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? 

Designer Elvira Gasanova shares about the Gasanova brand’s journey since February 2022 and how the full-scale war affected creativity and business.

I believe that challenges are given to those who can overcome them. For our brand and team, the full-scale invasion triggered unity. We didn’t lay off employees but continued to donate. We don’t slow down because that is unacceptable. Our response to everything, probably in my style, is to create a counterwave rather than conform to the circumstances.

We initiated processes that we hadn’t gotten around to since the brand’s founding – we’re changing our accounting system and management reporting to global standards, which isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. 

Operationally, we’re breaking down all the processes built over eleven years to become truly operationally efficient, reduce manual work, and minimise the possibility of making mistakes. This frees up more time and resources for creativity and new visions.

We are reassembling our product matrix, digital marketing, communication, positioning, partnership programmes, brand voice — absolutely everything. Now seems to be the best and most important time for this, so I started moving these tectonic plates we stand on, and every day, I feel it’s worth it.

Gasanova became known for its dresses and tops with crystals worn by world stars. I understand that we haven’t communicated some of the changes that have happened to us over the last two years. For example, our bespoke work is a large part of the First Lady’s wardrobe. As are all the embroidered shirts, polo shirts, and sweatshirts of the President, which are probably among the most recognisable in the world, as they have been on the front pages. 

Oscar and Grammy nominees and world boxing stars wear our clothes. Does everyone know that we make smart-casual or completely business attire? Perhaps not yet, but we will fix that.

A large part of our sales now consist of casual items, which is nice – it means that our brand has a good reputation and strength. We are working to make these items distinctive and special, even though we did not previously focus on them. 

The most expensive items in our catalogue are mostly bought abroad, so we are expanding our geography and striving to make more direct sales. To do this, we need to warm up new markets, which cannot be done in one day.

I would say that our work has now become more strategic and systematic, and the brand is becoming more holistic. My friends sometimes joke that I have so many ideas that I blur the focus of my brand. They are partly right, but I believe creativity exists to avoid self-limitation. I don’t think designers should become hostages of their image, but I’m sure that constant movement, self-searching, and self-improvement add zest to life. I want to be as proud of the mundane work as I am of publications and famous names in our portfolio.

Our brand doesn’t have many unequivocally Ukrainian products, except for our signature embroidered shirts. However, we are a product of Ukraine. Every Ukrainian designer who works for Ukraine’s creative intelligentsia shows that there are many talented and hardworking people in this country. 

Ukrainians have started to appreciate their own more. Soon, Europeans will dream of entering the Ukrainian market. And they will face a powerful challenge, as competing with us will not be easy. Everything is just beginning, says Elvira Gasanova.