by Cherie Birkner

WHY EVEN CONTINUE FASHION?

Let’s be real for a moment; in times where our future as humans seems at steak and the fashion industry is at the forefront of climate crisis causes it is natural to question why we even continue to make fashion. “Canceling fashion would be like canceling art, poetry and movies” - Marcus Bergman, speaker at the Ukrainian Fashion Weeks BE SUSTAINABLE! summit. With fashion we shape and understand society. Fashion is and will always be a reflection of our time, we just need to foster more sustainable ways of realizing it.

Marcus Bergman grew up in a textile family. His father was one of the first to start farming organic cotton in South America in the 70’s. He has worked as head of sustainability for a large scale (fast) fashion house, and is now co-founder of One Dear Thing which has the concept of only selling one single sustainably produces product at a time. “Everything has an impact. So we need to ask ourselves the question is this product worth making?… If you take design seriously you realize its power.”.

A NEW CHALLENGE TO DISCOVER SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES

After 3 years of Berlin Fashion Week I was for the first time invited internationally, to take a look at Ukrainian Fashion Week, which this season highlighted their “BE SUSTAINABLE!” concept. During Fashion Week my focus is usually on fashion fairs rather than shows, as this gives me the possibility to communicate directly with the people behind the brands, and find out how they approach sustainability. My schedule in Kyiv was very different than usual! The main happenings here are fashion shows, 32 of them where on my agenda! Now this was a new challenge - because how am I to understand the sustainability approach when I only see the models walking the runway wearing the clothes? Thankfully I Ukrainian Fashion Week team supported me with translating, so I was always able to speak with the designers after the shows. Sometimes I also had some information provided about the designers - for example that they are upcycling - if this was not the case I would watch the show, and request to meet the designer when the collections interested me - or the way they were shown was clearly connected to a greater message. Yes, that’s right: what I found truly remarkable at Ukrainian Fashion Week was the intellectual identity designers incorporated into their shows.

Aside from the shows there were 11 further events such as lectures, project presentations and panels on the agenda and was also able to have an off schedule meeting with Katya and the My Sleeping Gypsy team at their research and design studio as well as a visit to one of their production sites.

UNDERSTANDING SUSTAINABLE FASHION IN UKRAINE

When the Revolution of Dignity occurred in 2014 the Ukrainian president “ran away” to Russia taking money from the country with him. “Before people earned more, now people have less but still want to be fashionable” explained Kristina, a stylist and volunteer at Ukrainian Fashion Week

Today the Ukrainian economy seems to be on the up-rise with the average wage climbing from under 200€/month in 2016 to just over 450€/month in December 2019, but this is still far from western European standards (source below).

For a long time there has been hesitancy to admit to second-hand shopping. In places where sustainability in fashion has not yet become a fully integrated subject, this activity can still be surrounded by a shameful stigma of being labeled as not being able to afford new clothes. Some are afraid that this choice affects their image and social status, and as a result feeling as they have failed to live up to society's norms. This was a reminder to me that the pride of consuming sustainably through second hand, which I am so used to in Berlin, is really not a global standard. In Ukraine this stigma is now being broken through the next generation of Ukrainian designers where we can see an encouraging mixture of old and new.

During the entire fashion week I only encountered designers who produce in their own ateliers or small Ukranian productions which they are closely connected with and visit regularly. Many brands turn to second hand, dead stock fabrics, reusing and up-cycling out of necessity, which. This can bring up the question of ‘true’ intent to work sustainably, but it can also be exactly this limitation which initiates a general shift of mentality.

IRYNA DANYLEVSKA | UFW CO-FOUNDER

“It is extremely difficult to transform an established fashion brand. It is very painful to change and become more sustainable for brands that have their long history, rich heritage, audience, and established production processes. That is why we support young designers and motivate them to implement sustainable approaches from the very beginning of their path. We spread ideas of sustainable fashion in the fashion community. One of the main missions of BE SUSTAINABLE! Project is to educate young designers, show them the complex aspects of sustainable and circular design from local production and handcraft to global vision of conscious fashion and innovations in the production field. Our future agenda is to discover and support young talents who have sustainability in their brand DNA.

