one life, he must live it the way he likes. Society is not yet particularly enthusiastic about this, because most Russian women are not ready for men to stand out strongly. A woman in Russia is the power in the house in which they decide everything. And when men, the stronger sex, become too bright, it creates competition.

But in the same Scandinavian countries, women have even more power!

In Scandinavia, a woman does not try to crush her man. These are different things. A man brings up children, takes them to kindergarten, and drinks in the evening. But she still lets him be himself. And men are raised by women so that they like being with children more than sitting in a bar. And we have the power of a woman in society – this is the power of a leader according to a template. But I like that at least five percent of men today understand that moisturized skin is a success, well-groomed hands are important when you are doing serious business, signing contracts. Money loves an account and clean hands. When money is also in beauty, it works much more efficiently. You show that grooming is success.

Well… Russian men like to drink just as much as Scandinavian men. Tell me, how do you recover after parties?

To be honest, it doesn’t help much. The main thing is that before you start having fun, prepare yourself mentally that your face will fall out of the lens for three days. The next morning, I just look less in the mirror, I wear patches all the time, drink a lot of water and say: “Ugly, go away! Go away, go away!”. By the way, I don’t neglect sheet masks from the mass market either.

How important is sleep?

I don’t like to sleep. But I am very grateful to nature that I have only five hours to sleep. And in general it is necessary to disperse the body. I came up with this technique for myself: I wake up in the morning, come to my senses a little, lie in a bath with a mask in very hot water, and then start cleaning the apartment. I call it – disperse the lymph. It’s hard for me to force myself to do exercises, but doing something around the house is nice, the body is distracted, and this helps a lot to feel better in the evening.

And how do you feel about trying to hide age with the help of foundations, concealers and other concealers?

Here I will be conservative. I think that in ordinary life you still do not need to abuse it. For example, when you can see that the eyebrows are heavily made up, it only adds age. I often hear from primitive women that the female body is beautiful, and the male body is so-so. But it’s like choosing between Olivier salad and foie gras. These are two completely different types of food – both fantastic. I love both, and how can I choose from this?!

Why can men look at the male body with pleasure? Because there is a standard – both female and male forms. So let’s not say that only a woman can be beautiful. A man can be handsome, and sometimes not with some gorgeous figure or tall stature. He must be honest and open. A woman can be a little mysterious. A man is handsome in openness.

Is this what today’s beauty standards are?

The trend of today is natural beauty. The standard is 90/60/90, but the trend is just in naturalness. A woman with freckles is the most beautiful for me, because it is non-standard, unusual. The most beautiful people are always flawed, and the perfect appearance is not always beauty. A person cannot be beautiful if he is perfect. He’s kind of sugary. And when it has a chip, you look at it, and it catches.

And what men’s haircut is in fashion today?

Long hair. Conditionally – Dima Bilan’s haircut of the 2000s, but not with shaved temples, because shaved whiskey today looks very backward.

And in clothes?

We, unfortunately, switched to the most comfortable clothes, and today the jacket looks like from the series “Oh, he’s dressed up!”. For some reason, a man in a suit in this strange confrontation with sweatshirts and hoodies is already considered unfashionable. But if you look at global trends, then, to my joy, jackets and velvet are back! As well as elegant shoes – we are moving away from sneakers towards boots with heels, Cossacks, loafers. Although oversize in everything will still hang somewhere nearby for the next two or three years for sure.

What’s the best way to combine everything?

Jeans are good to combine with classics. That is, suppose you have a white T-shirt, classic straight trousers with a little pleats at the bottom and a denim jacket that is not quite your size. This is super. The combination of sport, youth and classic is the most incredible combination that gives the feeling that you are solid, but not stiff. If you have a jacket, dress pants, a bomber jacket and a T-shirt, add another cap and then it will make you not too dressy. If you are, figuratively, in a beautiful jacket, then let it be straight sweatpants, plain – this will help you be a little light. In general, lightness in the image today is the most important rule.

You made yourself and very intelligibly tell people how to become better. Do young artists come to you for advice? How much is your advice worth?

Yes, they come. My consultations in the salon cost only 15 thousand rubles. It can be, for example, my monologue about eyebrows, eyelashes or lipstick. Surprisingly, many people don’t realize how luxurious they could be if they just picked the right lipstick color and face tone. Or a little less emphasis on the eyebrows. Sometimes I can tell someone that everything is fine, trim their hair a little and not even take money. Commercially, it’s probably not quite right, but I can go up to my employee and say: “Please give me a fifty percent discount, because the woman is fine and I’m just ashamed to take money for this.” I also have the format of an individual hour lecture for 60 thousand rubles. On it, I explain to the person what is happening to him. I call it “Instill freedom in man.” Each of us can do anything – he just needs to allow it. Unfortunately, we are all so arranged: one city, one street, one apartment, one school, one wardrobe – and this is very convenient for our brain. And I show people the most scandalous pictures, because I need to change the way people think. But at the same time, I always explain very carefully that you will definitely wear these boots for two years, but this thing will get bored in a month. We live in a time when it is necessary to rationally spend money on clothes.

Do you have a brand name?

originality. And the onslaught of intelligence. Even when I swear, bully, joke or write stupid stories, I think people still feel my respect. I never attracted fame, but developed what nature gave me to the point where it became in demand. I went from the opposite. Therefore, I easily calculate talented people.

What would you like to wish yourself for the next ten years?

You know, I just want to keep being able to cry with happiness. I want to stay sensual. I don’t think it’s going anywhere. I hope that this Vladislav, who turns sixty, will live in a free country, laugh with happiness, cry with happiness. And of course, the sun will shine – because I cannot live without the sun. And there will be even more smiling people on the street.