6 Ukrainian Fashion Designers to Watch
In the past few years, Ukrainian fashion designers have emerged on the global stage: Paskal is a perennial presence at Colette; Yulia Yefimtchuk bagged the Jury prize at last year’s Hyeres Fashion Festival; and Vyshyvanka by Vita Kin counts Anna Dello Russo and Leandra Medine as fans. Here, six more rising stars of Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days.
Anna October
Anna October launched her eponymous brand at 19. Today, aged 25, she says her clothes are for “girls who act like ladies with elegance and a hint of craziness.” For Fall 2015, October created a collection of satin dresses, shorts and parkas embellished with hand beading and laser cut flowers. The collection is produced in-house in Kiev with French and Italian fabrics.
Photo courtesy of the brand.
Anton Belinskiy
Anton Belinskiy, who is on the short list for this year’s LVMH prize, designs patchwork, floor-sweeping dresses that resemble Matisse-style cutouts, and pairs them with mixed faux-fur coats and ‘80s retro knits. The designer cites industrial architecture, jigsaw puzzles and the country’s youth—who are keeping it cool despite the war and an uncertain economy—as his inspiration.
Photo courtesy of the brand.
DMDV Originally, Olga Demydova produced pieces for other young Ukrainian designers, but now she designs her own line of urban basics that come in psychedelic stripes, color blocking and vinyl. While Demydova only launched her brand last year, she’s already signed on to do a bag collection for Eastpak.
Photo courtesy of the brand.
Zirochka Ukraine Dariia Lagenberg is Estonian, but moved to Kiev to study filmmaking. For her debut Fall 2015 collection, she was inspired, “by a girl’s transition to womanhood,” a vision she made come alive through the use of hand embroidery, Greek draping sports-inspired color blocking.
Photo courtesy of the brand.
RCR Khomenko For Fall 2105, designer Yasia Khomenko used simple shapes as a canvas for hand painting and patchwork. The clothes are inspired, she says, “by a girl lost in the woods suffering stress and the interior battle, between her heart and lungs, as she tries to find a way out.”
Photo courtesy of the brand.
Ksenia Schnaider Ksenia Schanider bagged a prize from Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days this season for her collection of dresses and casual pieces in digital prints, which were inspired by Ukranian embroidery. By enlarging the patterns and breaking up pixels, she created a feminine camouflage juxtaposed with graphic shapes in bold black, orange and white. Schnaider is a best seller at Asthik, Kiev’s new concept store, which mixes Marni, Valentino, Opening Ceremony, Kitsuné and other top brands with new Ukrainian talent. She’s also selling on her site with a new customized dress concept that allows customers to select their own print and style combination.
Photo courtesy of the brand.
