Fashion week fall-winter 2022-2023 is in full swing while on February 24, Russia declares war on Ukraine. In response, fashion brands are gradually speaking out. The latest? The Balenciaga label.
Since February 11, the fashion week pace the days of fashionistas. In New York, London, Milan and Paris, designers unveil their fall-winter 2022-2023 collections. One fashion month which should have been marked by the massive return of parades in the presence of an audience. But on Thursday, February 24 shortly before 4 a.m., Russian army invaded Ukraineprovoking an unprecedented conflict in the Europe of the 21stth century.
For creators, models, stylists, journalists, influencers and other professionals in the sector, this is the question. How to deal on social networks and in the media with collections that no one (or almost) can afford when it’s war at 2,000 km? How to organize events, parties, parades when 500,000 Ukrainians left their country in a few days to escape the conflicts?
Brands speak up
Real issues that some brands have found a way to address. This is particularly the case of Balenciaga. The claw led by Georgian designer Demna, a refugee from the civil war of 1991-1993, decided to make his Instagram account a relay of information on the situation in Ukraine. To signify its commitment, Balenciaga deleted (as with each of its fashion shows) all publications from its Instagram account and added a dove holding an olive branch in its biography. The only photo posted: the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flagcaptioned as follows: “We are committed to peace and have made a donation to the WFP [le World Food Programme, le programme humanitaire alimentaire de l’ONU, ndlr] to support emergency humanitarian aid to help Ukrainian refugees. We will open all our platforms in the coming days to disseminate and relay information related to the situation in Ukraine. Follow the link in our bio to donate now [lien qui redirige sur le site du WFP, ndlr]”.
With 12.7 million followers on Instagram, 881,200 on Twitter and 2.1 million fans on Facebook, it’s an understatement to say that the Parisian brand has a large audience. Even more when you know that the label, whose popularity exploded in 2021, will present his next collection Sunday, March 6 in the afternoon.
And Balenciaga isn’t the only fashion player getting involved. On Sunday February 27 in Milan, Giorgio Armani paraded his collection in the greatest of silences to show solidarity with Ukraine. 1er march in Paris, the Russian-Latvian duo Victoria/Tomas indicated on the note of intent of their show three websites on which to make donations for the Ukrainian people. At Koché, Christelle Kocher, the artistic director of the house, wore two flowers in the colors of Ukraine on her blouse at the time of the greeting. The Hungarian brand Nanushka has decided to join forces with the Order of Malta to provide food, clothing and means of transport to Ukrainian refugees arriving in Budapest. In addition, the label, which belongs to the Vanguards group, is committed to supporting Ukrainian fashion professionals – and there are many of them, whether they are stylists, designers, models or journalists -. Olivier Rousteing, Simon Porte Jacquemus, Alessandro Michele… All these creators have also used their Instagram accounts to broadcast messages of peace and encourage their subscribers to donate for Ukraine.
Models, influencers and institutions also express themselves
On the catwalks, the models are also mobilizing. Argentinian top Mica Argañaraz published on February 27 in an Instagram story: “I must say that it is very strange to participate in parades knowing that the war is taking place right now on the same continent. I will give part of my stamps collected during this Fashion Week to help Ukrainian associations. To all my friends, colleagues and anyone else who is dealing with this feeling, maybe this is something we could all do“. An initiative relayed by Bella Hadid and Kaia Gerber especially.
The institutions have also expressed themselves, like the haute couture and fashion federation led by Ralph Toledano. In a press release sent to editors, he declared on February 28: “The big fashion family is meeting for Paris Fashion Week when war has brutally broken down in Europe and is plunging the Ukrainian people into fear and pain. Creation is based on the principle of freedom, whatever the circumstances. And the role of fashion is to contribute to individual and collective emancipation in our societies. The federation of haute couture and fashion invites you to experience the parades of the days to come with gravity which imposes itself in these dark hours“.
A seriousness that can be found particularly on the influencer’s Instagram account Doina Ciobanu. Very involved in the defense of the environment, this young Moldovan woman, from the start of the war in Ukraine, decided to make her social network a wealth of information for those affected by the conflict. With the help of her community (946,000 followers on Instagram), she created a map showing all the borders through which Ukrainians can flee their country.
She also set up an Internet site listing all sorts of valuable information for refugees and people wishing to help them. A total commitment that not all influencers can necessarily afford to follow. Since February 24, there have been many of them, like Monica de la Villardiere to point out the dichotomy between how they feel about the war in Ukraine and the commitments they have to respect on their social networks, from which their salaries derive.
But ultimately, the one that best sums up the sentiment shared in the sector is perhaps the journalist and author Sophie Fontanel with under a black square posted on February 24, 2022, while attending shows in the Italian fashion capital, these few words: “Absurdity to see great things in Milan when one man’s decision shakes the ground“.