In a fantastic article, my colleague Charlotte Higgins discusses how Vogue reacted to the conflict in Ukraine, where Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s signature hoodie and cargo pants have become an essential part of his persona.
On February 24, 2022, as fashion week was in full swing in Milan, Venya Brykalin, the editor-in-chief of Vogue Ukraine, woke up to the news that his country had been invaded. Still, he left as scheduled for the Max Mara presentation, where he saw an array of opulent cashmere coats parade by.
This autumn, he observed on a video call, A common belief among many Ukrainians is that the best way to maintain your sanity is to complete your work.
A lot of people might wonder what use a fashion magazine would have in a nation resisting a full-scale invasion. But style has a lot of power.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has been wearing cargo pants, military boots and hoodies with a utilitarian aesthetic since February 2022. The president of Ukraine now uses it as a powerful tool to convey a sense of impending danger and action preparedness.
It seems like a way to show defiance and insist on normalcy in the face of the Russian invasion is to take pride in one’s look on the streets of Kyiv.
Nevertheless, since the start of the full-scale invasion, Vogue Ukraine has not been primarily focused on fashion.
On February 24, 2022, the first news of the battle was posted on our website. Features editor Daria Slobodianyk of the publication stated, “We just started posting; there was no hesitation, no meeting.” “We basically answered our own questions by posting a set of guidelines, such as what to do in the event of an air raid siren,” according to one of the first things we did.