In the digital age there are different ways to support a cause or, in the case of the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, support Ukrainian artists and creative minds.
Ukrainian designer Lilia Litkovskaya didn't bring a collection at the Tranoï trade show in Paris, but the yellow and blue flag of her country and several QR codes.
The codes can be explored also on the ArtcodeUA Instagram account: they belong to Ukrainian artists, illustrators, photographers, musicians and fashion designers.
Browse the account and you will discover the Ukrainian quartet DakhaBrakha, Masterskayalab, a creative space in the center of Kiev, created for the development of young and original musicians, founded by musician and producer Ivan Dorn (what will happen now to its recording studios with modern analog equipment, synthesizers assembled by Ivan around the world, and extensive collection of microphones?).
Arts are represented (among the others) by graphic and etching artist Pavlo Mykolaiovych Makov, Member of the Royal Society of Painters and Graphic Artists of Great Britain and the Ukrainian artist who will represent the National Pavilion at the 59th International Art Exhibition in Venice, and Central Saint Martins' graduate Masha Reva, an illustrator and fashion designer originally from Odesa (local citizens have been building barricades around the town as the Russian warships have been moving along its coast and people are afraid there may be an assault on the historical town).
Fashion fans can instead check out the designs inspired by the traditional vyshyvanka dress by Vita Kin; Ienki Ienki, a label specialized in padded and quilted designs and Yasya Khomenko's colourful and playful T-shirts and sweats or Nadya Dzyak's designs with her signature manually pleated elements often made with transparent fabrics.
Kseniaschnaider, a Kyiv-based independent fashion house, favour sustainability producing men and women's reworked, upcycled, patchwork, denim, and accessories.
The brand could be considered as a symbol of peace in this deranged war as it was founded in 2011 by a married couple, Ksenia Schnaider and Anton Schnaider, a Ukrainian fashion designer and a Russian graphic designer.
Some of the Ukrainian creative minds are still in the country: Anton Belinskiy recently collaborated with media and fashion company 032c on a benefit T-shirt.
The latter features Belinskiy's popular Ukrainian passport graphic on the front and the words "Free Ukraine" on the back. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (the German Red Cross).
Belinskiy, dubbed by Vogue "Ukraine's cool kid" in 2015, the same year he was the only LVMH Prize semifinalist designer from Eastern Europe, announced he enlisted in a territorial defense unit in Kyiv.
Fashion can and should be used to highlight the current situation in Ukraine: the industry will also be affected by the war as, a few days after the invasion started and after sanctions were announced in Russia, several apparel and consumer-goods companies, luxury conglomerates and fashion houses – among the others LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, Prada, Puma, Zara and H&M – started to temporarily shut up shops in the country in support of Ukraine.
