The capsule collection Neskinchennist (Endlessness) of the X’U brand was created specially for the Chambre Boutique at the Vozdvyzhensky Hotel on Andriivsky Uzviz St. in Kyiv. It is based on the 2010
Spring-Summer Collection and was demonstrated by Ksenia Marchenko as the emcee and creative commander-in-chief during the Ukrainian Fashion Week this fall.
The bulk of the collection is rather laconic: woolen and silk dresses complemented by short leather down-padded coats kept in a dark range of colors, without frills, creating a clean silhouette whose immaculate style is strongly reminiscent of Michelangelo Antonioni’s The Eclipse.
Says Ksenia Marchenko: “When you see these clothes on hangers, they seem rather ordinary, but once you try them on, you discover unexpected nuances, like deep armholes emphasizing the waistline, revealing slits up the back. Such details are hard to notice until you put on the dress.”
Ksenia Marchenko and the U’X Brand represent the latest Ukrainian trendsetting generation, side by side with Oleksandr Kanevsky, Lilia Litkovskaia, the Kamenska-Kononova duet, and Artem Klimchuk. They are creating a new philosophy hitherto uncharacteristic of Ukrainian fashion. Their special worldview is manifested everywhere, from cut to the designer’s character.
The same is true of the world-reputed brands of Rick Owens and Gareth Pugh that are also displayed at the Chambre. Demonstrating her clothes on a par with such brands, known for their chimerical conceptualism and hi-tech approaches is for Ksenia Marchenko a step forward and doubtlessly an accomplishment. “Who but such renowned fashion designers can support our gifted youth?”
Vozdvyzhensky’s manager Inna Perevezentseva-Okatova asks rhetorically, adding, “Chambre Boutique is a place where everything is in motion, changing, being constantly replaced by something new, avant-garde; it’s a place where designers, trends, and brands meet. It recently hosted Fedor Vozianov’s collection. Our women enjoy buying Ukrainian fashion designs because each is top quality. I think Ksenia’s collection is like a fresh breeze, with clean and laconic lines. Her philosophy is felt in everything she makes. She has a great potential and she wants to keep moving forward. Just looking back at world brands would be wrong. Trends must be found at home.”
