Olga Alexandrovna Shepeleva-Voronovich

Who is Olga Alexandrovna Shepeleva-Voronovich?

Olga was the youngest of four daughters and apparently considered the ugly duckling, but she was very intelligent and industrious. She was a nurse at the front in W.W.I. and was awarded the St. George Cross for her service. She met her future husband Vladimir Khitrovo in Kiev during the War. They married during the Revolution and soon after followed the White Army to Kislovodsk where their son Sergei was born on July 18, 1919. She fled the Caucasus aboard the ship Hannover with the Prince MS and Princess VP Trubetskoi. She landed in Constantinople and stayed there for the winter departing for Marseille the following spring and from there made her way to Paris. In 1924 she established the Hitrovo House of Lingerie at no. 21 rue Saint-Augustin, near the Grand Opera.

Her lingerie was made only from the best silk with very fine embroidery. As a result many of her clients were wealthy Americans. Very few French women could afford her lingerie. Her business was so successful that she was able to build the family a mansion during the 1920s (designed by Vladimir's sister Lyubov) which was "furnished like an old Russian estate." Her business survived the stock market crash and she continued to do very well during the 1930s. Her designs were often published in magazines like Vogue at that time. The Hitrovo House of Lingerie remained open until 1956.

She had many emigres working for her. One of her models was Countess Marina Rehbinder for example. I wonder if Rita might have worked for her at one time?