To Russia with love: Shropshire designer enjoys VIP visit to Moscow
A Shropshire-born fashion designer was given the VIP treatment during a trip to Russia when her work was put on display in one of the country's biggest shopping centres.
Jane Woolrich, 60, designs lingerie and luxury nightwear and travelled to Russia to cement a decade long relationship with retailer Estelle. The Newport-born designer has also enjoyed success in Paris, Vienna and New York.
But despite her popularity worldwide, she hasn't found her following in her home country.
She said: "It was a very successful trip, we've been supplying Estelle since 2005 and they've asked me to go before. I haven't been able to find the time, so this year I thought I must do it.
"People in the UK don't spend as much on nightwear as they do abroad. It just isn't the same."
While in Moscow Mrs Woolrich attended various high profile events held in her honour.
Her work was also displayed in a huge exhibition which spanned the entire ground floor of one of Moscow's biggest malls, Modnyi Sezon, where Mrs Woolrich was on hand to pose for photographs with Estelle representatives and Russian film stars, including Olga Kabo, who has appeared in nearly 70 films.
Mrs Woolrich said: "It was amazing. I wasn't expecting that kind of treatment.
"I kept getting odd looks in the stores and I didn't know why until I realised there was a billboard of my face in the shopping centre."
Mrs Woolrich launched her company, Jane Woolrich Design, in 1985, after studying at Burton Borough School and Shrewsbury College of Art and Design.
She still returns to her Newport school to help them design dresses and costumes for their shows.
She said: "I've always been keen on art and I think the people that gave me confidence were the art teachers at Burton - they were very encouraging."
Mrs Woolrich still visits her mother often in Shropshire and said she has happy memories of the region.
She said: "My mum still lives in Shropshire so I visit as often as I can, and I've still got friends from school who live in Newport.
"I've got lots of lovely memories of Shropshire."
