Science and education ministry of Ukraine
National Mining University
Department of foreign languages
Report
on a theme:
«Fashion business in Ukraine»
Executed by:
Kozeko A. V.
Checked by:
Nechay N.M.
Dnepropetrovsk
2011
Contents
Introduction
“The fashion is an art, craft, vital ideology, a kit of stamps, the big business, a self-expression method, a distinctivefeature of an exclusive accessory: In general, the fashion is everything.”
InterModa.RU
Fashion is something we deal with everyday. Even people who say they don't care what they wear choose clothes every morning that say a lot about them and how they feel that day.
There are many reasons we wear what we wear.
· Protection from cold, rain and snow: mountain climbers wear high-tech outerwear to avoid frostbite and over-exposure.
· Physical attraction: many styles are worn to inspire "chemistry."
· Emotions: we dress "up" when we're happy and "down" when we're upset.
· Religious expression: Orthodox Jewish men wear long black suits and Islamic women cover every part of their body except their eyes.
· Identification and tradition: judges wear robes, people in the military wear uniforms, brides wear long white dresses.
Although the fashion industry developed first in Europe and America, today it is an international and highly globalized industry, with clothing often designed in one country, manufactured in another, and sold world-wide. The fashion industry consists of four levels: the production of raw materials, principally fibres and textiles but also leather and fur; the production of fashion goods by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others; retail sales; and various forms of advertising and promotion. These levels consist of many separate but interdependent sectors, all of which are devoted to the goal of satisfying consumer demand for apparel under conditions that enable participants in the industry to operate at a profit.
As Bob Kerrey, a former American senator from Nebraska, puts it: “Fashion is a very serious business”: it keeps much of the advertising industry going; it plays a vital part in the retail trade; and, in a world of trade disputes and cotton subsidies, it is politically sensitive.
The industry of a fashion of the world is developed and filled by all niches of economy, it brings an essential share of the income in the state treasury and is one of state income items. Fashion business began to be guided by segments, to please with service quality. More and more money starts to rotate in this industry.
Fashion is big business. More people are involved in the buying, selling and production of clothing than any other business in the world. Everyday, millions of workers design, sew, glue, dye, and transport clothing to stores. Ads on buses, billboards and magazines give us ideas about what to wear, consciously, or subconsciously.
In country where the fashion industry has a relevant and important position for the local economy, production and exporting of fashion goods, as well as fashion events like fashion weeks, trade fairs and awards, boosts its economy and raises its annual revenue, positively influencing other sectors of the local economy, like the service sector.
1. The Ukrainian fashion: in expectation of a miracle
ukraine fashion business
As designers believe, haute couture is absent in Ukraine as well as in other Post-Soviet states. All collections are lines of ready-to-wear clothes, pret-a-porter. Fashions-arts don't exist.
Undoubtedly, the Ukrainian fashion has rather perspective future, there is a weight of preconditions to that.
1. Professional base. In Soviet period light industry was one of leading industries of Ukraine. Even now professional level of specialists at separate garment factories is so high that allows to carry out orders on sewing from abroad. Creative developments, curves, fabrics come here to be implemented by the skill of Ukrainian specialists.
2. Talented young designers. A lot of various displays and competitions are conducted in Ukraine. The most known are: the Ukrainian week pret-and-port «fashion Seasons», the International festival of a fashion «Kiev podium», International contest of one dress «the Crystal silhouette» and a lot of others. Constantly new names appear, and known designers in the country work with known clients (for example, Ajna Gase, Alexey Zalevsky, Anna Babenko, Sergey Byzov). Some Ukrainian fashion designers are more known in Europe than in the homeland - designers look for more adequate and solvent consumer. But many of them find methods to advance their collections in the homeland too. One of the vivid examples - some fashion lines and accessories, and also a chain store system of fashionable house Victoria GRES (the fashion designer Victoria Gres). Very good example is Lilija Pustovit. The talented designer, having connected the name with a trade mark of the investor, has created design brand NB Poustovit - for today one of the most successful Ukrainian fashion brands in the country, under the same scheme works Nota Bene and Karavay. The close partnership with one more supplier of a fabric has given the chance to develop successfully and to other brand - Golets by Dolcedonna (the designer - Elena Golets), and also its more mass "sister" - trade mark Dolcedonna.
3. Fresh ideas, unused historical base. Great and tragic history of Ukraine, many-sided culture is eternally pure and still for a long time an inexhaustible well of fresh ideas. Fashion is in historical traditions, it is proved on world podiums.
But there are also serious difficulties, sometimes insuperable contradictions...
1. Shortage of money. To present a high-grade collection, the designer is forced to invest a considerable quantity of money: to buy expendable materials - fabrics, accessories, to pay the workers, services, an electricity, and many other unforeseen moments. Turnover of the Ukrainian designers is so small that it is impossible to speak about thousands, hundreds thousand monetary units of capital investments. Investors are occupied, basically, in a policy and property repartition, therefore fashion arises little interest.
