No one in the entire 20th century or before, between, and after the two world wars ever succeeded in carrying out a project comparable to the one that was organized by a humble fifth-year Ukrainian fashion design student. “There has never been a show like this in Lviv,” said Halyna Zubchenko, a well-known Lviv artist and senior lecturer at the Clothing Design Department of the Lviv Academy of Arts. “Until now all the projects that have taken place, even the most successful ones, had a chamber quality to them. Petro doesn’t seem to be aware that this is a real triumph for him!’
Zubchenko is talking about Petro Lanko-Nesterenko, who has been dreaming about bringing well-known Western and Russian designers to Lviv since last fall. The project was successfully carried out by this modest student and his like- minded friends, without any start-up capital. They had nothing to invest in the project but sheer enthusiasm. Even an experienced person would not have dared contemplate organizing such an event. But our hero took some time off from school and charged with his saber unsheathed. If I had run into this young man of average height, with an air of romanticism and child-like naivety on his face, I would not have expected him to be the Petro who “woke up famous overnight.”
Lanko-Nesterenko was born under a lucky star. At the very moment that he was planning his great fashion event, the Leopolis exhibition hall was opened and started advertising. Not all the residents of Lviv attended the fashion shows. A 15-minute bus ride from the Opera House is quite a distance by Lviv standards.
Other journalists told me that now is the time to make friends with him because there won’t be any seats left at his next show, which will feature a 43- meter-long catwalk in a hall that seats 800. When his next show opens, there will be dozens of slick cars parked outside the hall, and all the neighboring streets will be crammed with them. There is no doubt that this modest student will manage to pull it off, judging by his achievement this time, when he started from zero.
It is a pity that none of the recognized Ukrainian designers who graduated from Lviv’s Academy of Arts came out to support Lviv Fashion Week. On the one hand, this is understandable because Kyiv Fashion Week is due to start on March 15, and its organizers do not encourage such apostasy, as confirmed by certain fearless individuals. Kostiantyn Ponomariov from Kharkiv claims that he deliberately chose a new environment for the acceptance of designers because he is tired of the usual round-the-catwalk glamorous crowd of Kyiv. How can one even consider the existence of any sort of rivalry? There aren’t enough shows like this in Ukraine, especially for minor design stars, who cannot afford the catwalks in Kyiv.
Among the designers who came to Lviv were Sanatan, Natalia Glazkova, and a handful of Polish, Croatian, and Hungarian couturiers. Some local Lviv designers enjoyed the opportunity to show off their wares. Fortunately, the Academy of Art is a good school. Next year the Clothing Design Department will mark its 50th anniversary, definitely a good reason for the founders of Lviv Fashion Week and the Academy to celebrate this date together.
“This year, unfortunately, we did not unite our efforts,” said Professor Zenovia Tkanko, who teaches at the Clothing Design Department. “It might have lifted the financial burden from Petro and his colleagues. Anyway, the Academy is ready to support such projects. What is done is done. One can talk about the need to be more selective in choosing collections for the show, but on the other hand, this is not a competition. A very adequate festival form has been chosen and it should be promoted.”
Meanwhile, Lanko-Nesterenko dreams of catching up on his sleep. Then he will calculate his countless debts. Luckily, he got some financial support from Lviv City Hall, which sponsors young people’s projects that are beneficial to the city. A lot of people are convinced that Petro’s project is not just useful but a huge triumph.
