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The Ukrainian fashion community is using its international connections to support the information campaign to spread awareness about the impact of the Russian invasion.
Like all Ukrainians, they would like to see stronger sanctions. “The currently imposed sanctions obviously don't work, as ever since early in the morning our capital, our beloved city of Kyiv, has been and still is under attack,” says Maria Mokhova, co-founder of Kyiv-based PR agency White Rabbit, which represents brands such as Litkovskaya and Le 17 Septembre. White Rabbit has been reaching out to its network across the industry to push for support for over a week, with Mokhova also using her Instagram account to share donation links and petitions.
“The courage of our army and civilians arming up is extraordinary, truly. We stand strong, but we need the strongest support from the world,” Mokhova says. “This war is a fight for democracy, for freedom, for the whole global world order. We, Ukrainians, are fighting for the whole world here, and the world has no right to stay aside, remain quiet or simply ‘deeply concerned’. It is not enough.”
“Most of our team is in Ukraine now and our nation desperately needs information support,” says Alex Barkov, PR at Gogola Agency, which operates between Ukraine and Los Angeles. He emphasises the importance of spreading accurate information. “Russia is attacking civilians and peaceful cities, not only strategic military objectives,” he says. Barkov has shared tweets from Ukraine’s prime minister and minister of foreign affairs depicting attacks on civilian buildings. He wants the world to see the reality of the war in Ukraine.
Loved ones and colleagues are displaced
Anger and fury are widely shared. Anastasia Ivchenko and Eugenia Skibina of Kyiv-based PR agency Public Kitchen, which represents brands such as Ienki Ienki and Ksenia Schnaider, wrote to Vogue Business: “It feels like someone disgusting walked into our house without taking off his shoes, climbed into our bed, ate from our plates and then tried to kill everyone. This someone is Russian president Putin.”
They continued: “Life has become hell. Endless airstrikes, overnight stays in bomb shelters, enemy sabotage, deaths, attempts to leave to safer regions. We have an infinitely heavy heart for the country that we love, for families, for friends, for our army, which we are proud of. Our boys and girls are the best people on this earth.”
Even while moving around bomb shelters, the Public Kitchen team in Kyiv is working to raise awareness and drum up international support for Ukraine. “In between the attacks, we work. Our frontline is an informational one. And, of course we support each other very much.”
Designer Anna October, who has an eponymous luxury label stocked by Harvey Nichols and Moda Operandi and represented by Public Kitchen, has now left her home in Kyiv. “I slept three hours, waking up from bomb shots. I gave emergency instructions to my team, like what to do when you hear the siren and what to bring with you to the shelter,” she says.
October, who was living in her flat when the invasion started in Kyiv, a few hundred metres from parliament and the president's office, is now in western Ukraine. “At 4.30am we woke up from huge air attacks and realised that Kyiv may be occupied. We took one bag, got in the car and drove out of the city under sirens and explosions from the sky. We left everything there to save our lives.” She is trying to plan how to evacuate her team. “My work is my life and all I want is to have a peaceful sky and ability to create beauty for others with my team,” she says.
For Ukrainians outside the war zone, the anxiety is omnipresent. Daria Shapovalova, co-founder of DressX, a global digital fashion marketplace founded in 2020, lives in Los Angeles and is struggling to keep in contact with her friends, family and employees. “It’s the hardest week for us ever as 50 per cent of our team members are Ukrainian and everyone is affected. Our colleagues are talking to their relatives on an hourly basis to make sure they are safe.”
DressX has provided support payments to its Ukrainian colleagues and has established urgent channels to connect with them and make sure their families are safe. Shapovalova and the DressX team have been collecting money and encouraging their international friends to send petitions to local authorities. They created a collection of blue and yellow digital garments, with proceeds going to the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
Ukrainian journalist Olya Kuryshchuk, founder and editor-in-chief of 1Granary, an online and print title that champions young designers, has spent days drumming up support for Ukraine within the fashion community, posting across 1Granary and her personal Instagram. 1Granary’s Instagram account, which has 181,000 followers, includes direct calls to action, such as “World Wake Up!” and “Shut the Sky, Save Ukraine”.
Working against all odds
Business has taken a backseat at this time for all Ukrainians, including fashion agencies and brands. “Our usual life no longer exists. But, we hope it's not for long,” say Public Kitchen’s Ivchenko and Skibina. Its team continues to work as best it can, with breaks to move to bomb shelters. They want Westerners to talk about Ukraine as much as possible. “Talk about us. We are talented, we are strong, and things are difficult for us now. Talking is the most important thing to do now. Under no circumstances should you remain silent. Silence kills.”
Dima Ievenko, founder of Ukrainian outerwear brand Ienki Ienki, has been in Milan presenting his new collection. He’s been calling relatives, friends and colleagues constantly to try and help them reach safety. Some Ienki Ienki employees left Kyiv and moved closer to western borders, but others stayed in the city and sought out bomb shelters. “ We are in the state of terror. However, we don’t lose hope for a better future,” he says. “It is very important for us to make the whole world aware of the situation and help us to stop Russian aggression in any way possible.”
In challenging times, everyone wants to do whatever they can. “This does feel surreal, but all of our team have been doing our best these past two days to fight our battlefield – the informational field,” says White Rabbit’s Mokhova. “By sharing sources of information with all our contact base, media and influencers. By asking them to support the right cause.”
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