Alla Verber: biography, personal life, career

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Do you know who decides what to wear for Muscovites in the new season? Do you think fashion bloggers who post a list of fashion trends on their page? No, they are not. For this, all responsibility falls on the shoulders of buyers - people who buy goods for the best stores in the country, create collections. And the main among them in Moscow is Alla Konstantinovna Verber. She works as a fashion director and buyer at TSUM, as well as vice president of the jewelry company Mercury.

This woman is one of the most successful business women not only in the capital, but also in the country, a public figure and a journalist. The fashion director of TSUM says about her buyer instinct that she developed it in her childhood, when she watched the foreign tourists who came to Leningrad for days on end from the windows of her apartment. The most chic fashionistas in Moscow pray for her, because thanks to her they can buy the best novelties from the collections of the most famous fashion designers in the world for their wardrobe.

Alla Verber: biography,childhood

She was born on May 21, 1958 in Leningrad. Here she grew up on Glinka Street, in a house overlooking Theater Square, the Kirov Theater, and, of course, the Conservatory. As a little girl, she twice a week made trips to the opera house, to the ballet, or to the conservatory for a classical music concert. In the family, besides her, her sister Irina also grew up. The girls' father was a dentist by profession, but he held a very "bread" position - he was the director of the denture department, and their mother was a he alth worker.

A Fateful Decision

In fact, the family lived in full prosperity, and when they decided to emigrate abroad, many could not understand what they lacked in the USSR. It's just that the father of the family put his freedom above all else. He wanted to move freely, create his own career, get a better education.

In 1976, the family flew from Moscow to Vienna, each had 76 dollars in his pocket. They thought they were leaving the country forever. Moreover, they could not even imagine that Alla Verber would become the chief buyer of TSUM, whose biography often made such sharp turns that it was simply breathtaking.

The birth of talent

As a rule, we call talent a gift given to people from above. This is usually associated with creativity, but Alla Verber, whose biography is so interesting and unusual, had the gift of predicting fashion trends for several seasons in advance. In addition, she had incredible taste and sense of style. Each of the employers noticed this talent in her and kept herfirmly in his company. Where did a girl from a family of doctors, albeit we althy, but far from the world of fashion and show business, suddenly have such an ability? Yes, everything is very simple. Some children like to count pigeons in the yard, others like to look at the stars, and only rare ones like to carefully study the style of foreign tourists - guests of the Northern capital.

Soon she could distinguish the French from the Italians, and the Americans from the Scandinavians, etc. Of course, she liked the style of the Italians the most. And it was their images that she loved to study with special care. She liked everything about them: the combination of colors, jewelry, and other accessories. And the worst, in her opinion, were the Americans.

Choice of profession

Of course, the parents wanted to see their daughter as a doctor. Therefore, after the 8th grade, the girl entered a medical school in order to continue her studies at the institute. However, she understood that it was not her business, that she preferred to sort out clothes, combine different elements of the wardrobe with each other, and select accessories. She wanted to work in a fashion store, although there were practically no such stores in the country where she lived. However, parents believed that this was an unworthy profession for their family, and that trade workers eventually ended their careers behind bars.

Case

And just then, when the family decided to leave the country and go to Israel, the opportunity turned up. The girl had to fly to Vienna first, and then transfer to a plane to Tel Aviv. But she never flew to Israel.

Caught inthe capital of Austria, she went straight to her beloved Italy. Rome seemed to her a fabulous city, a real paradise for a lover of fashionable clothes, which was Alla Verber. The biography of the girl from that day headed in the right direction.

Career start

The first thing she did in Rome was go to Via Vetto and try to get a job in a clothing store. She knew neither Italian nor English, but her good looks, braid below the waist attracted a manager who hired her and was not mistaken. Here she learned a lot, tried to absorb everything like a sponge. Then her father told her to get ready to go with the whole family to Canada. Despite the fact that she did not want to leave Europe, nevertheless, Alla this time was more accommodating. They settled in Montreal, the most European city in Canada.

In Canada

There were many boutiques, restaurants and shopping malls here. She was 19 years old, and she believed that she had quite a lot of experience in the fashion business behind her. Despite the fact that she spoke English very poorly, she was nonetheless taken to a clothing store. And here she was able to show off her knowledge of fashion. In the days when Alla worked in the store, sales increased significantly. And all because she dressed the mannequins very beautifully, and when they saw them, the buyers asked to sell them everything that was in the window.

From here, Alla was sent to Milan and Paris to negotiate with famous couturiers regarding the supply of fashion collections.

Own business

Through sometime, having acquired connections, Alla Verber decided to open her own store in Montreal, then there was the second and third. Soon she received an invitation to one of the largest companies in the country - Kmart, which had 124 stores throughout the country. Upon learning that she was Russian, the owner instructed her to go to Moscow and take control of the production of towels at one of the capital's factories. She, of course, was unbearably bored at work, and then she was invited by Mercury, whose face today is Alla Verber. Almost simultaneously, she became a fashion director and chief buyer at TSUM.

Daily routine

Today, Alla Konstantinovna travels for 8 months out of 12, or rather, happens on business trips. If she is in Moscow, then her working day ends at 10 pm, and after that she begins to communicate via Skype with America. Then he works until midnight. Alla's morning starts at 7:30. During business trips, you also have to get up early in order to have time to prepare for shows or business breakfasts, which usually start at 9:00 in the morning. It happens that she manages to watch up to a hundred shows in one trip.

Private life

While living in Canada, Alla Verber met her future husband. They lived together for 3 years in New York. They had a daughter, Ekaterina. However, after a while the couple broke up, and Alla again went into free swimming.

From New York, she returned to Canada and settled not in Montreal, but in Toronto, where she founded her first boutique, which she named inhonor to the daughter of Katia of Italy. Further, as you already know, she was offered to become a representative of the K-Mart company in Russia, and she agreed. It was 1994. After her arrival, she met a man who became her second husband. Businessman David Averbakh is the president of a large food manufacturing company. She is happily married, although she has no common children with David. But Katya had two beautiful daughters, and today Alla Konstantinovna is the most businesslike, but loving grandmother in the world.