Mom & Daughter Are Pearl City’s Own Designing Women

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Zhanneta Sharov (second from left) can create fantasy gowns, such as these modeled by Erin Moore and Christine Young, in as little as three days out of her home studio in Pearl City. Her sister Larisa Woltag (right) styles the girls’ hair and makeup. Photo by Byron Lee, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

On Lifetime’s hit shows Project Runway and Models of the Runway,viewers get to witness the behind-the-seams relationship fashion designers and models share, and Pearl City mother-daughter duo Zhanneta and Victoria Sharov know that what you see on reality TV is true to life.

Victoria, better known as Vika, got her foot in the modeling world when she was a student at Pearl City High. Upon seeing a display in a classroom offering the chance to win free modeling classes with Susan Page Modeling and a signing with Premier Modeling Agency,Vika decided to sign up a bunch of her friends as a joke. To finish it off, she put her name down, never imaging that she would get a call a few days later telling her she had in fact won.

However, she says her experience was less than model-esque, and so she took a year off to focus on school and work. Her “big break” came after being introduced to Tiffany “Tia” Tudor of Electrictia Photography and the online social network http://www.ModelMayhem.com.

“That site is what expanded my network,introduced me to a world of opportunities. It got me to where I am today,” Vika said from her current home base of Los Angeles.

Someone else who had a big influence on Vika was her mother, Zhanneta.

“I have always known my mother to be into fashion, always talking about the new fashions, and she always drew some sort of dress (for me) every now and then,” the 23-year-old remembered.

Zhanneta says she picked up her first needle when she was a young girl in Kaliningrad, Russia (formerly Keningsberg), dreaming up fanciful frocks for dolls. She later honed her craft at sewing school and during her years as a dancer with a touring ballet troupe.

“She was making costumes herself for the entire troupe, and it was a huge, huge troupe,“her older sister, Larisa Woltag, said.“I think it’s how she became creative very quick, because she had to create all the costumes on the road.”

After moving to Hawaii 10 years ago, she opened up her own alteration studio, Zhanneta’s Boutique & Alterations, which closed after the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

When Vika began modeling, Zhanneta decided to pursue her long-time dream of creating her own fashion empire, which she aptly named ZhanVi by Zhanneta Sharov.

“If you got idea, work is nothing,” she stated.“It’s not like work - it’s my life, my love, my children. And when I do my work, I think about my girls.

“You have to love what you’re doing.”

Since last year, she has participated in several successful showcases, including a fundraiser for Lupus Hawaii in April.

And there’s more to come. Zhanneta is just completing the final details of her second collection and intends to debut the 18-piece line in the near future. She also hopes to join her muse,Vika,in the City of Angels next year.

“I am glad she can finally get out there and showcase her designs,“Vika said.“I think not too many people know about her yet, but we will make it happen.”

To see more of Zhanneta’s designs, visit www.ZhanVi.com.