Amid it all she has continued to build her collection of vintage pieces from all corners of the globe. When I was in Sergeis chteau, he wouldnt really let me do anything anyway. Alexandra worked closely with the London-based interior designers and decorators Emma Burns and Daniel Slowik of Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler Interiors from 2008 onwards to create her family home, where she lived for 12 years. On the order of the High Court, the family home was put on the market and Alexandra made a deal with the Russian government to drop her claim to his fortune. She was active as the Foundation's President and served as a fundraiser, a lecturer, and a writer until l976. Theres nothing phoney about it I keep it authentic. It was the love story of my life, and it did feel dangerous he was this very powerful person, and he did turn on me sometimes in the early days, but there was this drama of winning him back round; I didnt realise that this was all very dangerous abusive pattern., Alexandra believes Sergei spun a false narrative to malign her and distract from his own culpability for the disastrous failure of his business interests; particularly, Sergei blames his downfall on the fact that Putin supposedly disliked his marriage to a foreigner, which she frustratedly contests: Its a very narcissistic thing to do; he made up this whole narrative [in the documentary] which suited its all about belittling me, and by saying that particularly to his close family it gave them a narrative that it was my fault that everything had gone wrong for him; he blamed it on me, saying that Putin didnt like me. She says that every day is difficult, and I often dont sleep at night its that philosophy of dust yourself down, and carry on trying I dont ever stop putting myself out there and trying., In the past year, Alexandras rebuilt her travel company, which she founded before the marriage, built a fashion business, which Im told is going well, and been writing for lots of magazines; shes even made amicable progress with the Russian state, and has since returned without threat But it seems to me that her greatest solace in the idyll shes struggled to provide for her children: theyve got this big pond, and a rowing boat, and a little caravan, and a wigwam, and is rescued by the stillness of the country. Where I would usually be wearing some sort of boho embroidered dress before, it just wasnt formal enough, you needed couture. . Alexandra Tolstoy is leading a riding trip through Kyrgyzstan in June; from 3,598pp, full-board (ampersandtravel.com). Sergei Pugachev once owned two major shipyards, the world's biggest mine and large chunks of real estate in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as the Mezhprombank, which he co-founded in the 1990s. State creditors in Moscow pursued him in the British courts, claiming he embezzled hundreds of millions. A total of 130 items once displayed in the home, including a Scottish Regency bookcase, carved alabaster models and mid-20th century artwork will be auctioned at Christie's. I completely forgot that Id done these amazing riding documentaries, that Id been this adventurous person and those things suddenly seemed not very important because he kept telling me that they werent important and they didnt mean anything.. Standard Digital includes access to a wealth of global news, analysis and expert opinion. She sent a cheque for 5,500 from her last clear out. Shortly before her birth, Leo had almost stopped writing novels . We became addicted to travelling in this way. Shes kept a few special pieces. It was one of the first pieces that I bought and I bought it for practical reasons as well as aesthetic - its great storage! Showing Editorial results for alexandra tolstoy. Biographies of Teymuraz K. Bagration :::: Tatiana Schaufuss. After teenage years spent living mostly in one army surplus shirt and a pair of jeans, Tolstoys style horizons were expanded when she began her adventures in Russia, living like a heroine conjured from the imagination of her distant relation, the Nobel Prize-winning author Leo Tolstoy. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy was known for her remarkable calmness and dignity. Id never felt like that ever before, I was normally quite confident about the way I dressed., Her first taste of the oligarch life soon followed.That evening, President Sarkozy was giving a friend of Sergeis the Legion d'Honneur, and there was a party at the Elysee Palace, and obviously I couldnt go in my jeans and Uggs. [2] She is the older sister of Xenia Sackville, Lady Buckhurst. I think those prepared me more than anything, really., But, when Alexandra had first met Sergei, shed recently ended an unhappy marriage and fell very much in love with the oligarch, despite the potential risk involved with someone so closely linked to the elite levels of Communist politics: I was obviously a thrill-seeker; I loved an adventure and I loved the feeling of adrenaline and excitement. Alexandra Tolstoy Travel Offered in Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, 4-25 November, Online. Search instead in. The next year, I took a trip to Kyrgyzstan, which is better suited to riding because its mountainous and beautiful, and the horses are wonderful. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. The aristocratic beauty, 46, and her three children,Alexei, Ivan and Maria, were evicted from the south London mansion during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic after reportedly being given just 12 days notice by the Russian government, who repossessed the property. I wandered in and fell totally in love with all these amazing antiques.. When he fled to France in 2015, I ultimately felt such relief. I never failed to fill one. It was so enriching and fabulous.. It is not dated and is a little unusual and quirky with the beaded detail. A highlight is a 19th-century Russian painted pine model, below, of the Trinity Monastery of St. Sergius outside Moscow. She picks up the telephone, and I can hear the excited chatter of the children who are going into the sitting room to be read a Just William story by their grandfather. However, after allowing White Russians to meet in her Moscow home, she was arrested five times by the Bolsheviks and in 1920 was sent to prison for a year. Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler selling online at Christie's from 4 25 November, The comments below have not been moderated, By She was born on July 1, 1883, at her parents' Russian estate, Yasnaya Polyana, in Tula province, about 130 miles south of Moscow. If I look at my children, theyre incredibly curious about a lot of things Im not sure their peers would be curious about my oldest son is obsessed with carnivorous plants, and the middle one is making things all the time I think that, somehow, that aesthetic they sort of go hand-in-hand. By 2015, he was dividing his time between France and the family home in London and claimed to be number 3 on Kremlin's hitlist. 111K followers. [1] [2] [3] Biography [ edit] Premium access for businesses and educational institutions. I started Preloved by Alexandra Tolstoy with a friend we sell second-hand designer items via Instagram by doing this huge sale of my own clothes. One such piece is a Dolce & Gabbana star print dress (290, pictured up top), which she wore during a trip to Monaco in 2011, the same year she attended the wedding of Prince Albert II and Charlene Wittstock there. There are many treasured items that I sourced and selected over the years with the expert guidance of decorators at Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler. After visiting Sergei at their chteau in France, where he was physically violent towards her, locked their passports in a safe and smashed her mobile phone, Alexandra managed to return with the children to the UK and now lives between her small country cottage in Oxfordshire and their London townhouse, which she was forced to sell in a deal with the Russian authorities (though thankfully can remain in residence each month until it sells). Sign up for the latest news, offers and styles, Use left/right arrows to navigate the slideshow or swipe left/right if using a mobile device, The Tolstoy Edit x SJ Axelby Interior Portraits, choosing a selection results in a full page refresh. ", "The long Italian table - elegant and non-obtrusive, it was a fantastic background for photographs and pieces of Russian enamel that I had collected. When I was with Sergei, I stopped reading so much of that 19th-century literature which Im so passionate about With the life I live now, emotionally and mentally I can romantically dream and escape whereas then, it was so stultifying., I wonder if, like her fashion sense, her interior design interests were affected during her time with Sergei, as one might imagine they would be, but she says that they werent: Weirdly, the interior decorating never changed I could afford more things, but [Sergei] didnt really give me the opportunity to do very much the taste never changed there at all. Boards are the best place to save images and video clips. Alexandra on horseback in Kyrgyzstan. offers FT membership to read for free. With the help of Emma Burns and Daniel Slowik of Londons longest established interior decorating firm, Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler, the Anglo-Russian author and broadcaster created an interior that was warm, welcoming and a reflection of her unique sense of style. Tolstoy has been spending lockdown at her childhood home, posting glorious shots of herself baking cookies in a folkloric dress by Ukrainian designer Vita Kin and perched on the steps of a handpainted gypsy caravan in a dress by German label Horror Vacui, which specialises in delicate, super-feminine florals. But an experience like that opens your mind. Countess Alexandra Tolstoy, an aristocratic English woman, had her own fairy tale come true when she fell in love with the man of her dreams in 2008, an oligarch and one of Russia's richest. Everything was at her disposal: Private yachts, clothes, no-limit titanium credit cards. Its complete freedom. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Fly to Bishkek with Aeroflot (aeroflot.com). I wanted to cleanse that whole phase of my life and get back to who I really was, she says of her decision to sell off her designer wares. Now, I can be creative in a totally different way., Alexandra Tolstoy: An Interior by Sibyl Colefax & John Fowler runs 4-25 November, Online, Get the best stories from Christies.com in a weekly email, *We will never sell or rent your information. I did really lose myself in that period and Ive started dressing in a way that just wasnt me. Indeed, she has attracted such a sartorial following that last year, when she decided to sell some of the pieces from her former life, the interest was sizeable, prompting the Countess to launch a new online pre-loved fashion business, Preloved by Alexandra Tolstoy. Please, The subscription details associated with this account need to be updated. This house is a family home, says Alexandra Tolstoy of the beautiful six-bedroom Chelsea residence she converted from two adjacent artists studios. Talking about her pursuit of an exquisitely domestic lifestyle, Alexandra says that its not just aesthetic, it does also go with a kind of freedom of thought, doesnt it? I have a lot of energy. Influenced by Alexandra's Russian heritage and many years of travel on horse across Central Asia, The Tolstoy Edit embraces folk traditions and craftsmanship with their love of colour, pattern and texture. A superficial browse of Alexandras delightfully