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, Alona Prist, founder and designer of her Kyiv-based LONA PRIST brand of minimalist bags and accessories inspired by avant-garde art, gives an answer. 

Before the full-scale invasion, LONA PRIST had already been seen on the Ukrainian Fashion Week catwalk, street style photographers at New York, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks captured our bags and accessories.

In February 2022, the LONA PRIST team was preparing for the release of collections and the opening of the flagship store. However, since the brand’s craftspeople moved abroad, we were forced to suspend production. The collaboration with Elena Reva and the release of new bags were also halted.

But new opportunities to tell the world about Ukraine emerged. Outside the official Cannes Film Festival 2022, Ukrainian top model Alina Baikova completed her look with a bag from our brand. She chose the iconic model — Nicole Bag.

Support from Ukrainian and international fashion publications is always important to us. We are grateful for the attention the brand receives from Ukrainian Vogue, L’Officiel, Harpers Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Jetsetter, L’Officiel Monaco, L’Officiel Austria, L’Officiel Baltics, Elle Bulgaria and others.

LONA PRIST’s premium accessories now have fans all over the world, from Los Angeles to Qatar.

The brand has been actively supporting social initiatives for the past two and a half years. During the full-scale war, the team managed to gather more than UAH 250,000 for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the needs of civilians.

We have repeatedly donated LONA PRIST bags to charity auctions. For example, in 2022, at the Fashion Brunch in Paris, organised by Slava Zoria, all accumulated money was sent to Maria Efrosinina’s fund; the FRENCH RIVIERA CHARITY BRUNCH of Marisa Gorobets raised UAH 300,000 for the restoration of the aqua zone for rehabilitation at the National Children’s Specialized Hospital “OKHMATDYT.” A charity auction from the “European Path of Ukraine” was also held in Nice, as well as “Year of Invincibility” and “Unbreakable Hearts” charity dinners in Kyiv.

We are currently developing a strategy for further development amid the ongoing war. We are planning to open a new production.

We consider the development of Ukrainian entrepreneurship and the popularization of Made in Ukraine to be vital for LONA PRIST’s mission. Therefore, we are determined to grow.