Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in particular, the hometown of Yuliya Rudenko, Uman Ukraine, has not faltered the courage, resilience, and unbreakable spirit of the Ukrainian people. If anything, it’s stronger than ever, and that strength, unity, and forward-thinking determination is what you see in Rudenko’s “Motherland” collection.¹
Appropriately titled, the collection, made in 2021, is about the love of country and family. She says, “my works are a reflection of my deep love for my homeland and my deep gratitude for everything it has given me.”
Rudenko, a graduate from the fashion school, Polimoda, in Florence, Italy, currently lives in Florence and plans on moving back to Ukraine when the war is over, a sentiment found in most Ukrainians living outside their country. The ‘love for homeland’ is so strong that her entire family still lives in Uman. She explains, “they spent some time in Germany previously but didn’t have the heart to stay there, so they moved back.” To put this in perspective, Uman is in the central part of Ukraine where Russia has launched long range missile strikes killing civilians including children.
Another point of perspective in Rudenko’s commitment to her hometown, when asked about the location of the photoshoot, she said, “the photoshoot of my collection was by a talented Ukrainian photographer Anna Korman which we did in my hometown Uman.”
RP Hill: What is the story and importance about “Motherland”?
YR: Throughout my collection, “Motherland”, I wanted to capture the peace and warmth of coming back home and hugging your loved ones. It’s about a carefree childhood spent at grandma’s house in the Ukrainian countryside and about those countless hours I spent as a kid looking at the clouds.
RP Hill: What Ukrainian city or area in the countryside was your grandma’s house?
YR: My grandma’s village is 50 km away from my hometown in central Ukraine! I have actually recently visited them for the first time since the war started together with my 9-month-old daughter!
RP Hill: Congratulations on the birth of your daughter during this conflict!
RP Hill: You had mentioned that your color palette was inspired by Tetyana Yablonska, a famous Ukrainian painter who painted about the life of the Ukrainian people. Who were the prints inspired by?
YR: Yes, the color palette of the collection is inspired by the works of a Ukrainian painter Tetyana Yablonska. I also developed a series of prints inspired by collages of a Kharkiv based photographer Oleksandr Suprun. One of the faces you see on the prints is based on a self portrait of the artist himself, and the rest are just people captured in his works. He was inspired by the Ukrainian countryside as well and mostly photographed in the villages.
RP Hill: Many young designers today are designing responsibly (or at least aspiring to do so), using natural and/or deadstock material to reduce the industry’s waste. What materials did you use?
YR: I mostly used deadstock fabric. For example, for the quilted checkered coat I used up the last couple of meters of 6 different fabrics. I used a variety of materials including cotton, wool, polyester as well. Many of them were the very last meters of these fabrics available.
RP Hill: And the printed looks?
YR: The parts of the collection that are printed are silk, but it was provided by the company that did the prints, so the silk is not deadstock.
RP Hill: The softness of the collection comes from the silk and color palette you used, but also a textural touch comes from the embroidered detail. Tell us about your application to create this look.
YR: Most of the garments feature some type of embroidery which was done by hand, or appliqué techniques. The first look of the collection – a short “cloud” dress was stitched by hand entirely and the green knitwear dress features a series of puffed and stitched on by hand elements such as flowers and “grandma’s hands”.
RP Hill: Motherland is tastefully executed in choice of color, fabric, and appliquéd texture. In contrast to warfare, it features an elegance, softness, and calmness, fitting for your vision of your childhood memories of visiting “grandma” in the countryside.
Congratulations, Yuliya Rudenko!
¹On 24 February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War which began in February 2014, when Russia annexed the Crimean Peninsula.
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