INTERVIEW: Meet the Designers of Ukrainian Fashion Week
KSENIASCHNAIDER, Paskal and Frolov made their LFW debut this season.
Proving that their resilience knows no bounds, Ukrainian designers continue to create and innovate, despite the ongoing attacks on their home country. This season, Ukrainian Fashion Week partnered with the British Fashion Council and London Fashion Week to showcase the collections from its second international season in a joint showcase that drew inspiration from themes of positivity, resourcefulness and sexuality.
The showcase began with a poignant message centered around the power of Ukraine’s collective force, noting that “These collections are and will continue to be a piece of history, symbolic of the resilience and courage of Ukraine and its people.”
We caught up with this season’s incredible roster of talent, including FROLOV (whose designs have been worn by the likes of Sam Smith and Beyoncé) alongside KSENIASCHNAIDER and PASKAL, to find out more about the significance behind making their LFW debut and what it means to them to continue creating in a time of immense political unrest and tragedy.
Scroll down to read our interview.
KSENIASCHNAIDER
Kseniaschnaider
Tell us a bit about yourself and your brand.
My husband and I founded KSENIASCHNAIDER together in 2011 in Kyiv. We built our own production studio there, which specialized in upcycling old clothes and textile waste. We were pioneers in sustainable practices and continue to develop this approach.
How did it feel to be showcasing at LFW this season? Why was it important to you?
Having this show was so inspiring, honestly. I have been lost and depressed since February 24 and it was very hard for me to continue working because everything lost sense. This show gave me hope that we can overcome all challenges, we can create and bring joy and beauty to this world. I am very grateful for this opportunity and I hope it will open new horizons for us.
What can you tell us about the inspiration behind your designs for this collection?
The new collection is not only a celebration of joy and positivity but also a powerful symbol of resilience and resourcefulness. Part of the collection was made of vintage ties. This is a powerful symbol, as men in Ukraine no longer need ties – they are wearing military uniforms instead. We received a huge donation of unsold ties and transform them into skirts and blazers. Also in this collection, I work a lot with denim, knitwear waste and vintage sportswear. And this season we’ve expanded our collection to include women’s accessories – denim fur flats, denim patchwork boots and bags from eco-friendly materials, which were donated to us by Stella McCartney team.
What do you hope that people will take away from it?
I hope to inspire others to adopt sustainable fashion choices and promote a more responsible approach to fashion. And of course I want to show example that you can create and bring beauty and joy even when times are dark and your country lives in war. I want to show that we are strong and we are full of love. And I want people to feel it.
Finally, what’s next for you?
I really hope we can explore and play more with accessories. I want to become known not only for statement denim, as we have a lot more ideas in different areas.
FROLOV
Frolov
Tell us a bit about yourself and your brand.
My journey as a designer started before I could even properly read. I remember creating my first sketch on the cover of the chocolate bar when I was a tiny kid. And since then I had no doubt in the calling I have in my life, to become a designer. But I find a huge interest in it not just because of the sake of pieces on their own, but of an expression of the messages I want to convey. Since I founded the brand 10 years ago, with our collections we’ve been rising provocative and sensitive topics. For example, we’ve talked about transsexual culture, BDSM ethics and aesthetics, fetishism, LGBTQ+ movement, female objectification. We start each of our collection with a deep research and understanding of what we want to communicate with our collections and how we will do it.
How did it feel to be showcasing at LFW this season? Why was it important to you?
It was a great honour and achievement for our brand to be a part of the official schedule of London Fashion Week this season. Especially while we as Ukrainians are still fighting in the war Russia has started, it is so important for us to be cultural warriors and continue this talk about Ukraine in every way possible. We are happy to use this opportunity as a platform to represent Ukrainian talent, to show it to the world and continue spreading the message that we won’t give up on our main goal or what we’re doing in any circumstances.
What can you tell us about the inspiration behind your designs for this collection?
We love to give our collections names that reflect their main idea in a short form. The one we’re representing during London Fashion Week is named “Song to Song.” I was deeply inspired by authentic Ukrainian music I loved throughout my whole life. In childhood, we had a tradition of listening to those certain songs as a family, and it stays in my heart like the symbol of something very intimate, deep, and emotionally evoking. Songs accompany us throughout our lives, from the time we’ve been born to when we die, when we celebrate something or even have sex. And it is so interesting that a heart, a symbol of our brand, is the source of the song itself. It has a rhythm, its beat changes at different moments, and it can have a melody when you listen very carefully.
As each of us has a heart, it makes us all a song ourselves. Together we make a solo, a duet a triptych, and even an orchestra. And as a brand we’re deeply connected to music, working a lot with Ukrainian and international artists, we feel clothes best through a song. And when the heart of the piece syncs with a heart of the person, a new melody is created. From song to a song.
What do you hope that people will take away from it?
I hope it will evoke emotions in people, that’s my main goal here. And I know these emotions can be very versatile, but the main thing to me is reaching the hearts of the audience so that people do not stay indifferent.
Finally, what’s next for you?
In order to build and create what we’re aspiring to as a brand, I want to make it clear that first of all our main goal is to win the war Russia has started against Ukraine. Only when we’re a free and safe country can I continue to dream and realize all the plans I have in mind for FROLOV.
PASKAL
Paskal
Tell us a bit about yourself and your brand.
I’m Julie, I was born and raised in Odesa. Trained as an architect in Kyiv, making fashion, music, video clips and art.. now using all sources to support my country.
How did it feel to be showcasing at LFW this season? Why wa it important to you?
It was a big honor. I’m feeling grateful and proud to show my work on LFW.. and very happy to share it with my friends and designers, Ivan and Ksenia. We strive to create. Creating collections is our resistance to war. Today, more than ever, we need creativity. This fashion show on the London Fashion Week runway was our manifestation of will. It is the fulfillment of our strength and resilience. This is a reflection of the courage of all Ukrainians.
What can you tell us about the inspiration behind your designs for this collection?
The leitmotif of the “Out of the Cocoon” collection is a butterfly, as a metaphor of beauty and fragility of life. It’s a very special symbol for me. One look at butterfly wings can change everything. Once, this change was coveted, then it was forgotten, and now it feels unbidden and irresistibly true. The finiteness and eternity become evident, the transience of life makes it even more beautiful, and the order of things is a display of cyclicity. A butterfly carries the weight of these notions on its ethereal wings, being a symbol of transformative fragile beauty.
What do you hope that people will take away from it?
Emotions and understanding of how precious and beautiful life is by itself.
Finally, what’s next for you?
Keep on working, keep on creating and of course, I’m awaiting for the victory of Ukraine. It is a war for our freedom and our future. I want to raise my kids in peace.
