You're reading: Lifestyle Blog: Ukraine’s new first lady picks stylish look for first foreign visit

Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, wore a perfectly matched look combining the classy and the simple for her husband’s first presidential foreign visit to Brussels, Belgium.

The first lady arrived in Brussels on June 4 along with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, who was there to meet with the leaders of the Euro-Atlantic world.

On the first day of the two-day visit, Zelenska wore a beige suit combining a jacket and a pair of culottes designed by Ukrainian brand Six, which is popular among local singers, TV hosts, and fashionistas.

She combined the suit with a basic white t-shirt, a pair of black sunglasses and white sneakers — a surprising choice for a classy look. A Ukrainian news website reported they were White Connors Sneakers by German brand Jil Sander. The sneakers are currently available to purchase online with a discount for $340.

The first lady complemented her look with a caramel leather tote bag by U.S. brand Staud. The bag, called Shirley, is available to buy online for $254.

Zelenska posted a photograph of her look on her recently-created Instagram page.

“Today I had an opportunity to enjoy a charming city and followed the course of the official meetings of Volodymyr,” the first lady’s post reads.

Zelenska also posted a photograph of herself, Inna Prystaiko, the wife of the head of the Ukrainian mission to NATO, and Tamara Tochytska, the wife of Ukraine’s ambassador to Belgium. In the post, the first lady thanked Prystaiko and Tochytska for their hospitality.

This isn’t Zelenska’s first look to be praised by the public. For her husband’s inauguration on May 20, she wore an elegant ensemble of a white dress and caped embroidered jacket by Ukrainian designer Artem Klimchuk.

Zelenska launched her Instagram page on inauguration day on May 20. Her bio reads: “The newbie First Lady.”

Since then, she has been posting photos of her family, Zelenskiy and their two kids, pictures from the couple’s photo shoot on inauguration day, and their visit to a comedy show.

Zelenska and her husband have been together for about 24 years. They went to the same school in Kryviy Rih, a city of 614,000 some 420 kilometers south of Kyiv, but didn’t get to know each other until after graduation, when they met in the street.

They dated for eight years before getting married in 2003. They now have two children, 14-year-old daughter Oleksandra and six-year-old son Kyrylo.

Zelenska used to be one of the writers of her husband’s comedy TV show “Vecherniy Kvartal” (“Late Night Kvartal”). She also co-owns some of the companies in her husband’s comedy empire.