My own contribution and contribution of our team  is actually the achievements of Ukrainian Fashion Week in sustainable fashion development. We have been supporting upcycling and recycling for many seasons. I, as a head of the organizing committee, always contribute to sustainable fashion brands to have special conditions for their presentations during the fashion week. We also support ethical and cruelty-free fashion, and many Ukrainian designers do not use fur in their collections. This season we have special conditions for sustainable brands to participate in Ukrainian Fashion Week as well. We ban paper invitations, and designers use only digital invitations for their shows. This season we tried to avoid vinyl banners as much as possible by replacing them with screens. Moreover, we noticed that the water in the media space was not used rationally. That is why we decided to avoid plastic bottles and provided the journalists of our media lounge with reusable bottles. We believe that these steps can make big changes, especially in people's minds.”

INNOVATION HIGHLIGHT

Finally there is a non-plastic faux fur available to the market! DevoHome produces natural hemp textiles in Ukraine, as the name says they focus on home textiles, but their materials are available for fashion brands, and they sell from a minimum order of 1m - so also individuals can order their material to make their own clothing :)

DevoHome is a local a family owned production. The hemp is grown without pesticides or herbicides as it is not  necessary because the plant does not attract any pests. The vegan fur is made of 50% hemp and 50% viscose which is sourced from German manufacturer. At DevoHome they are aware that Viscose is not the most sustainable fabric but didn’t want to use plastic, so they try to source it as sustainably as possible

The vegan down which can be used for inlays of winter coats is combine with 10% polyester to keep its shape. Their thickest version can keep you warm at up to -40° Celsius! Apart from fabrics you can also find home textiles and a selection of clothing in their shop.

NEWCOMER HIGHLIGHTS

For the first time in 46 seasons Ukrainian Fashion Week shows 8 young designers instead of an established brand in the opening show. All designers produce locally in their own ateliers - often also making everything themselves.

POSTUSHNA

“Old clothes, new version” - Yuliya Postushna. The collection was inspires by the 70’s drama One Flew Over the Cukook’s Nest. It reflects on the reassures we experience from society and the world in the process of becoming “better”. Fully upcycled colection

YADVIGA NETYKSHA

“People are taking Gender Roles too seriously.” Yadviga incorporates upcycling into her collection. However, not all pieces are upcycled. In this collection it was only one jumpsuit . If collections are not sold out they are upcycled into the new one, this way she aims for a no-waste production.

MIYO

“Usually people present themselves as perfect and beautiful, especially on social media, but this is not who we really are.” - Solomia. The dress represents this beautiful facade. Everything is upcycled or from dead stock and self made.

BARU BAGS

Alina and Kristina are working with overstock leather to make unique limited edition handbags. Each piece is produced with their own hands in their Kyiv based Atelier. They’ve just gotten started, but in the future they want to collaborate with other brands to give them the off cuts. Instagram

ESTABLISHED BRANDS

KSENIASCHNAIDER

KSENIASCHNAIDER is one of the most popular Ukrainian Brands. The brands DNA lies in upcycling, starting in 2011 by reworking denim into high-end collections. Today an estimate of 50% of the collection is from upcycled materials. The production is done in-house. In one year, they are producing around 3000 reworked items, which is approximately 200 kilos of textile waste per season.

The collection is dedicated to the struggle between the real and the digital. "It’s about people who are exiting the world of virtual reality and going back into the world of wild nature. People are turning off their computers and going hiking in the mountains. They stop staring at their phones’ screens to look up to the sky.”

During the show each item had a symbolic green price tag on it. Backstage I was able to ask Ksenia what the meaning of this was: it’s about how people want to show the labels to reference their price tags/status. It’s about the irony of how much fashion costs, and the true cost.

ROUSSIN

“All grownups were once children… but only few remember it” - excerpt from the book The Little Prince, which the show was a modern interpretation of. ROUSSIN is known at Ukrainian Fashion Week for using socially important topics and in this collection underlines the theme of corruption of the inner world, the “adult disease” and spiritual thirst.

