Freedom Fashion Ukraine heads to New York showcasing their collections created during a war and under constant air raid sirens on February 21st to the 23rd, with six of the country’s most affluent fashion designers at the exclusive Coterie Trade Show.
It’s been almost twelve months since the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The country is fighting for freedom and unity, defending the values of democracy, and resisting Russian aggression in all possible ways. Every Ukrainian citizen has adjusted their life, work, and business to help the country and financially support its fight for the world’s freedom.
For its fourth season – previous event held in Paris – the return to the “big apple” is now confirmed. Last year’s edition of Ukraine Fashion in New York opened just two days before the start of the full-scale invasion on February 24th.
USAID Competitive Economy Program will support the Ukrainian fashion industry through the grant for the Ukrainian company Lviv Fashion Week to showcase the designers at the exclusive trade show COTERIE located at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. USAID is the American development agency that works worldwide to drive development results. With vital support from USAID’s work in Ukraine which demonstrates American generosity and promotes a path to recipient self-reliance and resilience. It is extremely important to continue supporting the country’s economy by employing their staff especially to this predominately women’s industry as the men continue to fight on the front lines even as their cities, and country comes under attack.
“The project is designed to showcase remarkable diversity in the styles that Ukrainian fashion brands have to offer. The designers utilize the highest quality materials produced by the finest artisans, leading the industry in their craft. All the brands embrace the importance of sustainable fashion techniques and highlight Ukraine’s creativity while applying these values to their work”, – Olesya Zaluska, USAID CEP Chief of Party.
The COTERIE trade show first opened its doors in 1986 and has brought fashion’s biggest talents together to not only imagine, but actively create the trends of tomorrow bringing brands and buyers from around the world but has never housed a Ukrainian booth before this season.
“In 2020 during Covid I worked for Informa Markets and because of the pandemic the company had layoffs in October because no in-person events were allowed to take place. A month later I took a leap of faith which would change my life forever and embarked on my first journey to Ukraine in November 2020 buying a one-way ticket to Kyiv. It’s incredible to think if it wasn’t for this, I would have never discovered this extremely talented Ukrainian fashion industry or met all these incredible people who I now consider family,” – Jen Sidary, founder & CEO of ANGELFORFASHION.com