While the city was still breathing the energy of the Winter Olympics, Milan Fashion Week unleashed creativity, colors and meanings in an edition capable of going far beyond the runway, transforming itself into a true space for meeting and dialogue. Among the events that captured attention during the week of shows, Fashion Proryv, a side event featuring the experimental and strategic proposals of Ukrainian designers, stood out for its strong message: transforming fashion into a language that speaks about war and post-war realities, cultures, young talents and diverse communities. Superstudio, which for years has supported the Ukrainian community in Milan, was there. In the front row was Gisella Borioli in the role of patron.
The presentation of Fashion Proryv at the end of Milan Fashion Week was not a fashion show, but an event that highlighted ideas, projects and visions born in Ukrainian fashion schools and developed together with Italian mentors and Milanese fashion cultural centers.
A project created with the aim of doing fashion beyond fashion – understood not only as clothing, but as a search for answers to the needs created by the ongoing war and as an expression of shared values. At the heart of Fashion Proryv there has always been collaboration between Italian and Ukrainian students, who this year brought fresh ideas and effective solutions, telling stories of culture, tradition and belonging, but above all reminding us of the inhumane conditions that the ongoing conflict has created: wounded people, amputees, darkness, cold, limited time, disillusionment and hopes. And the strength of a population that wants to continue believing in life, despite everything.
The final closing of fashion week came on February 28 with a narrative made of fabrics and silhouettes: stories of resilience, creativity and cohesion. A dialogue that crossed linguistic, political and artistic borders to remind us that fashion, when it wants to, can be a platform for peace.
Despite the many difficulties faced, the young designers who worked in collaboration with Italian academies – whose epicenter was Brera – managed to present interesting, original collections rich in personality, created in conditions of constant instability.
In the end, Fashion Proryv showed something greater than a simple fashion event. It was a meeting place for different identities – Ukrainian, Italian, but also Venezuelan, Kurdish and beyond – with a common thread: the idea that creativity and community can be tools of global connection.
Photo: VECTA Collection of the Institute Bila Tserkva Vocational College of Service and Design