#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. A woman with a capital letter and a ‘fairy godmother’ of several generations of brides. In addition to the external image, the owner of the wedding fashion salon Ekaterina Gryleva gave wings to her visitors. But not only this Norilsk remember her for…
Ekaterina’s maiden name is Triandafilidi. Translated from Greek, it means ‘30 kisses’. Taking this beautiful fact as a basis, the woman devoted her whole life to aesthetics, romance, beauty and a fairy tale, which she tried to give to everyone who aspired to her.
“Recently, a Norilsk woman came to us, she wears the 72nd size of clothes. She said that due to problems with the choice of elegant dresses, she tried to avoid festive events. My colleagues and I decided to change her mind. We found a turquoise dress, matched it with a beautiful flower, beads and a bracelet (so that she could change accessories depending on her mood). The woman left us happy”, said Ekaterina Gryleva ten years ago. But even now these words have not lost their relevance. “I would like all Norilsk women to learn the main rule: with any figure and financial situation, you can create a stylish festive image. You just need to not be afraid of experiments, choose accessories, change yourself and be self-confident”.
She believed that beautiful dresses should not gather dust in the closet. “When to wear them, if not now?” convinced Ekaterina. Over the years of her work, she watched hundreds of girls who came to try on a dress for the school prom, after a while they turned for a wedding dress, festive clothes for other celebrations. Thus, the salon owner witnessed the most important events in the lives of her clients. And each of them had a bonus to a fashionable purchase – confidence in their beauty and grace.
It all began in 1984, when Ekaterina Gryleva and her family moved to Norilsk from Uzbekistan. The diploma in electronic engineering was not useful here. But the talent for knitting, cutting and sewing came in handy. Ekaterina taught this skill at the Kayerkan House of Culture.
Later she began to teach needlework courses on her own. Then there was her own fabric store and atelier. From sewing ordinary clothes, she moved on to wedding dresses and accessories and set up a wedding fashion salon.
“To create beauty around herself and to give it to others – this was the mother’s position in life and it manifested itself in everything”, said Vera Gryleva, Ekaterina’s daughter. “Having moved to live in Moscow, she devoted herself to her family and grandchildren. She took care, gave comfort, treated and pampered. And she always remained herself, even in the smallest details. Who would have thought that mom would become a housewife! But she turned this difficult work into art”.
“I was always amazed at how people were drawn to my mother”, the son of Ekaterina Gryleva Dmitry shared his observation. “Many people, including our friends and others, considered her a very close person”.
On the eve of the New Year, Ekaterina Gryleva left this world. She did not construct buildings, did not make scientific discoveries. But she had the ability to change people’s lives, to make it better for everyone who is around. Kayerkan, Norilsk residents, those who once lived in Norilsk and knew Ekaterina Gryleva, will certainly agree that her feminine view influenced their attitude towards this world.
Text: Yulia Gubeladze, Photo: Ekaterina Gryleva’s family archive
