Housed by Versace

The masterful art and design of Ilian Rachov has been influenced universally from North American Natives to Medieval Iconic Frescos. His influence on others is universal, from the homeless in Italy to the House of Versace.

BY CHRISTIAN ILES

From the communistic regime of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, a Master of the Arts was born. Ilian Rachov is a selftaught artist whose career started off in 1988 creating copies of medieval icons frescoes; as well as rediscovering and mastering the ancient techniques of gilding. Rachov’s work is currently in both fashion and home décor for the House of Versace. His many oil paintings and icons are in some of the most distinguished private collections, not to mention the property of hundreds of churches and museums across the World.

One would think such a masterful artist would be born into an artistic family; but Rachov’s father was an engineer and his mother worked at a publishing house. Yes, they provided him with a fine education with the focus being on art; but Rachov never thought in a million years that this would be his future. At a very young age he was obsessed with the North American Indians. He found himself painting all day and night. If not doing that, he was creating Indian clothes, feather crowns and arms. Rachov would spend entire weeks creating these outfits for him to wear alongside the construction of his very own tipi in his mother’s garden.

Rachov feels his true art career began around seventeen or eighteen where he had a fascination with the books of Carlos Castaneda. He states, “It was impossible to find them in the Bulgarian language because they were forbidden by the regime. So, I started to translate one of them, ‘The Journey to Ixtlan’ with the help of a big English- Bulgarian dictionary. This book opened my mind to see the world in a completely different way. I changed my interests and started to be curious about the “other world”; about the human capacity to change reality and direct my life so that I could better serve humanity by helping others.”

Rachov’s life truly began to flourish when he met Georgi Pemiklijski, who became his “maestro di vita” (life teacher). He taught and mentored him how to live life better and helped him with the skills to discover his life purpose. Rachov now believed, “my new dreams now were to learn how to become a healer. I wanted to heal people on the streets, but without them ever knowing. It was not easy at first; but I could feel that I was growing and developing the ability to heal others both physically and mentally. It’s impossible to be a healer without having a special capacity to heal. It's not a question of reading books or having lessons in the classroom, it's about looking within and discovering who you truly are and your life purpose. I want to help others discover that they too can heal within and help others.” According to Rachov’s teacher, the most renowned and influential painters, singers, and icons in the art community must have self discovery in their life and careers before they can truly have an unwavering resolution to succeed.

When Rachov was eighteen years old, he painted his first orthodox icon and sold it to an American tourist in Sofia. He now knew that he could make money from his artwork; thus, catapulting his desire and ambition to be a truly successful ‘selfmade’ artist. One day his teacher Georgi gave him some special advice, “why don’t you use more brilliant colors and do not change the faces of all the saints?” Rachov tried it and he now had a “boom of commissions,” he said. “I had so much work, so I needed to pay other artists to work for me doing the preparations of the paintings and I just did the final strokes on the faces.”

Over the many early years, Rachov had painted more than two-thousand icons on wooden panels with gold leaf. It was at this time that he was commissioned to paint frescoes and paintings for many churches and embassies; as well as to paint the official portrait of the Bulgarian First Lady Antonina Stojanova. It was always Rachov’s dream to move to Italy, and in 1999 that became reality. He was now able to see the most magnificent works of art that he had only seen as a child in the art books in the libraries. “I was now touching the marble monuments created by the old masters with my very own hands.”

When Rachov first moved to Turin, he was commissioned to do some very important work for churches and private collectors. Life just kept flourishing for him as his work was being admired and noticed far and wide throughout Italy. He was even hired to do some paintings and icons for the Vatican City. Rachov states, “soon after, I was hired as an actor to act as myself in the movie ‘Twice Born’ starring Penelope Cruz. I even painted a portrait of Ms. Cruz.”

One day, while working in his studio in Turin, Rachov received a phone call stating that they were from the head office of Versace. They asked him if he could be so kind as to travel to Milan for an art collaboration between him and the House of Versace. Why Rachov thought this had to be a joke; a friend pulling a stunt because they knew how much he loved Versace. Rachov was off to Milan but stopped about halfway there thinking this could not be the real deal. The following day of “the appointment,” Rachov received another call asking him if he had a problem or accident because he had missed the very important meeting. Well, the angels above must have been watching over Rachov because they made another appointment for him in Como to meet with the art director of Versace Home Collection. This was in 2003.

So, this was the beginning of his collaboration with Immagine S.r.l.; the company who produces the Versace Home Collection of cushions, bedspreads, silk scarfs, and other silk items for the collections. Rachov says, “It was a very happy and exciting moment of my art career because the company gave me all the freedom to create what I have always dreamed of creating, but in the Versace style as a pattern design for their collections. Now I was creating something that would be produced and sold all around the world; worn by Madonna and even Donatella herself among other major celebrities. It's a real pleasure to see your creation on the covers of top fashion magazines or in the videos on MTV. I believe I was the only freelance artist at that time to collaborate with the House of Versace.”

After Versace, Rachov created collections for a variety of brands including Silvio Fiorello, who is famous for his line of fine hand-made silk ties; as well as Aleksander Allembert who designs the most luxurious and beautiful hats, scarves, and umbrellas. Other collections by Rachov have been created for companies throughout Europe, America and Russia.

At this time, Rachov has his own collection of the finest silk scarfs, fine silk shirts, and jackets printed with his heritage designs. When asked about his new projects, he replied, “the world has changed so drastically the last couple of years, in some ways good and in some ways bad. Some of them I love. I truly don’t know what the future holds for me; perhaps it’s time for me to continue my studies of healing.”

CHRISTIAN ILES Hairstylist and makeup artist to the stars, is known as “The Beauty Architect '' among many notable celebrities, politicians, business people, and athletes. Iles has been in the beauty industry for over three decades. His passion for beauty and his deep appreciation of his clients throughout the years went into the creation of a luxury hair care line – Christian Iles Hair Care. Iles' and his work have been featured on every major network and many cable networks; as well as many national magazines throughout the United States.