On March 17, the 38th Ukrainian Fashion Week launched the project “Ukrainian Battle of Tailors” on the initiative of Charisma Fashion Group and with informational support from the newspaper Den and the 1+1 TV channel.
Three Ukrainian tailors – Eduard Kulbachenko, Oleksandr Ihnatiev, and Roman Demidov – were making man’s suits nonstop according to all custom tailoring standards at Homme Space, Mystetsky Arsenal, for five days in a row. To show his mastery in making a man’s suit, the tailor should use as a model a man with a not-so-standard figure. Guided by this rule, the organizers chose the models: Yurii Horbunov, a 1+1 TV channel presenter; Viktor Kardash, an ATO veteran, participant in the specialized project “Winners;” and Yurii Marchenko, editor-in-chief of the online magazine Platfor.ma.
Meanwhile, the jury (Kateryna Vozianova, owner of the Indposhiv custom tailoring shop; Andrii Zdesenko, founder and owner of the Charisma Fashion Group boutique chain; Yaroslav Lodyhin, founder of the Aristocrats radio station; and Andrea Luparelli, men’s style specialist, owner of a Rome tailor shop) were rating the tailors not only by the mastery of sewing, but also by the individual feeling of style in each of them.
Eduard Kulbachenko (EK Bespoke Studio menswear shop), who was dressing the TV presenter and showman Horbunov, won and received a cash award of 25,000 hryvnias. In principle, one can also have a good men’s suit made at the Indposhiv shop, the project’s partner, for the same amount of money: 12,500 hryvnias need to be paid for master’s work and the same amount for the fabric. But, as the project initiators admit, the main goal was not so much to let tailors do the job as to receive media coverage.
The project models also received gifts for their “work.” The suits made for them as part of the project will remain in their wardrobes.
COMMENTARIES
Andrii ZDESENKO, founder and owner, Ukrainian boutique chain Charisma Fashion Group:
“Iryna Danylevska, Volodymyr Nychyporuk, and I hit upon the idea of this project when we were having a cup of coffee. We were discussing what we could do to popularize men’s fashion in Ukraine, for 99 percent of the UFW accounts for women’s fashion. I suggested holding a competition of tailors to diversify this fashion show.”
Kateryna VOZIANOVA, founder, handmade menswear tailoring shop Indposhiv:
“There are a lot of talented tailors in Ukraine, but no one knows them, and they have no funds to hype themselves up. That’s why many people think that Ukrainian tailors are just ‘something’ and it is better to turn to Italian and English masters.”
Bruno BALZAN, regional manager, textile producer Dormeuil, France:
“We have been on Ukraine’s market for 20 years, working with tailoring shops and tailors only. The Eastern European market is very interesting to us because there is a tradition here to custom-make menswear. There are well-developed tailoring shops here. In spite of a crisis, the sales of our textiles in Ukraine have not dropped but have in fact increased.”
