LITKOVSKA Makes Paris Fashion Week Debut With FIREFLY Collection, Inspired by Kyiv’s Resilience

This season’s collection is inspired by the resilience of Kyiv, a city facing power outages, cold winters, and ongoing Russian attacks, yet continuing to persist with life.

Reflecting on the creative process, Liliia Litkovska, the visionary designer behind the brand, shared the profound connection between her work and Kyiv’s current atmosphere.

“There are nights in Kyiv with no electricity, no heating, no water. People move through the city wearing small lights on their heads. From a distance, the streets look like a sky fallen onto the earth—scattered with tiny moving stars, fireflies. This image became the soul of the collection. It was created in extreme winter—minus 30 degrees, in ateliers that sometimes had no power, in rooms where breath was visible in the air. But inside, there was warmth,” she said.

The FIREFLY collection explores the idea of an inner light that refuses to fade, even under the harshest circumstances. It symbolizes the persistence of hope and unity amidst uncertainty. The scent of Kyiv—a blend of cold air, stone, smoke, and human presence—is encapsulated in a custom fragrance created for the runway show, evoking the very atmosphere of the city during this tough winter.

LITKOVSKA’s signature intellectual tailoring, architectural deconstruction, and transformative design take center stage, with asymmetry and the aesthetic of “unfinishedness” reflecting the fragility of the modern world. The collection’s silhouettes embody a dialogue between past and present, drawing inspiration from Ukrainian Baroque architecture and historical fashion. The flowing contours and shifting volumes of the garments represent the tension between vulnerability and vitality, mirroring the city's resilience.

A standout feature of the collection is the introduction of the BESAGY BAG, inspired by the traditional Ukrainian “Besahy”—a double-sided bag used historically by nomads and traders. Reimagined for the contemporary journeyer, the bag evokes memories of long travels and the essentials carried across uncertain paths.

In a subtle yet powerful metaphor, the flashlight—both a practical object and symbol of direction—is incorporated throughout the collection, representing guidance, survival, and the connection between people in moments of uncertainty.

LITKOVSKA’s debut at Paris Fashion Week this season comes amidst the growing recognition of Ukrainian artists in the global fashion scene. On March 10, French fashion house Louis Vuitton introduced a new collection by creative director Nicolas Ghesquière, featuring the works of contemporary Ukrainian artist Nazar Strelyaiev-Nazarko.

Strelyaiev-Nazarko, born in Kharkiv and now based in Milan, shared the exciting news on his Instagram account. The artist’s paintings were used as prints for the clothing in the Louis Vuitton collection, with one of his notable works, Paramnesia, being reinterpreted for the runway.

In this reimagined version, elements of the original painting were altered, most notably the depiction of a lamb wearing rubber boots, which in the fashion collection was replaced with luxury boots adorned with Louis Vuitton’s signature monogram.

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