On 5 November, HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden visited Svensk Form, where he met with representatives of Ukraine’s fashion and design industries as part of Re:Design Ukraine, a Swedish-Ukrainian initiative aimed at strengthening collaboration in fashion and design.

The meeting was attended by:

HRH Prince Carl Philip Axel Swanstein,

COO of Svensk FormIda Dahlgren, Membership Manager at Svensk Form Madeleine Sjöstedt,

Director-General of the Swedish Institute Magdalena Ellfors,

Programme Manager for Ukraine Cooperation at the Swedish Institute — from the Swedish side.

Yelyzaveta Ushcheka, CEO of Ukrainian Fashion Week

Oleksandra Kakurina, Vice President of the Ukrainian Fashion Council for Young Designer Development

Anastasiia Biletska, Ambassador of Design4Ukraine — from the Ukrainian side.

Re:Design Ukraine is a new Swedish-Ukrainian network in the fields of fashion and design, jointly developed by Svensk Form and Ukrainian Fashion Week with the support of the Swedish Institute. Other project partners include the Association of Swedish Fashion Brands, Stockholm Furniture Fair, Ukrainian Fashion Council and Design4Ukraine.

In September, Axel Swanstein, COO of Svensk Form, visited Kyiv during Ukrainian Fashion Week. In November, the Ukrainian partners travelled to Stockholm to continue the dialogue and meet with representatives of Swedish design, fashion and cultural sectors.

During the meeting at Svensk Form, HRH Prince Carl Philip spoke with the Ukrainian delegation about the development of Ukraine’s fashion and design industries, their role in preserving national identity and culture, and their contribution to the country’s development. The discussion also addressed the challenging conditions under which Ukrainian brands continue to operate amid the full-scale war.

A plate from the Indigo collection by Ukrainian brand GUNIA Project is now part of HRH Prince Carl Philip’s personal collection, while NAÏVE MY LOVE, a book dedicated to Ukrainian naïve art, has found a home in the library of Svensk Form — the world’s oldest design organisation, founded in 1845.

Photo: Robin Iborn