In Ukraine’s 450-seat parliament, there are only 35 women. But the sartorial tastes of these women – and the designers who provide their wardrobes – are scrutinized far more closely than those of their male colleagues.
With Ukrainian Fashion Week under way in Kyiv, this small group of trendsetters tries to combine substance with style.
The ladies in power often fall into two extremes: They either dress in boring Soviet classics or get carried away with glitter and frills. Compared to their Western colleagues, they lack “moderation and elegance,” said Natalia Tymoshenko, a visiting professor of etiquette and protocol at the Diplomatic Academy of Ukraine.
Their clothes “are too expensive, revealing and aggressive,” she said.
The Kyiv Post highlights three women whose style has been ruffling feathers in the past five years. Designers for ex-Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, former First Lady Kateryna Yushchenko and current First Lady Lyudmyla Yanukovych beam the fashion spotlight on Ukraine’s top ladies.
Yulia Tymoshenko
At 49, firebrand Tymoshenko begs to differ in everything she does, including fashion.
At one political TV show in 2009, she had the back of her dress unzipped to end speculation that she only wears attire from the expensive Louis Vuitton French brand.
Former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin meet in Yalta for talks on Nov. 19, 2009. (AFP)
The clothes tag had the name of Ukrainian designer Aina Gasse on it. “She helps me create a feminine look,” Tymoshenko said of her seven-year collaboration with Gasse.
The mini-striptease didn’t disperse rumors about costly French collections, but made Gasse all the more interesting. Tymoshenko’s daughter, Evhenia, introduced them, Gasse said.
“In the beginning, I was so nervous that I couldn’t even go to bed unless I was called [by Tymoshenko] and told that it fit fine,” she said.
Today, however, it takes the designer some five minutes to sketch a new outfit, which usually wins approval from the client.
Tymoshenko allegedly pays only for the fabric, while the tailoring costs her nothing in return for the publicity that Gasse gets from such a high-flying customer. Moreover, Tymoshenko is the only client who Gasse pays personal visits for fittings.
“I understand she is very busy,” said the 35-year old designer, who no longer presents her work at the Ukrainian Fashion Week shows because “they feel like an assembly line.”
After making hundreds of dresses for the ex-prime minister, Gasse has attracted other politicians as well. Classic, elegant and simple suits “with some romantic and sexual undertones” are her specialty.
A color palette is mostly subdued and diffused, because the designer doesn’t like bright clothes.
With Tymoshenko’s infinite love for white, they seem to be a perfect match. At the peaks of her career, she would brave the world in light, virgin colors.
During the 2004 Orange Revolution that succeeded in overturning an election rigged for Viktor Yanukovych, she addressed protesters in a white coat accentuated with an orange scarf from the stage at Kyiv’s Independence Square.
Meeting Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, she would opt for milky-colored dresses most of the time.
Her political campaigns – be it hugging a plant or a tiger cub, would feature Ukraine’s first fashionista in white again.
For a Western woman in politics, this would be unacceptable, said professor Natalia Tymoshenko (no relations to Yulia Tymoshenko) from the Diplomatic Academy. “If a woman is dressed in white, it means she has lost her case even before she utters a word. However, if it happens only once, light colors may be used as a tactic of making an opponent think she is weak when she is not. But it should not become a regular practice,” the professor said.
But Yulia Tymoshenko is known to break rules and come up with her own scenarios. Gasse said the opposition leader takes an active part in designing new models.
“She always pays attention to the tiniest of details and tells me what corrections should be made. There is no careless attitude to clothes, like that of [German Chancellor Angela] Merkel, who does not really care how her trousers look or if her jacket fits her well,” Gasse said.
Gasse describes Tymoshenko as a “rather demanding, but very tactful person” who doesn’t like very bright and black colors.
White frills and lace blouses with lantern sleeves were among the things Tymoshenko favored in the last season. Tweed skirt suits and blouses with lay-down collars, once fashioned by Jacqueline Kennedy, are among Tymoshenko’s preferences this season.
Gasse charges from $500 per factory garment and $1,000 for a hand-work dress.
For more information on Aina Gasse: www.ainagasse.com
Kateryna Yushchenko
Ukraine’s former first lady, Kateryna Yushchenko, 49, was very consistent in her style. An American of Ukrainian origin, she promoted Ukrainian ethnic style dress from her husband Viktor’s first day as president.
Working with Kateryna Yushchenko since 2005, designer Lilia Poustovit compares the first lady’s style to that of Michelle Obama. Yushchenko was Ukraine’s one rare woman in politics who risked wearing bright colors, including violet, pink, red, or cherry, instead of washed-out hues.
Former first lady Kateryna Yushchenko is keen on Ukrainian designers and incorporates ethnic details into many of her outfits, such as this dress at the diplomatic meeting in Kyiv on Feb. 8, 2008. (Mykhailo Markiv)
“I liked her [Yushchenko’s] respect towards Ukrainian national heritage. We spent much time on choosing the right folk motives for her clothing,” said Iryna Karavay, 31, another designer for the former first lady.
However, unlike Yulia Tymoshenko, all of Kateryna Yushchenko’s fittings were made strictly in Karavay’s fashion studio.
The pricing policy was not tweaked either. “I made no discounts for Kateryna, because we are just not used to bargaining with people of such high rank,” Karavay said.
Yushchenko kept true to her style until the end of her husband’s presidency and promoted costumes with immaculate handmade embroidery, red coral beads and vintage brooches.
She had a following, too.
Ex-president’s press secretary, Iryna Vannikova, 34, was tailored by Karavay.
But while Yushchenko’s wife preferred skirt suits in bright colors, Vannikova favored trouser suits in subdued colors.
“Since she [Vannikova] got the new job, it was very difficult to work with her. I clearly remember her always talking on the phone, even during the fittings,” recalled Karavay, who doesn’t work much with any of the Yushchenko ladies since their man left office.
For more information on Lilia Poustovit: www.poustovit.ua and Iryna Karavay: www.nb-karavay.com.
Lyudmyla Yanukovych
Ukraine’s first lady Lyudmyla Yanukovych, 61, is one of the country’s biggest enigmas, ever since her random appearances during the 2004 Orange Revolution.
At the time, she criticized the popular and peaceful uprising while wearing Soviet-style baggy coats, knitted sweaters and a mink beret. She has since nearly vanished from public sight.
Current first lady Lyudmyla Yanukovych has less of a taste for couture. She wears a baggy coat and a mink beret addressing the people during a protest in 2004. (UNIAN)
During the inauguration events in February, she appeared briefly in a modest black suit and a white blouse only to disappear again.
Photographers sometimes catch her during odd photo sessions in track suits, as if to promote a healthy lifestyle, or watching ballet or other performances in her native Donetsk – but that’s about it.
The rumor is that she is working with designer Diana Dorozhkina on a complete make-over.
Dorozhkina, 39, neither confirmed nor denied the gossip, saying she’s “very careful about making comments about her clients in politics.”
However, the designer whose clothing line starts from $1,000 per garment did give a piece of advice: “For the first lady, I would recommend wearing either trousers or skirt suits of warm colors. Classic black, coffee, brownish and pastel colors would fit her best and take her hair color into account.”
Those who still remember Lyudmyla Yanukovych with purple hair would be pleased to know she has changed it since then.
It now looks more like a chestnut brown, which leaves hope for seeing the first lady in a new wardrobe as well.
For more information on Diana Dorozhkina: www.dorozhkina.com
Kyiv Post staff writer Iryna Prymachyk can be reached at [email protected].
