Leonid Maximovich Kudin was born in Rostov-on-Don in Russia into the family of a schoolteacher. He was fascinated by drawing and worked as a cartoonist for a local newspaper.
He emigrated with the White Army to Constantinople and then Greece, ending up in France where he worked at the Renault automobile plant.
Around 1930, he started a modest atelier of textile design in Paris. In 1933, he married Zinaida de Plagny, who had left Moscow in 1923.
They were quite successful and in 1937, moved their atelier to the most prestigious fashion street in Paris, the rue de la Paix. They had 15 employees. Their designs drew the attention of such fashion designers as Nina and Robert Ricci who asked them to illustrate their creations. Kudin's graphic manner was very popular.
Here is one of Kudin's fashion sketches from the Paris collections of 1938.
Unfortunately, Kudin's premature death in 1939 of tuberculosis, cut off his brilliant career. His wife continued his salon for some time in the 40's.