Meet the Ukrainian fashion brand designing for people over profit

In today’s fashion landscape, it seems that the most urgent topics that need to be addressed are the ways in which designers and creatives communicate social and climate justice in their work. Today, we see that brands are becoming more transparent in their practices, whether that’s through choice or enforced by new regulation laws. 

One brand that has significantly been at the forefront of these discussions is the Ukrainian brand, KSENIASCHNAIDER. Since their inception in 2011, mindful practices have always remained core to their values. They design for a broader community dedicated to social and environmental responsibility, with a strong commitment to recycled and sustainable fabrics, “we believe that sustainability is not just a trend, but a way of life, we are constantly looking for ways to reduce our environmental impact,” Ksenia, the co-founder tells me. Their latest Fall Winter 2024 collection was no exception to their mission as they made sweaters from defective stockings by the Ukrainian brand, ShurShur. Zero-waste items were the result of a collaboration with a production facility in the small Ukrainian village of Stina, which used leftover denim materials from their production processes. 

Titled ‘Nature Always Wins’, the collection is described by Ksenia as “my escape from brutal reality and an ode to the beautiful power of nature to re-birth and regenerate”. The collection comes after two years since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. After seeing flowers on the mined field in Ukraine, Ksenia took this “raw, unwavering beauty”, resulting in a collection of flowing silhouettes and organic textures that evoke a sense of “harmony and tranquillity”. Each stitch, hue, and fiber represents the resilience of the natural world with the garments serving as a “canvas woven with stories of growth and resilience, inspired by the unstoppable force that nature has always possessed,” Ksenia adds.    

The past two years have seen uncertainty and complications following Russia’s invasion of their home country. Ksenia and her husband and KSENIASCHAIDER’s co-founder Anton were operating in Kyiv with a team of 30 people and in 2020 they opened their first flagship store in the capital’s centre. In February 2022, the couple moved with their daughter and have since stayed in Budapest and Berlin and now settled in the UK, “at that time I thought it was not possible to continue. Maybe I have to face that we will close the brand and I need to find any job to survive,” Ksenia mentions in an article by Lampoon Magazine in December 2022. 

Due to the war, their production processes, focussed on upcycling, zero-waste cut, hand craft, re-working vintage clothing and repair, have been hard to implement. Ksenia tells me, “the work of production has become very complicated in general - constant life threat, air raid sirens, shellings, logistic problems, delays, mental issues of our co-workers. This is the reality in which every Ukrainian designers lives and works now.” To keep afloat, KSENIASCHNAIDER sold ‘support cards’ which customers can buy with an optional amount of money, which would later be granted with discounts or garments from upcoming collections. The initiative received €10,000 in two months which went directly to Ksenia’s employees. The brand also gives 15% of each order to the Come Back Alive Foundation which provides support to service members in the armed forces of Ukraine.

Transparency of the design process is something the global organisation Fashion Revolution have been advocating for since their inception in 2014, after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Bangladesh, which saw over 1,000 deaths in the worst ever industrial incident to hit the garment industry. Celebrating 10 years of establishment this week, Fashion Revolution have since advocated for brands to take more agency in ensuring sustainable practices and fair labour conditions are becoming a given, rather than a choice. Every year, they conduct a Fashion Transparency Index which reviews 250 of the world’s largest fashion brands and retailers ranked according to their level of public disclosure on human rights and environmental policies, practices and impacts in their own operations and supply chains. Fashion Revolution state on their website, “transparency underpins transformative change but unfortunately, much of the fashion value chain remains opaque while exploitation thrives with impunity. Transparency is a first step; it is not radical, but it is necessary.”

This year, the EU voted to ban labels with environmental claims such as ‘environmentally friendly’, ‘natural’, ‘biodegradable’, ‘climate neutral’ or ‘eco’ without proof and regulation. Digital Product Passports being implemented require brands to collect and share data from a product’s entire lifecycle which must highlight the sustainability, environmental and recyclability attributes of a product as well as its manufacturing process and sourcing. 

It is these systemic forces of change that see the voices such as KSENIASCHNAIDER’s being listened to. For over ten years they have prioritised sustainable practices, fair labour conditions, and transparent sourcing. Ksenia finally adds, “our dedication to social justice extends beyond the clothes we create, fostering a community of empowerment and inclusivity. Through education and advocacy, we strive to challenge systemic inequalities within the fashion industry and contribute to a more equitable world.”

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