The last time Ukraine Fashion Week (UFW) was held in Kiev was in 2022, before Russia invaded the city and began its ongoing war. But now, after retreating to London, Paris, Copenhagen or Berlin for three seasons, Ukrainian designers will relaunch their collections there from September 1 to 4.
“There is no such thing as a right time,” said Tetyana Chumak, founder of women’s clothing brand TG Botanical. Her brand had staged fashion shows in Copenhagen for five seasons before Russia invaded Ukraine, and she wanted to align her responsibly sourced and upcycled branding with Copenhagen’s strong sustainability credentials. “We have been trying our best to ensure the visibility of the Ukrainian brand and Ukraine itself on the global stage,” she said. She added: “Of course, now is not the time for parties, but it is the time to showcase, introduce and support our Ukrainian industry as much as possible. ”
Around 50 brands will participate in this Ukrainian Fashion Week, centered around the Mystetskyi Arsenal National Museum of Art and Culture, where most of the shows and presentations will take place. These include internationally renowned designers such as Ksenia Schnaider and Ruslan Baginskiy, as well as Mini and Kronenbourg, and Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska – a supporter of Ukrainian fashion – has produced a promotional video to support the campaign. Fashion week events.
We want to speak out in different languages so the world can see us, hear us, and appreciate our resilience.
Iryna Danylevska
“First and foremost, we are doing this for Ukrainian designers and the Ukrainian fashion industry,” said Iryna Danylevska, founder and CEO of Ukraine Fashion Week. “We want to use our voices in different languages, as journalists report on ongoing military incidents and tragedies, so that the world can see us, hear us, and appreciate our resilience,” she said. “We hope that Ukraine Fashion Week will With widespread media and community attention, it will be a source of inspiration for the entire country.”
Security Question
Although much of the war has been concentrated in eastern Ukraine, organizers and designers of Ukraine Fashion Week (UFW) acknowledge that Kyiv is always at risk of air strikes. The most recent airstrike, on July 8, hit a children’s hospital in the city and killed 44 people, according to Reuters. (Russia denies launching the attack.)
The strike occurred just 500 meters away from the studio of Ukrainian brand Frolov. “We could feel the shock of the attack on our walls,” said brand founder Ivan Frolov. “War is always a challenge, but as long as we keep doing this, I understand that nothing is impossible for my team and the Ukrainians. This has become the new normal and we have to keep moving forward.”
To ensure the safety of Ukraine Fashion Week, the main venue has air-raid shelters, while all external venues selected by designers are also equipped with “shelters at a distance of no more than 500 meters,” Danylevska said. “We hope that all the brands on the calendar will not be interrupted by air raid sirens and missile attacks, and will be able to introduce and showcase their collections smoothly.”
The “new normal” also brings practical challenges. Since Ukraine is still on the red travel list or travel alert of major countries such as the United States, United Kingdom and China, most of the attendees will be from Ukraine itself. In the absence of international buyers, for participating brands, the significance of Ukraine Fashion Week (UFW) is to enhance the visibility of the Ukrainian fashion industry in the international media while obtaining some orders from domestic buyers.
Ukraine’s current lack of air freight routes makes distribution costly and time-consuming, while energy constraints also mean brands must use generators to run their production lines. Frolov said that this not only consumes energy but is also “very expensive and eats into profit margins.” Still, designers found that holding fashion shows in Kiev went relatively smoothly because of the support and enthusiasm of the local community, as well as their familiarity with the city, which was much better than when they held shows in other cities during the war.
return home
Frolov, a favorite of American singer Sabrina Carpenter, has not been exhibited in Ukraine since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020. Following the invasion of Ukraine, the brand moved to London Fashion Week, where it held shows for three seasons. Frolov currently has 17 dealers. However, lacking the resources to relocate the business to another country, the designer and his team remained in Ukraine, continuing to run the brand from their studio in Kiev. With the war dragging on far longer than he expected, Frolov decided it was time to return to the capital for a big show, and he prepared a special performance based on the Ukrainian fairy tale “Ivasyk-Telesyk.” People from the Ukrainian arts scene, including film and theater directors, artists and make-up artists, were invited to celebrate the local arts industry.
