On the heels of Fashion Month, Ukrainian designer Svitlana Bevza reflects on a whirlwind year – SURFACE

It was a demanding year for Svitlana Bevza. In February, the Ukrainian fashion designer barely returned to her hometown of Kyiv after showing her Fall 2022 collection at New York Fashion Week before the country was invaded by Russia. Since then, the 40-year-old designer and founder of the brand Bevza She moved her two children and part of her business to Portugal as she continued to fill orders for the likes of Selfridges, Bergdorf Goodman and Moda Operandi. Her clothes, ruffled by her sheer command, rest on an ethereal, elegant edge, filled with eye-catching jewels that grace the Instagram grid of many a fashion editor.

For six months, the designer and her team have been hard at work on the Spring 2023 collection, which debuted at New York Fashion Week in September. In the following interview, Svitlana speaks Floor About creating a collection entirely through video calls, the support she received from fashion industry titans like Celine to Anna Wintour, and why she still shows in New York City every year.

How was fashion month this year?

Well, they say it’s alright! I think we had a successful show. This time he made an extra effort. The processes were completely different from what we were doing before. Then I visited our showrooms in New York and Paris, where Condé Nast held an event for Ukrainian designers. This was a great support for us. Anna Wintour came. Can you imagine this? my god!

I know you’re in Portugal right now, but what have the last six months been like for you as a brand designer in Kiev?

During the first month and a half of the war, we could do nothing. The product has been blocked because we are unable to access our warehouse. The roads are closed. Before the war, we had to send goods to our buyers immediately. 90% of our sales are done abroad and we couldn’t ship because the planes stopped flying and at first no ground transport could come to Ukraine. But I got great support from buyers as they didn’t cancel their orders. They are all there. “We can wait.“

What happened after the first six weeks?

We are in danger of reopening. We finally got to the warehouse and started packing. [orders] And somehow he delivered them. We relaunched the website and posted a message on the main page that said, “We are currently open for a limited time.” But then we realized that things were going on. [forward] Somehow in Kiev so we did not close again. We had earrings, pendants and necklaces, a symbol of Ukraine being a very fertile land and the world’s largest exporter of wheat. People began to buy the jewelry in large numbers; Women who have stayed in Ukraine and their husbands, Ukrainians who have left the country – they need only one symbolic object. It was one of the key things that saved the business.

After settling in Portugal, it was completely understandable to take a season off and just get it right. What did you do next?

Well, that’s my job. It’s my favorite, but it’s also a responsibility. My husband is now in the Ukrainian army so I am the breadwinner. I have two children who have to go to school. My business must go on. It was a big responsibility because my team now had a job. Our factory is in Ukraine so you will get money. I thought I had to produce everything in Portugal, but after a few months the factories in Ukraine reopened. They called me and told me to give them the order.

How did you manage the demands of the fashion calendar while moving your career abroad?

We could work online with managers from any country, but it was a risk for the technical team – my atelier and I usually work with tailors in person to develop the collection. All the spring-summer collection was done by video calls, and I sent the designs. I first saw the set when I flew to Ukraine in August to shoot the lookbook. My team members are my personal heroes.

Are there items made in Portugal from your recent collection?

I found factories that produced perfect leather bags, t-shirts for Balenciaga and bags for Jacquemus and Copernicus. There is one factory that works mainly with kites so they are very good in quality. We made four dresses and two t-shirts there, and the dresses were a very generous sign of support from Celine at the beginning of the summer. Celine merchandise. I went to their warehouse and they gave me only the fabrics used for those four dresses.

You are very close to the European shows, but you continue to perform in New York. What does the fashion community here mean to you?

When I first thought about going to International Fashion Week, I thought about New York. I didn’t think about Paris at the time and now we’ve performed in New York for 11 seasons. I have to ask myself deeply: why not Paris? But I like dealing with Americans because everything is on time and their response is very direct. Financially, the US market is very interesting but I love New York. It is very special.

What are your favorite places in New York?

The MoMA Store. When I get there, oh my god, I’ll spend all my money! Then I cross the street to Balthazar’s and have coffee or lunch. mine Time in New York. If I go there between fashion weeks, I love the Guggenheim Museum and the burgers at the restaurant there, but I don’t have free time to discover the city during fashion week.

You’ve mentioned in interviews that the rest of the fashion community is incredibly supportive. What are some examples of this?

What Celine gave me was the fabrics and the patience of the buyers. There was a factory that was booked but we got a spot and produced our samples mid season. Moda Operandi hosted a trunk show featuring spikelet jewelry, still ongoing. Lauren Santo Domingo messaged me on Instagram and we set it up on September 13th, the day of the fashion show. It was amazing.

But at the same time, even with the support, I understand that my duty is to make a good product. Buyers don’t order things they don’t like. It’s a business. They have to make sales. I am responsible, when I do the show, the models, the location, etc.

You’ve used wheat as a motif and inspired bulletproof vests. What themes, symbols or ideas would you like to explore in your next collection?

I never talk about the next batch. I have ideas but it is not easy for me to tell them until it is finished. But it is connected with Ukraine. I think that every Ukrainian designer dreams of connecting their work with victory, but we don’t know. There is a lot of white in the spring/summer collection because white means hope to me. I didn’t want to do drama. I wanted to show what we are fighting for and that is why the last collection was around wheat.