Kiev's fashion revolution

In the wake of two social revolutions, Ukraine's new blood are taking on the fashion industry

Nine years separates two revolutions in Ukraine - the Orange Revolution in 2004 and the Euromaydan in 2013. Through these years, the country has experienced a massive change, and the new generation of progressive fashion designers have been born. They all are young, smart, European-oriented and forward thinking. They may have a very different style, but what unites them are their desire to conquer the world of International fashion and their honor of being Ukrainian. As every post-Soviet country, Ukraine has experienced a tough phase of aggressive glamour, both on runways and on the streets. With the rise of a new generation of fashion creatives, the previous galore was abandoned and the new rules came into reality. The new Ukrainian style can be characterized as utterly sophisto: modest cut, urban touch, inventive materials, romanticism, sporty elements and the general feeling of naive yet mature simplicity.

All the adepts of this new fashion are showing on Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days - a European-oriented platform, which enables them to showcase their works on the International level. The previous seasons of the event were visited by such fashion influentials as Hilary Alexander, Yelena Yemchuk, Karen Langley, Valerie Steele (FIT), Christopher Breward (ECA), Aliona Doletskaya (Interview Russia) and others. The fashion week was launched in 2010 with a plan to put Ukraine on the world’s fashion map, the aim which was achieved after three years of hard work and rapid development, both for the designers, fashion society and the event itself. It also serves as a great platform not only for the designers from Ukraine, but also for the creatives from the whole region – as Kiev is becoming the centre city for the whole Eastern European region, the more designers from the neighboring countries are coming to showcase their collection at Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days. Also, some of the London-based cool talents showed their collections here as the guest stars of the event: Marios Schwab, Jean-Pierre Braganza, Felder Felder and Charlie Le Mindu.

The art-director of Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days Kati Garbuz asked seven Ukrainian designers, who were somehow involved in the events, to create masks, 'face of the protest', and took models inside the Maidan to photograph their own puzzle of the new fashion revolution.