6 o’clock in the morning, silence still reigns the Camphor trees-covered Nanhu campus of WTU. But Victor has already started to work in his office on the 3rd floor of the comprehensive teaching building of the School of Fashion.

Kuzmichev Victor, a pre-eminent expert in fashion science and engineering, a corresponding member of Russian Academy of Natural Sciences, and a professor of lvanovo State University of Technology, has been employed by WTU as a foreign professor ever since 2002. After that, his bond with  China  took shape. In 2012, Victor was admitted to the Thousand Talents Program of Foreign Experts. In May, 2015, together with 40 other Russian experts, he was warmly received by the Chinese President Xi Jinping in Moscow and granted “China-Russia: Everlasting Friendship Gold Award”. In 2016, he was granted the “Chinese Government Friendship Award”, becoming the first foreign expert in Hubei to win this laurel.

“Why WTU?” he was often asked. “Because of the deep friendship with Chinese people”, he always answered without hesitation.

When Victor first came to WTU in early 2002, he sprained his Achilles tendon accidentally. Fortunately, everyone, from teachers, students to hospital staff, cared for him warmly. Considering his injury and language barrier, WTU students helped him with almost everything in his daily lives. And his Chinese colleagues often accompanied him to do exercise and familiarize him with the campus. Recalling these, Victor was full of gratitude: "It is because of their friendship and goodwill that I stayed in China for 17 years."

In return, Victor brought the top professional technologies to China . "The clothing science and engineering industry that Victor engaged in also paid great attention to the impact of clothing design on human comfort apart from the traditional fashion trend analysis. In recent years, he has been committed to promoting 3D measurement technology in China . As such, WTU has progressed leaps and bounds in clothing design and engineering, building a world-leading scientific research platform and making a qualitative leap in the field of clothing digitalization. "said Xiong Zhaofei, the then Dean of the School of Fashion. At WTU, Victor led students to do a large number of works about the measurement and collection of 3D human data, providing salutary lessons for the Chinese garment factories.

In his 17 years of teaching, Victor has trained more than 50 masters and nearly 10 doctors in the field of clothing for China . He has directed a number of WTU teachers and students to achieve outstanding results in international fashion design competitions. Now, his students are either continuing their studies in top-ranking foreign universities, or promoting Victor's expertise in first-class garment factories, or teaching at Chinese universities to spread his brilliant ideas in fashion engineering. In terms of the outstanding performance of Chinese students in the field of fashion, Victor proudly said that WTU teachers and students were exceptionally hard-working and he’d like to have them as students forever.

As a member of the thesis defense committee of Ivanovo State University of technology, Victor will fly to Moscow once every year before returning to WTU to teach. Victor said, “Working in China for 17 years is enabled by both ties of fate and the long history of friendly exchanges between China and Russia . It is the profound friendship that helps us build understanding, lend assistance, and make progress together.”

"For me, China is already my second home. Although I speak little Chinese, I know that there is an old saying in China - it's great to have friends coming from afar. “Victor, a friend from Russia , is a shining example of and will continue to bear witness to the deep Sino-Russian friendship.