The organizers of the 10th Ukrainian Fashion Week are already claiming that their annual fashion event was both a success and a real celebration. “Ukraine has formed a team of designers with a characteristic style. The only thing we don’t have, in comparison with the outside world, is that there is nothing with which to bolster our names. In other words, fashion as a business is still in its infancy here. What we have is more of a show, but an unforgettable one,” says fashion analyst Viktoria Andriievska.
The very fact that Ukrainian designers are opening their own boutiques abroad is ample proof of their high dressmaking and advertising skills. “I remember Lilia Pustovit and Serhii Bykov’s first show. Today there is an altogether different picture; it’s much better and more interesting. I’m talking about both the collections and our growth as designers. Fashion Week is attracting more attention now. We are managing to attract bigger audiences and more designers. There is also a corps of professional people who know how to write about fashion; there are also buyers whose numbers are constantly increasing. The Ukrainian fashion industry is making tremendous strides,” says designer Andre Tan.
In keeping with tradition, Ukrainian Fashion Week was opened by Lilia Pustovit. Oksana Karavanska, Victoria Gres, and WAWA, also fixtures on the designer circuit, presented their collections on the first day of this fashion extravaganza.
As usual, Oleksii Zalevsky impressed us not so much with his models as the staging of his show. The whole catwalk was decorated with candles, but he went one step further: he placed large candles on the heads of his graceful models, which created a stunning effect. The well-known literary character, Baron Munchausen, inspired the designer to create a collection that features elements of rococo and “the incredible lightness of being.” Luxurious skirts, Gobelin sleeveless jackets, and sporty guipure jerseys are featured in the spring/summer 2008 collection.
This year’s Fashion Week featured the Ukrainian DFurs label, which is exclusively associated with fur, additional proof that Ukrainian fashion is evolving. Their collection is unique for its use of furs not usually seen in our country. Processed in a special way, these beaver, raccoon, and embossed mink furs are very soft and shiny. Claiming that fur boosts femininity, the designers of DFurs offer an array of original items, including mink purses and knitted trench-coats with fur collars.
While this collection of black, gray, and white tones had a calm and refined look, Natalia Hlazkova’s show was a burst of avant-garde. The show’s concept was clearly reflected in a geometrical pattern set like playing cards against a backdrop of bright incompatible colors, while prints with fragments of avant-garde paintings only made the collection look more unconventional and unreal. In creating this kind of collection, Hlazkova never expected that it would spark a brisk demand because she thinks the Ukrainian consumer is not mature enough to accept avant-garde fashion.
Fashion analyst Sophia Zabuha agrees. “Our public is really not prepared for avant-garde fashion to the extent that it is accepted outside Ukraine,” she says. “On the other hand, the avant-garde and fashion are entirely different things, and this is not what we should strive for.” UNIAN press agency president Iryna Herashchenko, a Victoria Gres aficionado, is far from an avant-garde buff. “Everybody has their own idea of what avant-garde is. For example, I am a very conservative person, and when Gres forces me to hang some detail on a suit, I consider this crazy avant-garde. Unfortunately, designers often forget that collections should be wearable, that our life is very far from avant-garde, and that we want to have all- purpose garments that we can wear to work during the day and meet our friends or even attend an evening event. What I appreciate in our designers is their ability to understand the customer and, secondly (this is what I value in both Gres and Pustovit), their emphasis on the content of a collection, not just the form. It is not true that only form determines fashion,” she says. Fashion depends not only on fashionable and unfashionable colors, forms, and designs. There should be an absolutely philosophical approach to haute couture, which should not be completely materialistic. Zabuha is thus tipping her hat to such designers as Pustovit and Gres.
Gres seems to have taken seriously to punk culture, filling her second collection of the Viktoria Gres Denim line with notable characters. The staging is also impressive: last year the group Borshch put on a live performance during her show. This time we saw the gypsy punk- rock group Gogol Bordello and black- clad models wearing Goth makeup and big Chinese checkered bags. The collection was dedicated to immigration from the 1920s to the present.
A national esthetic tour de force at Ukrainian Fashion Week was the show of fashions designed by Roksolana Bohutska, who based her collection on original old beaded and embroidered blouses from the Bukovyna region and the Borshchiv area. “This not Ukrainian folk kitsch,” Bohutska insists. “These are style elements that we can fully use today in dresses and blouses. This is my umpteenth attempt to draw attention to ethnic Ukrainian culture.” The real masterpiece of the collection was a custom- ordered wedding dress sewn together from five ancient embroidered blouses.
This attire deserves a proper place in a future museum of Ukrainian fashion. In my earlier articles on Ukrainian Fashion Week I reflected on whether Ukrainian fashion has matured and whether it is desirable to create a fashion museum in our country. Some well-known fashion designers agree heartily. “Why not?” says Zabuha. “On the one hand, Ukrainian fashion is very young, but on the other, it is already 10 years old, the very age when vintage models appear, which deserve to be exhibited and admired.”
Herashchenko says: “I think every fan of a certain designer has a kind of mini-museum. My personal collection includes a few Gres pieces that look like museum exhibits. One of them is a pink coat festooned with ethnic-style sequins. When I was the president’s spokesperson, I always wore it to events where the dress code called for Ukrainian national attire. If a museum like this were established in Ukraine, I think it would gladly take this coat, although it would be hard for me to give it away.”
Foreign designers are also making their presence felt in Ukraine. Last year German designer Annette Gertz showed a collection in Ukraine. This designer, whose items are sold in 500 exclusive boutiques all over the world, admits that she is incapable of creating brilliant things. Her calling card is minimalism, calm colors, and comfortable wearability. Her current collection still follows trademark traditions and is noted for its blend of suede and knitwear.
