A series of explosions, rather than a welcome party, marked the start of Ukrainian Fashion Week. Air raid sirens blared across Ukraine’s capital Kyiv for hours early on Monday morning, with a cascade of Russian missiles striking homes and vital infrastructure.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion on 24 February 2022, Ukrainian Fashion Week has been forced to relocate outside of the country, showing at fashion week events in Lisbon, Copenhagen, Berlin, Budapest and London. Now, as the event returns to Kyiv, it symbolises more than just the restarting of a fashion happening – it is a resounding statement of cultural defiance. “It’s very difficult right now to explain to people that war is still going on,” explains Ivan Frolov, founder of renowned couture-to-wear brand Frolov, after his show at the nightclub K41. “We’re working and trying to have a normal life, but 500 kilometres from our buildings, we have a frontline where our soldiers are fighting each day, and each day we have funerals in our cities. It’s our new reality.”
Frolov’s show saw the designer work with theatre director Ivan Uryvskyi to create a reinterpretation of the Ukrainian folk tale Ivasyk-Telesyk. “It’s a message about Ukrainian culture and the strong community in Kyiv. It’s my big, big thank you to all people for working and supporting our country and having companies in Ukraine that pay taxes to support our soldiers on the frontline.” Around 150 people worked on the presentation, with everyone from models, stylists, craftspeople, artists and photographers playing a role in putting on the show that included immersive live music and sharp cinematography. “It’s very important to show the world how strong we are and why they should fight for us,” adds Frolov. “Right now, I feel like our soldiers protect not just Ukraine, they protect the whole world.”
Ukrainian Fashion Week has long been a vital platform for showcasing the country’s burgeoning fashion industry and celebrating home-grown talent. In recent years, these craft skills have been applied to a different medium than fashion, illustrating the ability of the Ukrainian people to adapt. When the full-scale Russian war began, countless Ukrainian designers switched from manufacturing ready-to-wear to produce everything from camouflage nets to combat equipment.
There’s no question that getting the message of Ukrainian fashion and its cultural heritage to a global audience has become an increasingly hard task. Only a small handful of international media attend the shows, with the vast majority of guests being from Ukraine. Beyond the obvious risks from Russian ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, travelling to Kyiv from London requires a trek. With Ukrainian airspace closed to commercial flights, most journeys require a flight to Poland, a few hours on a train to the border city of Przemyśl, before switching to the Ukrainian-bound train stopping off at Kyiv, the fastest of which takes just under 10 hours.