
How Ukrainian Brands Create During the War: KATIA BESLIK
Behind the Scenes
Getting ready for the upcoming Ukrainian Fashion Week SS25, which will take place in Kyiv from September 1 to 4, the UFW team reached out to the participating brands with a question: How is your brand coping with the full-scale invasion? This time, our editorial team reached out to Kateryna Beslik, founder and designer of her namesake upcycling brand — KATIA BESLIK.

In February 2022, I was preparing the brand’s presentation and had many development plans. By the end of the month, I left Kyiv, unaware of what the future might bring. Back then, I experienced two opposite mental states: sadness, despair, and pain because people were dying and cities were destroyed; at the same time, I felt a great desire to do everything I ever put back for later, a desire to live life even though my inner world was broken into many fragments. From this realization, I received an incredible rush of energy that came alive.

This grotesque and striking duality of existence in which we live is the subject of my reflections and creations. The war forced me to make a dream come true. I found myself at the intersection of art and fashion. I am not only a designer but an artist.
In the artistic dimension, upcycling is how I tell personal stories and reveal the duality of the world and people: destruction and creation, life and death, cruelty and mercy. In the context of war, humanity is once again rethinking these constants.

Throughout 2022, I was in Lithuania — this country welcomed and supported me in a difficult time. Back then, I felt confused and unsure of what path to take, but I found people who did not let me lose spirit.
Cooperation with the Lithuanian brand “InAvati” was delightful: we created a capsule collection made of linen, sold in Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland. All profits were directed to supporting Ukraine. There, I also designed the costumes for the Martin Levitskis micro orchestra, which were sewn in Vilnius and Kyiv.
We managed to get several mini-grants from the Lithuanian Cultural Council, one of which is for the implementation of the solo exhibition “Huliaipole — My Little Fatherland,” which was held from September 1 to 24, 2023 in the National Library of Vilnius. Thus, with the support of the Open Lithuania Foundation and Ukreate Hub, I spoke about my hometown, which has been on the verge of occupation for two years and where people continue to live, including my parents and grandparents.

At the beginning of the war, KATIA BESLIK brand clothes were sold in Vilnius, Kyiv, and London, but after some time, the development stopped.
Upcycling has grown into a textile art for me: I make colorful compositions from old clothes and plan to develop this idea further.