“HIV-positive people have the right to be happy, because an HIV diagnosis is not the end of life” is the motto of a new collection created by 38 Ukrainian designers associated with the Love Fashion AID project. Despite the depressing subject, this must have been Fashion Week’s most optimistic show. Oleksii Zalevsky, Love Fashion AID’s producer, tried to turn it into a celebration for the audiences and participants, and he succeeded brilliantly. While red colors predominated last year — a clear warning of danger — this year we saw white dresses, sincere smiles, and happy families. Wedding dresses by Anna Babenko, Anna Bublyk, Mikhail Voronin, Khrystyna Husina, Oleksii Zalevsky, Lilia Pustovit, Andre Tan, and many other designers will be sold at a charity auction, and the proceeds will be used to assist HIV-positive people.
“We have to keep reminding the public that Ukraine has the highest rate of HIV infection in Europe today. While AIDS is the illness of a concrete individual, the HIV epidemic is an illness of the entire society,” says Olena Franchuk, founder of Anti-AIDS Foundation, “and the celebrities who walked down the catwalk demonstrated their social stance. This gives me hope that our entire society will change in the nearest future.” Among those who appeared on stage were Ukrainian stars of show business, some representatives of the gay cultural scene, and people suffering from HIV and AIDS. During last year’s charity auction the foundation raised more than $200,000. These funds helped provide assistance to two families that adopted eight HIV-positive children. “This was an unprecedented thing in Ukraine because HIV-affected children had never been fostered before. Part of the money was used to launch a project aimed at supporting sick children through donations to bank accounts, setting up a playground at Kyiv’s Berizka orphanage, and funding summer holidays for orphans from Odesa, Poltava, and Kyiv,” Franchuk added.
The organizers of Ukrainian Fashion Week dedicated the last day to menswear trends in the spring/summer 2008 line. As usual, the designers offered multicolored outfits and interesting sports clothing featuring studs, zippers, and pockets. Designers say that the creation of an ideally dressed man depends 50 percent on textiles. They should be expensive, high- quality, and always made of natural fibers. Are Ukrainian men satisfied with Men’s Fashions? Below some Ukrainian designers talked to The Day.
Mikhail VORONIN, designer:
“I like modern men’s fashion a lot. First of all, young Ukrainian designers are choosing up-to-date trends and their styles are very impressive. I would have to single out the collection by Tetiana Ostroverkhova and Viktor Zavadsky. They have come up with a line of outfits for men who like to work out. Very few designers have ever done this because it is very difficult. They took a risk and succeeded. Although Ukrainian-designed clothing is not being mass-produced, an attempt has been made to raise standards, which is very important. In the past 10 years, Ukrainian designers have largely succeeded in improving the clothing culture in Ukraine and not just in our country. A lot of foreign designers keep coming here to see Ukrainian clothing, and they are robbing us of talented people. I am pleased that these clothes are designed for young avant-garde people and those who are young at heart.
“I would advise Ukrainian fashionistas to fill their wardrobes next year with clothing that will keep their spirits up. We are gradually dropping sad-looking pieces from our shows. I would also love for our serious clothing to look bolder and brighter. The main problem is that we offer custom-made clothing, only for the catwalk. It is very good to show things at a fashion show, but we need wearable clothing.”
Volodymyr NECHEPORUK, general producer, Ukrainian Fashion Week:
“I am 100 percent not satisfied with the menswear that our designers offer. Oddly enough, menswear is more complicated. And because our men spend less money on buying clothing, it is not a profitable business. But when we organize Men’s Day during Ukrainian Fashion Week, we try to give equal time to women and men. It’s unfortunate that Sasha Hapchuk couldn’t take part this time because of circumstances beyond his control. We need labels that would cater not only to the arty crowd but ordinary men, who can’t afford outrageous clothing but who like fashionable clothes. I am all the more pleased that Soboleva- Vronska is back. I was very disappointed with the men’s fashion day because men’s heterosexuality was not always taken into account, and the collections that were shown are not designed for men who have to go to work and who are somewhat older than 25.”
Stas YANKELEVSKY, writer and host of the TV program Fashion Time:
“I don’t think so. Most Ukrainian designers are still offering custom-made items. Very few of them do mass production. The same applies to men’s fashion. It draws less attention because men are more conservative and they experiment with clothes far less than women do. It is more difficult to work for designers who make menswear and more difficult to earn money. It’s a vicious circle.
“Everything depends on the willingness of Ukrainian men to experiment — this is a global trend. And if money is not a problem, conservative men in high positions can afford to put on something bright and untraditional. For example, Hapchuk creates a lot of interesting things. In terms of creativeness, Ukrainian designers are capable of showing menswear in an interesting but narrow light. The point is whether the Ukrainian consumer is ready for this.”
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This year’s Fashion Week opened with an exhibit marking the 50th anniversary of Italian fashion and closed with a gala show of popular Italian labels. For 55 minutes Ukrainians had a chance to see clothing designed by Valentino, Gattioni, Lancetti, Ferrera, Brioni, Armani, Cavalli, Max Mara, and many other famous Italian designers. Jacquard with lurex, the smooth lines of satin, and textiles decorated with hand- painted watercolors were some of the fashions that caused a stir. Ukrainian specialists can proudly say that they are in no way inferior to their Italian counterparts. On the contrary: our designers’ collections were much brighter and fresher, and their dress designs were more feminine and original.
