Camel, toffee and charcoal feature in Ukrainian collection created under Russian bombs
You would never guess from the immaculate tailoring and finely turned silhouettes of the Litkovska collection shown at Paris fashion week that its production was frequently interrupted by air-raid warnings, which forced the 23-strong team of tailors and stylists to flee the design studio for a bomb shelter. It remains the only Ukrainian brand on the Paris catwalks and is still designed and produced in Kyiv by Lilia Litkovska and her team.
The collection, called From the War Zone with Peace, was shown at an art deco cinema against a backdrop of footage filmed inside the Kyiv studio.
Litkovksa was all set for a busy day in her Kyiv studio on 24 February last year, planning to put final touches to a collection before travelling to Paris fashion week to show it on the catwalk. Instead, after waking that morning to the sound of bombs announcing the Russian invasion, she fled by car to Poland with her toddler daughter and one suitcase, leaving that collection behind.
Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, is a longtime client. To mark Ukraine’s most recent independence day, Litkovska made her a simple white pencil skirt with a matching silk blouse with traditional Ukrainian embroidery in delicate seed pearls. When Zelenska met Joe and Jill Biden last year, she did so in a pale lemon yellow Litkovska skirt suit, teamed with blue shoes.
More information:
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2023/mar/01/kyiv-made-litkovska-paris-catwalk-collection-ukraine