Litkovska RTW Spring 2024
Lilia Litkovska wanted to let her clothes do the talking. The only Ukrainian designer on the Paris schedule, she spoke of the values that have emerged from the war in her homeland — resilience, courage and altruism among them.
“Ukrainian values have changed during this horrible war, and I want to keep these values frozen,” she explained backstage beforehand.
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Her collection, as ever built around strong contemporary tailoring, took on a new poetry. Wheat sheaves — surely a reference to her country’s importance as one of the world’s biggest cereal producers — provided striking embellishments, as a peplum-like display on the waistline of an otherwise minimalist dress, for instance. Raffia strands expanded from her bags, were worn as charm-like jewelry, or covered one voluminous side of a jacket. Military references were also rife, on sharply cut trenchcoats and cargo shorts, for example. The blue of Ukraine’s flag adorned sportier looks done in a textured fabric. Suit jackets were ripped open down the front, one frayed strip buttoned on to the opposite, pristine side to graphic effect.
The models paraded down the runway to the haunting sound of a lonesome electric guitar, courtesy of multidisciplinary artist Julien Sitruk, who, with his photographer’s hat on, has shot Litkovska’s recent campaign images. Another metaphor the designer knocked home: Fashion can carry commercial conviction in tandem with a political message.
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Launch Gallery: Litkovska RTW Spring 2024
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