Website: www.singledress.com

Galina Sobolev - Designer Bio

(Los Angeles, CA.) - SINGLE, is an unapologetic stand for the individuality of style and confidence.

Co-founded by Galina and Michael Sobolev, single was conceived to reaffirm every woman's zest for life, romance and luxury.

Fashion and style run deep in Galina's blood. As a child in her native Russia, Galina learned from her grandmother, a well respected dressmaker, who had her own atelier in a glitzy neighborhood in Odessa.

There, just steps away from the Opera House, Galina spent her early years learning how to sew and crochet. She assisted her grandmother in making beautiful clothes for the stylish ladies, wives of diplomats and government officials. Even today, Galina cites this as a profound influence in her life, recalling the supple garments and colorful fabrics she used to play with.

In 1977 her family moved to New York where she shortly thereafter enrolled at the Fashion Institute of Technology. She participated in the school's exchange program which enabled her to spend a year and a half in England to study knitwear. Upon her return to the U.S. she earned two awards from FIT for her graduating collection. During this time, she also got into modeling, walking the New York runways alongside Pat Cleveland and Iman for such designers as Michael Vollbracht and Michael Kors. This phase in her life was equally inspirational as she experienced the glamour of club life at New York's hotspots such as Studio 54, Xenon, Limelight and Danceteria. Following her modeling stint, Galina returned and worked for a manufacturer who produced exclusive knitwear for Marc Jacobs and others.

Galina moved to Los Angeles in 1987 where she continued to work in fashion, designing for several well known fashion lines. But it was her meeting with her future husband Michael Sobolev, in what she describes as a fairytale-like situation on Christmas Eve of 1992 that truly changed her life. The couple proved to be such a great match that they extended their personal relationship to include a professional one. Michael's entrepreneurial skills and MBA degree together with Galina's talent made a perfect formula for starting a company of their own. They started in 1994, with Michael taking the business end while Galina focused on the creative aspect of designing gorgeous printed silk chiffon dresses. Two years into the venture, major stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Fred Segal picked up the line, and, based on their overwhelming reactions to her designs, Galina and Michael decided to streamline the collection into a label they named single.

single offers the very latest in fashion trends with a fresh and unique interpretation. Combining classic luxury with an exuberant attitude, single is fabulous fun in lavish fabrics, from delicate silks to the softest cashmeres. Its one-of-a-kind prints are developed from original artwork, in coordination with art studios in Italy and France. When you wear single, you possess an optimistic outlook and a strong sense of self.