How Has The Fashion Industry Responded to the Russia-Ukraine War?
After almost two years of no-attendee runways and online showcases, the fashion industry was slowly getting back on its feet and announcing that the most significant events of the fashion world such as New York, London, Milan, and Paris Fashion Weeks would be held in person. For Paris Fashion Week, while many big house brands such as Tom Ford and Marc Jacobs opted to continue their shows without audiences, many others such as Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Miu Miu, and Balenciaga decided to join.
With the event set to happen between the 28th of February and the 8th of March; brands, magazines, influencers, and other fashion enjoyers were waiting in anticipation until the big day. There seemed to be nothing wrong, Covid-19 cases were going down and travel to France was starting to open up.
Until things started going south when Russia launched its first attack on Ukraine on the 24th of February, only four days before the start of Paris Fashion Week.
While the week itself was not canceled, the repercussions against Russia were almost imminent. Many brands like Burberry, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, and Hermès started to shut their stores down in Russia and pull out of the Russian market. Chanel released this statement through LinkedIn: “Given our increasing concerns about the current situation, the growing uncertainty and the complexity to operate, Chanel decided to temporarily pause its business in Russia.”
Prada followed suit, claiming their “primary concern is for all colleagues and their families affected by the tragedy in Ukraine, and [they] will continue to support them.”
While many brands showed their standpoint through these actions, fashion houses like Balenciaga and Armani opted for reflecting their thoughts onto their runways.
Demna, the creative director of Balenciaga, was also a victim of war. He was born in Sukhumi, Georgia, which was undergoing a civil war in the 1990s when he was born. He claims that “The war in Ukraine has triggered the pain of a past trauma [he has] carried in [him] since 1993, when the same thing happened to [his] home country and [he] became a forever refugee.” He also recited a poem by Oleksandr Oles in Ukrainian, with no translation provided. His reason for doing this was to reach out to those who could understand. Also, in his note for the guests, Denma expressed his feelings of uncertainty about the show, stating that he had thought about canceling it because “Fashion week [felt] like some kind of an absurdity.” He later wrote that he ultimately decided to go on with the show because he was tired of giving up and “surrendering to the evil that has already hurt [him] so much.” In another gesture to stand with Ukraine, Ukrainian flags were draped over the guest’s seats.
The show itself began with heavy artificial snow and wind, reminiscent of the conditions of Ukraine. Models walked one by one, but there was no ending where all of them got on the runway together for a finale. Instead, the last model walked to a song titled “Storm” by BFRND, a heavy and suffocating song that elevated the mood.
Similar to Demna, Giorgio Armani who is the founder of Armani, showed his condemnation and respect through his show which was held in complete silence.
Apart from fashion houses, models also raised their voices against the attacks on Ukraine. Gigi Hadid, one of the most in-demand models in the industry, wrote in an Instagram caption:
“Having a set Fashion Month schedule has meant that my colleagues and I often present new fashion collections during heartbreaking and traumatic times in history. We don’t have control over most of our work schedules, but we would like to walk ‘for’ something. Following in the footsteps of my friend @micarganaraz, I am pledging to donate my earnings from the Fall 2022 shows to aid those suffering from the war in Ukraine, as well as continuing to support those experiencing the same in Palestine.”
Other models such as Bogdana Didenko Nevodnik were stuck in Italy after Milan Fashion Week when the news of the war broke out. Nevodnik, who is Ukrainian, felt “it was a bit stupid, unreal, to be on the catwalk when people [were] dying. [She] was ashamed and had the feeling that the spectators didn’t really care.” At first, she wanted to get on the first bus to Ukraine, claiming that she would even join the army if she had to. When she wasn’t allowed access, though, she decided to help her country alongside volunteers through first aid kits.
With small gestures and silent acts of condemnation, the fashion industry, just like many other industries, is holding its ground to help and defend Ukraine.
Sources:
https://mancunion.com/2022/03/12/fashion-industry-shows-support-towards-ukrainian-crisis/
https://edition.cnn.com/style/article/balenciaga-paris-fashion-week-fall-winter-2022-show/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2022/mar/06/burberry-joins-exodus-of-luxury-brands-from-russia
