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DISCOVER THE BRAND

CHERESHNIVSKA BY ANASTASIYA ROZAVA 

Every collection is driven by a strong core idea, yet still open for an interpretation. Chereshnivska brand tries to reflect the modern world and show it through the designs and prints. 

"This is the story of a European person in whose home war has come. We want to draw attention to the war in Ukraine. Art is the way to communicate. The real experience of our team is daily air alarms and the unknown. We are gloomy, but our mood is fighting, so the collection is loud and bold.  "

Anastasiya Rozava, CHERESHNIVSKA

MINI INTERVIEW WITH ANASTASIYA ROZAVA  

Why did you want to start Chereshnivska? 
The original idea wasn’t about fashion. I wanted to create a Ukrainian company with great working conditions and a focus on the talent of people. My friends and I had always worked in great, big companies, so I want to bring that experience to a place where it is not so obvious. After some research I decided to create a clothing brand with its own production. I attended patternmaking and sewing classes. And after that the story begins. In one year, I met our current designer Anastasiya Rozava, and it was a perfect match. After that we became more artistic and fashionable. 

Why was it important for the brand to be unisex? 
Unisex, because now the line between the sexes (in terms of work, and study) allows for women to stand more for equality, and every woman has the right to look like she feels comfortable. The same applies to guys , who can wear skirts and dresses. This is normal, this is the freedom of the individual. Which should be a choice for everyone— self identify. Feel comfortable with yourself, at work, on the street, in society. Unisex, for me, is the right to freedom.

The brand combines art and fashion in a unique way. Many of the clothes feature art prints drawn by creative director Anastasiya Rozava. What inspires these prints 
The inspiration for prints is more of an emotional component. What matters more to me at a particular moment. It can be political, public actions (print noise) when you feel an overdose of information, and you lose yourself as a person, and I stylize and interpret it. Or vice versa, just cool people you don’t know whom you see in a cafe over a cup of coffee (print people). Creativity of various art personalities. This is more and more just travel, new acquaintances, new places, then new thoughts and ideas appear. Or since it is now a full-scale war, this is not inspiration, it is rather a reflection on what is going on. 

Tell us about the ‘Upcycle’ collection. 
First, we started from free repairs. Twice a year we repair any clothes of any brand. We have a lot of small, printed pieces that would otherwise end up unused. After that we started to make patchwork one-off clothes to use these pieces. And after we developed the idea to upcycle shirts, jeans, and jackets from second hand. The culture of wearing vintage or secondhand clothes is rising. But we are giving a chance to a second life for damaged clothes that often no one wants.

For the ‘Hard Vintage’ collection, several items were made from vintage parachutes. What was that process like? How did the idea come about? 
I was thinking about Ukrainian history, did some research, and remembered my childhood. You couldn’t easily buy clothes and every woman sewed. I was searching for suitable fabrics for the collection and found a damaged vintage parachute as well as other vintage fabrics. Many people store these fabrics at home. I shared them with our designer Anastasiya and the collection was born. The collection draws its inspiration from two aspects of Soviet life: widespread home tailoring and the impact of the bloated war industry on industrial design and fashion, in particular. The remains of Soviet fabrics in Ukraine are still huge. We dyed everything by hand, giving the fabrics a modern look. In addition, this collection has zero waste. Textile artist Tereza Barabash created a series of lightweight hand-woven fabrics from the pieces that would otherwise have been unused. 

On your website, you mentioned that despite everything going on in Ukraine, you all have become stronger and continue to design. How have these events inspired, or impacted, the upcoming collections?
5-7 of August at Helsinki Fashion Week we will present our SS23 collection. This is the story of a European person in whose home war has come. We want to draw attention to the war in Ukraine. Art is the way to communicate. The real experience of our team is daily air alarms and the unknown. We are gloomy, but our mood is fighting, so the collection is loud and bold. Fashion is a response, a way to communicate. 

What do you hope for Chereshnivska in the future? 
It is difficult to plan right now. I want us to keep going. I want to be able to do work and create jobs for Ukrainian people. I hope our team can work without endless air alarms.