A conversation about accessibility in Ukrainian fashion
The landscape of the Ukrainian fashion industry is changing in response to today's challenges, and inclusivity is the industry's responsibility. When fashion pays attention to real needs, function is born, which is why Harper's Bazaar Ukraine implemented the project “Functional Code of Resilience” – a series of interviews with Ukrainian designers about developing clothes with function. It was followed by a public talk – Inclusive Fashion: Code of Resilience, which took place during the second day of Ukrainian Fashion Week and became the first event of the Week at the “Mystetsky Arsenal”.
Functional clothing is an act of care, it adapts and supports, while remaining beautiful and aesthetic. Ukrainian brands are pioneers in its development. Working with prosthetic centers, as well as focus groups with people with disabilities, they find solutions that ensure ease of putting on and wearing products, their durability, practicality and stylish appearance at the same time. Brands build function into the design of each product, emphasizing that this clothing is not “special” or “medical”. This became the key idea of the Inclusive Fashion: Code of Resilience discussion panel.
The speakers of the event were Andrey Moskin and Andreas Bilous, Igor Sidletskiy, Olena Fil (Juliya Kros), as well as a graduate of the Superhumans center Zakhar Biryukov. The meeting was moderated by Harper's Bazaar Ukraine fashion editor Alisa Yermolenko.
During the discussion, brand representatives talked about the beginning of work with adaptive clothing and the main challenges they faced: from the need to develop technology and find ways to ensure functionality “from scratch” to the difficulty of selecting high-quality accessories.
Zakhar Biryukov, in turn, shared what the Ukrainian functional clothing market is like today. The veteran told what barrier-free fashion lacks, and emphasized the importance of brands' cooperation with people with disabilities and thorough preliminary product testing.
In addition, Andreas Moskin, Sidletskiy and Juliya Kros revealed their immediate plans to develop an inclusive direction and expand their functional clothing line.
Summing up their experience, the speakers gave some advice to young designers who plan to take a step towards accessibility.
After the discussion, the guests of Inclusive Fashion: Code of Resilience moved to the “Clothing with Function” zone from Ukrainian Fashion Week to get to know functional clothing firsthand.
