Innovation is not just about technology. The support for young designers also needs innovative changes. Ukrainian Fashion Week has launched a new format of such support within the New Generation of Fashion platform. 

“The uniqueness of the new program is that in addition to combining theoretical knowledge and practical skills transferred from the mentors, we added an opportunity for the program participant to demonstrate to the professional community the collection he/she created. The purpose of our mentors is to improve the approach to the creation of the collection together with young designers, to introduce innovative technologies in the process of making collections, to predict its commercial potential. The purpose of Ukrainian Fashion Week is to make sure that the proposed format is correct in the most radical way: by showing the collections of the program participants at Ukrainian Fashion Week No Season 2021, ”said Oleksandra Kakurina, program coordinator and head of UFW’s designer department.

The first participants of the program were Anna GAIOVA – mentorship JULIYA KROS, Yelyzaveta Zvolinska (ZVOLI) – mentorship ROUSSIN and Yadviga NETYKSHA mentorship RYBALKO.

In 2019, designer Anna Gaiova won the first competition of young designers Safe Fashion, which presented collections of reflective fabric dedicated to the safety of pedestrians on the roads.

“I am very grateful for the opportunity to take part in the mentoring program and get help from Juliya Kros in the process of preparing for the show at Ukrainian Fashion Week. During the consultations, we adjusted the concept and range of the collection, identified the main priorities, ”comments Anna Gaiova.

Designer Yelyzaveta Zvolinska presented her BEAUTY COVER collection for the first time at Ukrainian Fashion Week in the final of the EPSON DIGITAL FASHION 2019 contest.

In 2020 she graduated from the educational program Ukrainian Fashion Accelerator and was selected for the finals of the All-Ukrainian competition of young fashion designers “Look into the future”.

“Sofia Rousinovich is very cool mentor, she and I seem to be on the same page. At all stages of creating the collection, she supported me and directed me in the right direction. This is my first experience of developing and sewing a collection not for the competition, so I am grateful that Sofia became my mentor, making this experience very positive, ”comments Yelyzaveta Zvolinska.

Designer Yadviga Netyksha 4 years ago won the XVI All-Ukrainian contest of young designers “Look into the future” with the collection “VillageRESORT’16”. 2020 was a breakthrough year for Yadviga. After graduating from the Ukrainian Fashion Accelerator educational program, the designer presented the collection at the FASHION ACCELERATOR SHOW, which opened the Ukrainian Fashion Week FW20-21.

“Many thanks to Ukrainian Fashion Week for choosing our brand for the mentoring program, and to the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation for the support. Working with a mentor for a young brand is an invaluable experience, because on the way to its formation, a young team encounters a large number of problems that can be avoided with some knowledge. And the mentoring itself gives such knowledge, because the successful brand has ready-made “working” cases to solve certain problems. Cooperation with the RYBALKO brand was diverse – from the development of the idea of ​​the collection to advice on possible ways to sell, ” – comments Yadviga Netyksha.

“If the transition to a new level of support yields clear and rapid results, we will continue to implement this program in the future. There is a chance to reaffirm our leadership in the methods of working with young designers throughout the Central European region, “said Iryna Danylevska, Head of the UFW Organizing Committee and Head of the Ukrainian Fashion Council Expert Committee.