aesthetic Instagram page evokes the traditional rural cottage idyll; her three young children in shorts and little leather shoes reading or playing outside; carrying a roast goose to a carefully-decorated table for supper in a candle-lit dining room; nursing a cup of tea on a rocking chair beside the aga. We had unusual hanging space in Glebe Place - the huge windows meant there wasnt much wall space but what we did have was a big open wall and needed something on a similar scale. It was obvious that Alexandra had a completely new life with a huge staff: cooks, nannies, drivers. Now she still has use of their home in Chelsea, a converted artist studio, but she could be thrown out at any moment by the Russian government. My style reflects my journey. Estimate: 1,000-2,000. I was always scouring around. Images from the time show her looking the bohemian ideal, wearing romantic blouses whilst leading horseback tours through the wilderness. Alexandra Tolstoy wearing a Dolce & Gabbana dress now listed for 290 on her website Credit: Courtesy of Alexandra Tolstoy 'I wanted to cleanse that whole phase of my life and get back to. Featuring a classic Fair Isle jumper, snood, and mittens, along with this season's most coveted knit; a tank top. Its the reason shes been selling off many of the fashion relics of her old life, first with a sale at her Chelsea home, and now with a newly launched website where her own cast-offs will be sold alongside those of other stylish women including stylist Martha Ward and creative director and store owner, Alex Eagle. I think that probably this business partner had been the brains, and Sergei had been the power broker, Despite the tumult of threats, financial loss, and romantic decline, complicated with the duty of raising small children, Alexandra seems at harmony with her present situation, and this is thanks to her newly unostentatious lifestyle that of the billionaires wife just didnt suit her: My whole confidence got so smashed when I was with him; he was so very manipulative, very denigrating about my riding, my exhibitions, my travel and so, I began to focus on all these things which a normal kind of oligarchs girlfriend would focus on. It was also life-changing: a book deal soon followed, as did a brief marriage to an Uzbek showjumper. The pair met whilst travelling along the Silk Road on horse in 1999. Check if your [7] She worked as a lecturer on Tolstoy and as a Russian teacher,[6] and was supported by Japanese literary and academic circles. Grow your brand authentically by sharing brand content with the internets creators. Pugachev once owned two major shipyards, the world's biggest mine and large chunks of real estate in Moscow and St Petersburg, as well as the Mezhprombank, which he co-founded in the 1990s. university Alexandra spoke to Jenny Coad. Its a safari-type adventure; we stay in the most beautiful locations. After nearly 11 years, however, Tolstoy is moving on from the home she has so lovingly put together, and is now offering some of its contents for sale at Christie's. Until then, dressing up for Tolstoy had been more about style and craftsmanship than touring designer boutiques. It is also incredibly practical - it doesnt slip on the wooden floor and my children played on it everyday! Her travel business leading expeditions through the former Russian empire is on hold at the moment because of coronavirus and she has no help from Pugachev. Tolstoy is the daughter of Count Nikolai Tolstoy and Georgina Brown. Tolstoy also wanted to show support for the small labels she loves to wear now, so theres also a section with exclusive discounts for Alex Gore Brownes knitwear, Pink City Prints Indian-influenced cotton pieces and O Pioneers Laura Ashley-esque dresses. She tells me that Sergei did have really good taste, but, I was surprised to learn, collected artwork for its style, rather than for the sake of them being expensive pieces., Alexandra seems to be regaining her confidence since the ending of her relationship and peak surveillance a few years ago in the documentary, theres recent footage of her and her children riding scooters to school in the morning, something she never could have done a few years ago. The book details the difficulties she faced living in Russia during and after the revolution. As well as her own pre-loved pieces, there are also bargains from some of her fashionable friends, including Cond Nast Traveller's fashion director Martha Ward and chic interiors store owner Alex Eagle. The tycoon is in another legal battle with Russia in The Hague where he is suing the Federation for 11billion. Were still in touch now. Wed been educated in very different ways. It was amazing. I suppose that I was not very confident anyway, and I felt I needed to live-up to these very shiny, perfect girls and I was a bit Bridget Jones-like in comparison to them, so felt probably a bit inadequate I shouldve just carried on the way I was I didnt realise, but it accentuated how lost Id become, and it also made me much more dependent on him, so I think he liked it, because it isolated me from my family., She now considers the trappings of her private-jet-chic vulgar, and has since sold almost all that which shes kept, realising bogged down the luxurious tokens of her billionaire lifestyle: The really cathartic moment was last summer I thought I have to sell these ridiculous handbags, I have to sell them because theyre actually quite liquid its money that I can use to pay school fees and I can educate the children I suddenly managed to make myself look at them and think its not really me anyway.. 10:55 EST 03 Nov 2020 Obviously theres her Russian heritage, so we loved the idea of pattern and colour.. | Our privacy policy, Website design and operation by Nelson Fernandes Serrao. 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