On September 6, Ukrainian brand BOBKOVA presented the KYIV CHESTNUT SS23 collection at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin, within the “Support Ukrainian Fashion” Initiative by Ukrainian Fashion Week. The BOBKOVA show was the fourth event of the UFW International Season SS23.

Infused with thoughts about Ukraine’s strong-willed bravehearts, BOBKOVA’s new collection speaks about freedom on a large scale. It’s the freedom of identity, researched in the traditional local crafts and translated into modernity. It’s emancipation from gender conventionalities when wardrobe becomes a playground for endless experiments with its elements. It’s the liberty of one’s own sensuality when the erotism of a semi-transparent dress is felt just the same way as that of a slouchy pant.

Chestnuts blooming on Khreshchatyk street is a suggestive image for the Ukrainian designer who dedicates her colour palette to Kyiv’s floral symbol. The hues of creamy whites, butter yellow and pale pink on the background of nutty chocolate brown, baked clay and emerald greens are delicate as flowers, while the metallic accents of crispy silver and glittery mint metaphorically refer to the hardened steel character of the Ukrainian people. The botanical shades tell a story of Ukraine’s land in bloom, the superpowers of nature giving a rebirth to the country. The steel texture acts as a symbol of contradictions and contrasts in the present-day situation.

Having presented her very first fashion collection as long ago as in 1998, the designer Kristina Bobkova has her fair share of Y2K styles for SS23. It’s the low-rise utility skirt with numerous buttons and wide-legged stretch waist pants styled with sleek jersey bodies, low-waist tutu skirt dresses and long semi-diaphanous knits. The knitted dress is the signature piece for BOBKOVA since its very first years, omnipresent in every collection. The brand has been famous in Ukraine for its hand-yarned knits.

The core of the collection is played around BOBKOVA’s trademark architectural minimalism, inspired by austere and unisex Japanese cuts. Skirt suits and trouser suits together with oversized shirts and asymmetrical dresses in black and in soft neutral tones have always been the protagonists of every collection. They can be styled genderlessly. For the designer, these pieces represent an ideal of casual clothing. The voluminous poncho dress is a comfortable and versatile but extremely elegant item that can be worn multiple ways as a dress, a jacket or a beach cover-up. This season these key items are voluntarily ‘unfinished’, baring open seams, visible stitches and cuts that represent manual work of the brand’s Kyiv studio.

The designer is exploring traditional Ukrainian crafts to propose meaningful accessories. For this collection, she explored the antique rural techniques of creating jewellery beads by baking them in countryside furnaces in the Ternopil region. The beads, adorned with naïve motifs, were used in silk and cotton handmade textile belts and in earrings. The Cossack leather slipper shoes are also handmade in Ukraine.

Accessories-wise, this season BOBKOVA unveils an important collaboration with Chris Bader, a sustainable bag brand from South Germany. With 150 years experience working with leather as tanners, the Bader family brought their expertise and regional production concept to create a line of austere-silhouette everyday bags signed by Chris Bader x BOBKOVA. The bags will be presented at the Berlin Fashion Week and later in New York, Shanghai and Paris as part of the brand’s SS23 collection.

Founded in 2000, BOBKOVA is one of the key fashion brands from Ukraine on the global scene. In 2022 BOBKOVA is expanding international contacts and researching new markets to keep the brand’s team, support the Ukrainian economy and help her native country to win.

Support for Ukrainian Fashion Week is a joint effort of the Department of Economy, Energy and State Enterprises, Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, DER BERLINER SALON, Estethica (formerly Fashion Open Studio), Fashion Council Germany, Neo.Fashion and 202030 – The Berlin Fashion Summit, which collectively express their sympathy and solidarity with Ukraine.

Photo: MBFWxUFW Show Bobkova at MBFW Berlin. Sebastian Reuter/Getty for Nowadays

Team:
Style: Venya Brykalin
3D artist: Darya Antipenko
PR: Kvitka Agency