11 14 19 Waterbury Republican American Designer found inspiration as her native Ukraine fought its R

Republican American November 14, 2019 “Designer found inspira on as her na ve Ukraine fought its Revolu on of Dignity” Yaryna Zhuk found inspira on in the dignity revolu on taking place in her na ve Ukraine and through her e orts presented her work at the Academy of Art University Fashion Show in September.’ h ps://www.rep-am.com/local/arts-entertainment/best_bets/ 2019/11/14/designer-found-inspira on-as-her-na ve-ukrainefought-its-revolu on-of-dignity/

Designer found inspiration as her native Ukraine fought its Revolution of Dignity

BY MICHAEL CHAIKEN REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN November 14, 2019

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Fashion designer Yaryna Zhuk prepares her collection

backstage during New York Fashion Week in September.

CONTRIBUTED

The Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity changed the trajectory of Yaryna Zhuk’s career as a fashion designer in that former Soviet satellite country. Zhuk, of Rocky Hill, said the February 2014 protest inspired her to pull up roots with her family and come to the United States.

The effort paid off in September when Zhuk presented her American-born collection at New York Fashion Week. The presentation was a part of the Academy of Art University’s School of Fashion runway show.

“What I appreciate about the U.S. are concepts related to individualism, Protestant work ethic, capitalism balanced with liberalism,” said Zhuk. “I feel more aligned with these things.”

Zhuk, 40, grew up in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city of 200,000-plus people in western Ukraine, which lies along the Bystritsa River. Founded in 1662 as the Polish town of Stanislawów, it was held by Austria from 1772 to 1919 and was only ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. The city was renamed in 1962 in honor of the Ukrainian political activist and writer Ivan Franko.

Zhuk’s creative energies began to simmer early on, when she remembers her grandmother stitching clothes together from scratch in the largely fashion-impoverished city.

The Revolution of Dignity that spured Zhuk’s departure began with protests in Independence Square in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv against then-President Viktor Yanukovych’s decision to suspend efforts to join the European Union. The nation, which finally gained its independence from the Soviet Union after the collapse of communism in 1991, had been leaning toward greater ties with Europe and breaking away from the influence of Russia.

On Feb. 18, 2014, Ukrainian police burned down the Trade Union building, which had been used as the headquarters for the pro-European movement. Police used live ammunition on the protesters, resulting in the deaths of more than 100 protesters, now known in Ukraine as the Heavenly Hundred. zhuk moved to the U.S. in 2012, less than a year before the Revolution of Dignity, she said.

“It was a very dark time for Ukraine,” said Zhuk, 40. “Bribery, corruption, degradation of political situation, all of it didn’t look and wasn’t good for business,” said Zhuk, who owned her own successful fashion line in Ukraine. Ukrainian politicians and assorted Ukrainian celebrities wore it.

But politics in Ukraine negated any pleasure Zhuk may have felt about her success in fashion. “To get a loan for new equipment required a bribery,” said Zhuk. “To get my child into the daycare, get a landline, or get any tax paperwork accepted required bribes.”

“It was ridiculous, and totally against my morals,” she continued. “I couldn’t grow professionally, and I didn’t see a future for my children at that point.”

Zhuk said she was a creative child, sketching and painting since she could remember.

Fashion was not even a distant dream. There is no story from my childhood about dreaming of making pretty dresses,” said the Ukrainian émigré. “I grew up in post-USSR, where nice clothing was rare…. I developed some sort of indifference to the clothing because nothing decent was available in the clothing stores when I was a child,” she said.

She watched her grandmother put clothes together using scraps from other garments. “My grandma was sewing and repurposing her clothing for her next teachers’ conference or other events a lot, so I knew that making fashion is not pretty or fun,” said Zhuk.

It was only after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that Zhuk began to look more closely at clothing and design. “I started to look at fashion as a form of art, not as something unpleasant or unenjoyable,” she said. In her teens, Zhuk enrolled in a four-year college program, the Ukrainian equivalent of an associate’s degree, to learn about artistic embroidery and ethnic costume.

But when she graduated from the program in Lviv, Ukraine, Zhuk found it difficult to get a job in fashion. Most clothing in her country was imported from places such as Turkey, China and Poland.

Rather than give up on fashion, Zhuk rolled up her sleeves and decided to make a go at fashion on her own.

She began with an industrial sewing machine, a pricey item that she said required sacrifice from her family.

“According to my art teachers, I was born to be artist, and my parents always supported this avenue, since I was little,” said Zhuk. “I suppose that is what loving parents do.”

“Helping me with the purchase of the embroidery machine was a part of that continuous support,” said the designer. “I started embroidering by hand, but it is very time consuming, costly, and wasn’t very profitable form of business at that time.”

Zhuk launched a line of ethnic-inspired embroidered clothing. She was young, had no business plan, nor any idea how to project income or factor in cost.

“I just started doing little projects with my embroidery machine, a few rolls of linen fabric, a website, and my family believing in me,” said Zhuk.

Word of mouth helped bring attention to her line, Zhuk said. “My company took off pretty well and I enjoyed my work very much for almost seven years,” said Zhuk.

But her success was undermined by the political situation in Ukraine. Still in her 30s, she and her husband, who had been a journalist, decided to leave the country. Zhuk already had family here. “It felt right to move where you have someone already,” she said.

Still, she had to dissolve her fashion line in Ukraine, whose success she doubted she could duplicate in the U.S. So she took a job in designing clothes for a sleepwear and loungewear manufacturer, where she still works.

But Zhuk’s desire to have her own fashion line again asserted itself. “I wanted to learn more about ready-to-wear fashion, and re-route my career in that direction,” said Zhuk.

Zhuk enrolled in a fashion program with the San Francisco-based Academy of Art University School of Fashion, which allowed her to take classes remotely. Zhuk’s display of her latest collection in September was part of a group show mounted by the Academy of Art University during New York Fashion Week.

The clothing on the runway offered atypical silhouettes for women (there no t-shirts, A-line skirts, or rompers). Zhuk’s designs in New York looked more like modern art for forwardthinking boutiques than shopping mall-centric fast fashion. Additionally, the ethnic touches of her earlier line in Ukraine have dissolved.

Now, with her fashion career starting to regain traction in her adopted home, the Connecticut-based designer is brimming with ideas for the next steps in her career.

“In the future, I am planning on moving to the area (of fashion) that I feel the most excited – tailored luxury garments with a sustainable (that is more environmentally friendly) approach where I can utilize my skills and my creative potential,” said Zhuk.

For information about Yaryna Zhuk and where you can get her clothing, visit notjustalabel.com.

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