The performance was accompanied by sounds of nature and birds chirping. The models carried sound boxed with them which imposed sounds of the city, cars, and conversations on us viewers. These were meant to reflect the effects people and the material things they create have on the planet and on themselves. The models spray painted symbols on the backdrop, half the pictures were from the fairy tale (the little prince, the planet, a rose, etc). The other half were modern pictures such as the radiation symbol which then spoiled the image of the little prince and his beliefs. “With age, people submit to the material world, lose all spiritual qualities and begin to exist meaninglessly, and not live. They forget that they were once children, they forget how to see with their hearts.”

The ROUSSIN team currently consists of 5 people: the designer, her sister, her mother and two more girls who help sew the pieces in their atelier. The accessories are made from used plastic bags and unsold previous collection pieces are upcycled into new ones. On the slight downside it is in the brands DNA to use reflective materials (that which appears grey in these photos) which is low ranking on environmental aspects.

BEVZA

“It is no secret that Ukrainian women love fur coats” - Svitlana Bevza, designer of BEVZA. To tackle this issue Svitlana uses inspirations from iconic fur coats and translates then into vegan down (recycled PET) jackets with a fur like print. This is not all the designer puts to action, she also leads by example in offering a “rework your wardrobe” service where clients can have their items, new and old retailored. Each customization is approved by her personally before leaving the atelier into the hands of their owners.

BE SUSTAINABLE! SHOW

As a crowning end to the BE SUSTAINABLE! summit UFW created a fashion show in which they used the catwalk as a means of communicating the idea of conscious consumption: the visual concept of the show was created using decoration elements of Ukrainian designers shows of previous seasons.

THE PARTICIPANTS of the show were Ukrainian designers who develop sustainable approaches to the creation of clothing and accessories and promote the idea of ethical fashion in Ukraine. 

UnaTerra: is an apparel brand for dogs and their owners that uses recycling techniques and environmental fabrics.

REVICLO BY MARKOVA: creates clothing using vintage materials and an individual approach to every client.

KLAPTYK: clothing one cannot wear out. They use “scraps” of textile residues to create clothing and home decor items, reducing waste in landfills.

DevoHome: Ukrainian manufacturer of hemp textiles and clothing. Hemp fiber is an eco-friendly natural material.

AZAVA: operates without production residues and with minimal energy consumption (many operations are performed manually and during daylight hours; if possible, communication with the team and customers occurs "live" without the use of communication technologies). Materials are selected based on the sustainability criteria: vintage or secondhand materials.

Preapoclo: follows the principles of upcycling and creating clothes from secondhand items found in shops. Preapoclo means “pre-apocalyptic clothing.”

RE-BEAU is an ethical jewelry brand. What used to be a household plastic container is being transformed into jewelry.

MY SLEEPING GYPSY STUDIO VISIT

"The world doesn’t need more clothes – it needs better clothes." - Katya Hermann, founder & creative director of My Sleeping Gypsy.

Katya was an absolute highlight at the Green Showroom in 2017 when we first met. In Kyiv she invited me to visit her team at the research and development studio as well as one of their production sites. My Sleeping Gypsy is known for their efforts to reestablish cultural heritage in a contemporary way. Each piece is made using artisanal techniques to realize new interpretations of the classic Ukrainian dress: vyshyvanka. “A woman that is connected to her roots is strong both physically and spiritually.”. Today Katya is launching new collaborations, providing the the linen dresses as a canvas for artists.

Come along to visit the team with me in our Instagram story highlights here.

CONCLUSION

At Ukrainian Fashion Week you can experience a clash of two worlds. On the one side we have a hunger for extravagant lifestyle, glamour and materialism. On the other hand Ukrainian Fashion Week itself makes it a point to highlight independent designers who naturally incorporate sustainable practices. Seeing designers taking full ownership of their presentations and collection concepts and through this creating not only clothing but also an intellectual identity  was truly inspiring. Ukraine Fashion Week was a reminder that fashion is relevant and important for society to evolve, and that when we are resourceful with pre-existing materials and work with the communities around us sustainability becomes a natural way of doing things, which allows us to focus on further subjects, beyond how and with what we create.

Average Ukraine income: https://tradingeconomics.com/ukraine/wages