Aizel Trudel launched her eponymous boutique in 2002 at the age of 25 and transformed it into an e-commerce platform for fashion and luxury goods — one of the first of its kind in Russia.
Born in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan and the daughter of a diplomat, Trudel attended the Moscow State Institute of Foreign Affairs before moving into fashion and working in PR, representing Thierry Mugler, Hervé Léger, Christian Lacroix and Donna Karan . During her time in PR, she came into contact with concept store Colette in Paris, which inspired her conceptualisation of Aizel.
Trudel reportedly persuaded her cousin's husband, a banker, to lend her $5 million for the endeavour, which she repaid with interest within a year, according to The Guardian. The site also received a substantial investment of $27.9 million from Russian asset management firm Bonum Capital.
“It was one of the few concept stores that existed in Moscow at that time; we were one of the first ones who brought all-American designers, Oscar [de la Renta], Marc [Jacobs], mostly all-American designers who had never been in Russia before,” she told American Vogue in 2016.
Trudel launched an e-commerce branch of the store in 2011, through which consumers can read industry news, receive a free styling service and pre-order new collections from the catwalk. The store represents over 700 global fashion brands online and ships to Russia and Commonwealth of Independent States countries. It currently has plans to expand into the US and beyond.
Trudel is also a representative for labels like Agent Provocateur and Christian Louboutin , and rents out commercial leases to luxury brands on the side. 2019 also saw the launch of the Russian Fashion Fund, a non-profit formed by the Russian Fashion Council and Aizel.ru, designed to streamline complex production and distribution services for Russian designers.
The entrepreneur is married to Louis Trudel, a Canadian architect and property developer who designed the Aizel’s Moscow stores, and has two children.
