On the final morning of London Fashion Week, a trio of Ukrainian designers showed their latest collections in the Newgen runway space of the Old Selfridges Hotel: thousands of miles away from their hometowns and studios, and even further away from where they likely imagined they would be 12 months ago. (February 24 marks one year since Russia first announced the full-scale invasion of Ukraine that continues to this day.)
An initiative spearheaded by the organizers of Ukrainian Fashion Week and supported by the British Fashion Council, the significance of its timing didn’t go unnoticed. “It’s very important for us to show that one year on, we have not been manipulated by the war,” said Ivan Frolov of the brand Frolov, known for its corsets, crystals, and camp; all of which were very much present on this week’s runway. “We are so strong that, even under these terrible circumstances, the DNA of our brands hasn’t changed.”
While it would have been impossible to stage the show in Ukraine under the current circumstances, the majority of the fashion community there—even those who have relocated abroad temporarily—still have their studios, pay taxes, produce, and perhaps most importantly of all, have friends, family, and supporters still in their homeland. The showcase proved that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges, the designers’ spirits have yet to be dampened. “I’d be working in my studio and I’d hear rockets flying, or we’d have to run to the bomb shelter,” said Julia Paskal of Paskal, with a shrug. “But that’s just our lives now.”
First in the showcase was Kseniaschnaider, the Kyiv-based label launched by Ksenia and Anton Schnaider in 2011 that had been a mainstay of Ukrainian Fashion Week, and has been worn by the likes of Bella Hadid and Dua Lipa. The brand’s commitment to sustainability has seen them develop a distinctive aesthetic that is heavy on patchwork, asymmetry, denim, and sporty silhouettes; here realized in a collection that Schnaider noted was probably the most optimistic she’s ever made.
The Schnaiders moved to London in September with their family as part of the U.K.’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, but their studio remains in Kyiv, meaning extensive travel back and forth between the two cities for fittings and finishes to bring the collection to life. Still, the steadfast, resourceful spirit of the Ukrainian war effort seeped into the collection, however subtly: after a friend notified her that a menswear store owned by a family member would be shuttering due to the conflict, she went and gathered thousands of ties—no longer of use to the men who gave up their previous office jobs to resist the Russian invasion—and upcycled them into a range of precisely assembled skirts and blazers.
“For all of us, being creative is our way to escape the reality around us,” said Schnaider. “It’s healing for us, because our reality is dark—I think that’s why we all want to use bright colors.” Even with the overwhelming hurdles the team faced to bring their vision to life this season, Schnaider had lost none of her humor when asked how she felt now that the show was over. Did she feel relieved? “I need to see pictures first and make sure that everything looked perfect,” she said, with a wry smile. “Then I might feel relieved.”
As far as that upbeat spirit goes, few in London this week could have rivaled Paskal with her menagerie of butterflies of all shapes and sizes that decorated nearly every surface of her charming laser-cut tops and dresses. (Paskal has primarily traveled between Germany, where her family relocated, and her hometown and base of Odessa over the past year.) For Paskal, part of the thrill of participating in the showcase was to feel surrounded by a community again. “I’m proud to be here with my friends showing these collections, because we can all support each other,” she said. “Doing this would be impossible if it wasn’t for everyone around me here.”
For Paskal, the butterfly served as a potent symbol of her country’s resilience and regeneration over the past year. “It’s a kind of metaphor for both the fragility and beauty of life,” she said, “but I was also drawn to it in other senses: it has a naivety and a femininity and a sexiness to it too.” (Paskal’s was certainly the most whimsical of the three collections shown, with her butterfly mini dresses in powder blue and baby pink tapping firmly into fashion’s ongoing Y2K fever.) But Paskal’s technical wizardry with laser-cutting has served a purpose well beyond the runway, too: she has also used her studio and resources at points to make netting for the army. “That’s the kind of balance we all need to find to move forward to our victory,” said the designer.
Finally, there was the work of Frolov, another designer that’s been in the industry almost a decade—but who recently received a wave of new attention after Beyoncé selected one of his designs to wear for her much-anticipated performance at the opening of the Atlantis The Royal hotel in Dubai. (You might also have spotted his designs in the video for Sam Smith’s “I’m Not Here to Make Friends,” including the corseted hotpants with heart cut-outs that caused a stir in the tabloids when the visual dropped earlier this month.) For the collection he debuted in London, designer Ivan Frolov’s signature heart motif came in further daring cut-outs or bedazzled in Swarovski crystals, with the more playful details balanced out by a number of elegant, demi-couture evening looks that featured dramatic net drapes and meticulously cinched corsets.
Yet while Frolov’s priority was to show that his more outré design instincts wouldn’t be tempered by the circumstances of the war, he also noted that this week’s runway show served as a platform and an opportunity to remind the world that the war was far from over. “We want to reiterate that the Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline are protecting not only Ukraine but the whole world from this threat,” he said. “It’s been difficult at times, of course, but it’s a way for us to show how strong we are.”
Indeed, all three designers noted that they had initially been reluctant to continue with their brands in the face of the devastation that surrounded them at the outbreak of the war, but that they had ultimately made the decision that to do so would mean cowing in the face of Russian aggression. Snuffing out the spirit of the Ukrainian people—even just their creative spirit—would be a form of concession in and of itself. They closed the show walking on the runway, carrying the Ukrainian flag hand-in-hand, emblazoned with the logo of United24, the official fundraising platform for Ukraine launched by President Zelensky.
“I wasn’t sure until the very final days that we would be able to finish the collection because some days there is no light, no electricity for long periods of time,” added Paskal. “When I got to London, I was totally exhausted, but now I’m already filled with energy again because we did it—and we did it together.”
