How the Future of Menswear Is Being Written in Ukraine

It’s just turned 7pm on the third day of Ukrainian Fashion Week in Kyiv and, as I sit down to interview Andriy Moskin and Andreas Bilous, the designers behind Ukrainian menswear brand Andreas Moskin, air raid sirens begin to blare.

“Everything’s going to be OK,” one of the assembled press officers says after a frantic few moments checking Telegram channels to see what type of threat — attack drones, or ballistic and cruise missiles — is incoming.

Unlike other global fashion weeks, where afterparties run into the early morning, Kyiv feels starkly different. Midnight curfews, daily air raids and wounded veterans on the runway put the reality of war front and centre.

As guests begin to make their way into the opulent atrium of the Fairmont Grand Hotel Kyiv, ahead of the Andreas Moskin show, scheduled to start at 8:30pm, the air raid sirens continue. For obvious safety reasons, no show can start if the air alert is in operation. It’s a tense wait as drones are spotted circling above the city. But at 9:17pm, the alarms finally fall silent and the show begins.

Zakhar Biriukov, a Special Operations Forces veteran, opens the show in a striking adapted white double-breasted blazer with black lapels, with the sleeves opening up to comfortably accommodate the prosthetics.

In the summer of 2022, a Russian artillery shell exploded close to Biriukov, causing an explosive device he was fitting onto a drone to detonate. He survived this massive trauma but lost both his arms, his right leg, an eye and was left with facial lacerations and hearing damage.

“Ukrainian fashion right now, in the sense of attention to inclusivity, is the real trendsetter worldwide,” Andriy Moskin tells me backstage before the show.

Their design philosophy, exploring the interplay between masculinity and sensitivity, flows through the collection. Each outfit has been meticulously constructed with adaptive logic in mind. From jackets with removable sleeves and hidden zippers, enabling prosthetic wearers to easily adjust the fit, to altered seam placements and elongated jackets creating a structured silhouette, function and aesthetics are equal.

“The story is about the models themselves. The idea behind creating Andreas Moskin clothes is to bring their narratives to life,” adds Andreas Bilous.

Some men who took part in previous Andreas Moskin shows felt so empowered by their experience, they organised a special theatre event featuring veterans. “In the theatre, you felt this energy, it’s unbelievable. We’re happy that we can organise this moment where you can think, Oh my God, life is good,” Bilous adds.

“We are really an unbroken nation, because we love our work and we love our art. We take a lot of inspiration from our veterans and our history,” says Moskin.

Within minutes of the show ending, the air raid sirens return. Overnight, Russian forces conduct their largest air attack since the war started, unleashing 810 drones and 13 missiles across Ukraine. After a night in the bomb shelter, I — like the rest of Kyiv — wake up to the news that a young woman and her two-month old son are among the victims.

Wartime Realities

“The beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022 was a massive disruption for my creative process,” explains Viktor Anisimov, designer of his eponymous menswear label VIKTORANISIMOV. “I lost my sense of beauty and the sense that something could even be beautiful.”

This feeling only came back last year, when his daughter was born. “That’s when the light and colour came back to my life and life acquired new meaning,” he shares through an interpreter.

Sitting backstage at the Mystetskyi Arsenal, Ukraine’s expansive flagship cultural institution where many shows take place, Anisimov’s appearance mirrors his garments: functional, practical and utilitarian.

When I ask about his work with high-profile people, like President Zelensky, who wore a VIKTORANISIMOV black suit during a meeting with President Trump, he offers a matter-of-fact response: “We never divide clients in any sense. It’s always the same approach to manufacturing and creative force for somebody famous or for an ordinary person.”

The brand has had to overcome immense logistical challenges. Last year Anisimov designed the official uniforms for Ukraine’s Paralympic Team, a project carried out amid blackouts. “We had barely any light or electricity. We really couldn’t be sure that we could make it on time, or at all,” he adds.

Like many menswear collections this season, his looks feature militaristic themes. All-black ensembles are found in VIKTORANISIMOV’s SS26 collection, with a stark, almost uniform effect throughout. Before the VIKTORANISIMOV show, like all others, a recording plays asking guests to stand and take a moment of silence to honour the memory of members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who gave their lives for freedom.

New Vision

Rather than treating missing limbs as something to hide, designers are working to actively include them in the fashion narrative. Adaptive fashion has often meant plain and uninspiring clothing. But this season in Kyiv, genuinely aspirational adaptive garments are being showcased.

When designer Elvira Gasanova launched menswear label Damirli, the focus was bespoke suits and custom-made jackets. But, following Russian aggression and the new reality in Ukraine, Gasanova understood the world had changed and that a more practical approach was needed. “Something chic, but also scorched by reality,” she elaborates.

This new capsule collection, comprised of versatile essentials including polos, down jackets and blazers, reflects the brand philosophy of minimalism, elegance and strength. And, of course, all garments are made in Ukraine.

One piece in the collection, a simple three-button, long-sleeve, stand-collar polo in black, became a global talking-point after President Volodymyr Zelensky wore it to the now-infamous meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House in February.

“That night we had interviews with WWD, Fox News, Daily Mail and more than a thousand orders came in,” explains Gasanova. “People wrote to us saying, ‘I don’t even need my size. I just need this polo as a symbol of support for Ukraine.’”

For Gasanova, bringing attention to the embroidered Tryzub, or trident, which is Ukraine’s national emblem and signifies strength and freedom, is the most important design element of the shirt, aptly titled The President’s Polo.

“We are showing that Ukraine can produce high quality, beautiful designs with strong ideas. And we’re proud of that.” Together, these designers are creating a new style lexicon for Ukrainian men and, in the process, redefining menswear in a nation at war.