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? We talked about challenges and new approaches to creativity with the designer of the UPSLOWUSE brand — Mila Ogly.

Up until the moment of the full-scale invasion, we were working on the brand’s first collection. The territory where our atelier was located was occupied and destroyed along with all our work. Therefore, we had to postpone the collection’s release until May 2023.

The first three months after the full-scale russian invasion have been very difficult, both morally and physically. We found ourselves in the face of terror and mass deaths of our fellow people. There was panic, fear, and not understanding how to act. All dressmakers with whom the brand cooperated were forced to evacuate from the occupied territories. Our production workshop with the purchased fabrics and equipment came under occupation in the city of Bucha and was subsequently looted and partially destroyed. Therefore, the production of clothes was stopped completely, and so was all development. We completely focused on helping people who suffered from russian aggression and provided financial support to the “Zoo XII Months”, which suffered terrible consequences of occupation.

In the winter of 2023, we gradually began to resume work. We created the YESTERDAY’S FUTURE collection from what was at hand — vintage jeans and shirts, because it was impossible to get the necessary fabrics delivered to Ukraine.

Even now, the working conditions still are difficult: staffing shortages, emergency power outages, and the danger of missile attacks. But the team is holding on, looking for non-standard solutions to overcome problems and new options for development. After all, even in the most difficult times, Ukrainians are able to find the strength to create and grow, no matter how hopeless everything seems.