War veterans with prosthetic limbs model in Kyiv fashion show

For the first time since the full-scale war began in February 2022, Ukrainian Fashion Week was held in the country’s capital city, Kyiv.

The headline event of Ukrainian Fashion Week, held for the first time since the start of the full-scale war which began in February 2022, featured war veterans walking the runway with prosthetic limbs.

As attendees applauded the models, dressed by Ukrainian designers Andreas Moskin and Andriy Bilous, news broke that dozens of people were killed in a Russian missile strike at a military training facility and nearby hospital in Poltava, about 350 kilometres southeast of Kyiv.

“We wanted to show that Ukrainian fashion is adapting to society, for people with amputations who survived the war,” says Bilous. “We are showing that people are unbreakable – without limbs, they can be stylish. They need to be loved, respected, and perceived as an integral part of society.”

As models moved through a spacious dressing and makeup room, they passed numerous reminders of the war: a series of portraits of service members in uniform who are part of the fashion industry, and a display area of military uniforms placed at the centre of the exhibition.

One standout piece was a black jacket by designer Maria Starchak, embroidered with the image of the Mariupol drama theatre in southern Ukraine, where a large number of civilians were killed in a 2022 Russian airstrike while using the site as an air raid shelter.

Iryna Danylevska, co-founder and CEO of Ukrainian Fashion Week, said that the four-day event was aimed at supporting the local industry and also reminding the world of the human cost of war.

“We are trying to keep the voice of Ukraine heard constantly in the world,” Danylevska told the AP. “If people are tired of the way politicians sound, tired of pictures where houses are destroyed, where soldiers are wounded, then this new information carries a new message,” she said.

“It’s a message that this is a country of talented people who are being destroyed just because they want to be Ukrainians. Shouldn’t we help them?”

Ukrainian Fashion Week took place from 1 to 4 September.