“At the beginning of the war, we all felt that fashion week should return after victory (in Ukraine), but a year ago we (Ukrainian fashion) felt that something had to be done,” Frolov said. “Our goal is to show the international fashion community that these brands are still operating in Ukraine. Continuing is our way of survival. This is the channel through which we continue to communicate with the world.”
Our goal is to show the international fashion community that these brands are still operating in Ukraine. Continuing is how we survive, it is how we continue to communicate with the world.
For the designers of Ukraine Fashion Week (UFW), holding a show and publishing in Kiev is a major change compared with their most recent show experience. Ukrainian brand Bobkova last held a show in Kiev five years ago. The label has been published in Berlin since 2022 (with support from Berlin’s Ministry of Economics, Energy and Public Enterprises, which funds young local designers) and is currently sold in 10 stores, but has always planned to return to Kiev.
“We are very excited to publish our work in our hometown,” said founder Kristina Bobkova. “We hope to develop our business, sell more goods, and most importantly, open up new international markets. We hope that all Ukrainian designers will be able to get new orders for the new UFW collection in Kyiv.”
Bobkova’s show will be based on Ukrainian mythology, highlighting historical female images such as the mythical elf Mavka, “to spread Ukrainian culture to local audiences and international friends far abroad.” The show will be held at Hagia Sophia, where “It’s like a bomb shelter.” “Safety is of course a concern.” Bobkova added, “The production process is also very tricky. The craftsmen who used to work with Bobkova to make jewelry are now fighting on the front lines – we have lost too many of labor force.”
Boost domestic fashion market
In addition to raising awareness of Ukrainian fashion at home, UFW also aims to promote the development of the domestic fashion market, focusing on local buyers and stores. “After the Russian invasion began, the domestic fashion market saw a sharp decline. But now we can We see that the situation is slowly improving,” organizer Danylevska said. “Our goal is to support and expand domestic demand. We look forward to new contacts and new domestic orders.”
Danylevska said the UFW invited buyers from western Ukraine, regions such as Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Uzhhorod, who “supported Ukrainian brands with large sales during the war.” After the invasion, many Ukrainians left their homes in the east and moved to the then safer western regions. In addition, many large companies, manufacturers and brands have also moved to the west, further boosting support for local clothing stores and helping to sustain the activity of Ukrainian brands. “They have opened their own stores and showrooms in western Ukraine, supporting the entire industry. Even in this extremely challenging and difficult time, merchants have created new opportunities for Ukrainian designers to get orders locally and sales. Now, we invite them to UFW to express our gratitude.”
Women’s clothing brand Litkovska is one of Ukraine’s most famous export brands, with 40 dealers in 16 countries. It has been on the official schedule of Paris Fashion Week since 2017, and has also been published and exhibited in Copenhagen, Berlin and London since the invasion, as fashion councils across Europe backed Ukrainian brands and invited them to show. Brand founder Lilia Litkovska said she didn’t have to stage a show in Ukraine to advance her career, but she still wanted to return to her roots and built a show just a stone’s throw away from where she and her 50-person team work. A special device.
Litkovska said: “My production base is here, my team is here, I developed this collection in Kiev and also developed my career here.” For UFW, she will hold a new format about “Paris and Ukraine” “Dialogue Between” installation art exhibition, funded by the Ukrainian government. She remains tight-lipped on specifics, but the exhibition will take place on-site on September 4 at the brand’s new flagship store in Kiev, which is set to open later this year. She will then repeat the event in Paris at the end of September. “The reason for opening a flagship store in Kiev now is simple – I believe in my country, my people, my growth, and building a life here.”
Frolov is also eager to raise awareness and connect with the local community. He has invited artists, film directors and creatives from across Ukraine to the show and hopes to connect with local buyers and secure domestic distributors. But more importantly, he said, “The focus of this fashion week is to convey information. It is not just about clothes and shows, but to build relationships with large media, present important issues to the world, show the current situation of Ukraine, and reflect All the truth. “That’s why it’s such an important event for us, not only to support the industry but also to speak to the world.”
