Ukrainian designer Svitlana Bevza says she can’t believe that three years after the Russian invasion, war is still going on in her country.
“I don’t know where it ends,” she said during the presentation of her Spring 2025 Bebza collection at the Ukrainian Institute.
Bebza, a designer, splits her time between London, where her children are at school, and Kiev, where her husband and company are based. She acknowledges that some might expect aggressive or militarized fashion, such as bullet necklaces, but her mission is to reflect the beauty and resilience of her homeland through fashion. “I don’t think war should be romanticized,” she says.
This season, she was inspired by a line from the Ukrainian national anthem: “Our enemies die like dew in the sunlight,” which was rendered as delicate crystal droplets embellishing several looks, including a cloud-like ivory organza cape cut from two squares that could be worn over an evening dress and cigarette pants, and the stretchy strapless bodice of an elegant black jumpsuit.
She continued to include tulip skirts and bodysuits, which are selling well among her younger customers, as well as an apron dress that reflects her culture and is finished in doe-white with braided details.
The designer expanded her use of spikelets, a symbol of Ukraine’s fertile soil, first using them on necklaces, then repurposed the shape into bag clasps and now on showpieces like belts, tie bars and bustiers. She introduced a new bag shape called “Crushed Grain,” an adaptation of her original flattened crescent grain silhouette that can be crushed into a fortune cookie-like pouch that fastens with a magnet.
The petty annoyances of fashion week come into sharp focus as Bebza talks about how he kept his brand going when a Russian attack on Ukraine’s power system caused a blackout. And even at New York Fashion Week, the designer can’t help but feel responsible for his team: “I miss you all… you’re all brave.”
