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? Is it possible to bring creative dreams to life during times of war? Maria Starchak, a stylist and designer of the upcycling brand Starchak, shares her thoughts with the editors.

On February 24, 2022, our lives changed forever around four in the morning. Remembering the first days in Lviv to the sounds of sirens, numbness, and at the same time – endless bustle, millions of “how are you?” messages, we, like the rest of Ukraine, needed to collect our thoughts and act quickly. 


First, we started thinking about helping Ukrainian defenders. After looking at the sewing equipment in a small studio of 30 square meters, I said, “Let’s do what we do best—we’ll sew clothes. Now for the military as well.”

We gathered employees and friends and started. Everyone around us also quickly organized: after we shared our plans on social networks, colleagues from other brands began bringing fabrics purchased in advance for their collections. The STARCHAK team focused on sewing thermal clothing, and shortly, 500 units were on the front line. We also created more than three hundred balaclavas and several dozen long sleeves. In total, it was possible to sew and hand over 1,200 pieces of clothing to the army free of charge. So we worked for several months, all in one place, and we got stronger.


Subsequently, the Berlin showroom kindly offered to house STARCHAK clothing. We were thrilled and sent part of the goods to Germany. This cooperation saved us because the profit from sales in Berlin and additional spots in Ukraine helped the brand “survive” and not close down. 



We are extremely grateful to the German stylist and designer Frank Peter Wilde, who bought a STARCHAK jacket and became a friend of the brand, constantly promoting us abroad. With Frank’s assistance and the participation of the singer Jerry Heil, the campaign “UNITY IS THE STRONGEST ARMOR” appeared, through which the brand expressed its gratitude to the world for supporting Ukraine.

Thanks to Frank’s styling, German singer-songwriter Sarah Connor wore our fringe jacket for a New Year’s Eve performance in Berlin in 2023. The entire STARCHAK team was overjoyed!

In the fall of 2022, at Budapest Central European Fashion Week, within the initiative of Ukrainian Fashion Week—Support Ukrainian Fashion—our brand had the opportunity to present a collection dedicated to the cities most affected by the beginning of a full-scale invasion. It wasn’t everyday wear or even for special occasions; the collection was created to draw the world’s attention to our pain through art.

As time passed, we accumulated strength and, in parallel with volunteer work, expanded the sales market. STARCHAK managed not only to “survive” but also to expand: hire new employees, move to larger premises, and find inspiration to create further.

In December 2023, the brand presented the “Crane” collection in Lviv, dedicated to the soldier—my fallen friend Dmytro Pashchuk (call sign Garmash).

Today, the world’s unity and support give us true strenght. We believe in a better future for Ukraine and look forward to victory followed by prosperity.