2. Contraband. The clothes which get to shops «French clothes», «the Italian clothes», etc. often squeeze into the country through very narrow "corridors" in border. It is cheaper, as they come, most likely, from sales, and owners of boutiques "save" on duties and taxes. In such conditions Ukrainian masters can't expose competitive prices, hence, they lose struggle for clients.
3. Unavailability of the consumer. The Post-Soviet consciousness has often something in common with desire to carry expensive, untwisted brands. The consumer isn't interested, whether the product is produced in the third world countries, under the license or on direct production, for the main thing is a recognized label. The solution lies in correct public relations and in revision of the marketing policy.
4. Closeness of the world industry. Clearly, nobody will feed up potential competitors. The Ukrainian designers already received offers to work «as anonymous heads and hands» for known Italian and French couturiers. Probably, it is necessary to agree to get acquainted more closely with dream of a world fashion?
Unfortunately, the Ukrainian fashion is not so popular and recognized among other countries, but nevertheless it is currently developing and progressively moves to the world level. This aspiration of our country is demonstrated by following examples.
2. Fashion event boosts Ukraine’s nascent fashion industry. Made In Ukraine Becomes Fashionable
For many years, Ukraine’s fashion industry lagged far behind its sophisticated counterparts elsewhere, defined by creative designers, skilled manufacturers who translate designs into well-made clothes, and a developed distribution network. Ukrainian fashion designers essentially created clothing for art’s sake in an economy in which consumers often had no choice but to wear inexpensive, and often outdated, ready-to-wear imports from China or Turkey. Meanwhile, Ukrainian apparel manufacturers toiled under cut-and-make schemes in which they produced clothes for foreign buyers, but made only marginal profits themselves.
A USAID project identified the country’s textiles and apparel industry as one of its most promising sectors. Working with companies, industry representatives, and national bodies, USAID is bridging the gap between Ukrainian designers and apparel manufacturers and boosting the sector’s competitiveness in both domestic and foreign markets.
Irina Danilevska, organizer of Ukrainian Fashion Week, the country’s premier fashion event, says that a fashion culture has long existed in Ukraine, but that USAID’s help has finally given Ukrainian fashion a shot at financial success.
USAID helped sponsor a major event at the March 2006 Ukrainian Fashion Week: “Made in Ukraine: Trade Mark Defile.” Fifteen Ukrainian apparel brands presented their wares and made contacts with merchandisers. The event attracted 25,000 visitors, including designers, buyers, wholesalers, and manufacturers in search of new partners to satisfy the demand for stylish, trendy, and affordable clothes. Designers met with producers who can make their designs realities; manufacturers saw new designs and a chance to boost demand for their goods; and retailers took a step toward maximizing profits by selling clothes made in Ukraine. The event was received enthusiastically as a chance to see what domestic designers and manufacturers had to offer. Negotiations were held on the spot. Most Ukrainian producers sold all the goods they had showcased on the catwalk. They all increased their market visibility and received great publicity. Ukrainian consumers, meanwhile, will now be able to wear fashionable, affordable clothes that’s “Made in Ukraine.”
3. The 17th Pret-a-Porter Seasons of Fashion Week and new trends in fashion
The 17th Prat-a-Porter Seasons of Fashion Week was held in early October 2005 at the ACCO International Exhibition Centre which is located in one of the marvelous parks of Kyiv, Pushkinsky.
The first such fashion show was held in Kyiv back in 1997, and by now these shows have acquired truly world pret-a-porter standards and are held twice a year, in March and in October.
The lovers and followers of fashion saw at the October pret-a-porter shows 30 best collections by fashion designers of Ukraine, among who there were 2 Russian and 1 Georgian designers. Fashion, political, show-business elite of Kyiv was well represented among the audiences who numbered 19,000 people at all of the shows. Thanks to the live broadcasting from music channel M1, all fascinating fashion-shows could be seen by millions of viewers. Beside this, first time ever, the Ukrainian branch of Fashion TV, Fashion TV-Ukraine, made it possible for its TV viewers, which are estimated to number 577 million people worldwide, to see the Spring–Summer 2006 fashion collections shown in Kyiv during the October pret-a-porter week.
In March 2005, a fashion show room, the first of its kind, was opened in Kyiv, and thus the arrangement — Designer–Buyer–Store, well known throughout the whole world, was established. There are all indications that make it possible to say that the fashion industry is becoming a potentially powerful business in Ukraine. During the October pret-a-porter shows some purchases were made by buyers from Russia and Italy, which point to the fact of Ukrainian designed clothes becoming attractive to foreign buyers as well. Ukrainian fashion design is becoming an export item. The Ukrainian Fashion Parade shown at the Eurovision Song Contest, which was held in Kyiv in May 2005, the Day of Ukrainian Fashion held in St Petersburg, and now the opening of the Fashion Show Room in Kyiv are all indications of Ukrainian fashion going international. Incidentally, Jean Paul Gaultier’s latest spring-summer collection was dedicated to Ukraine and had Ukrainian themes.
The October pret-a-porter Seasons of Fashion has amply demonstrated that the Ukrainian fashion designers create pret-a-porter garments which are on a par with the best design clothes not only of Russia and Georgia, whose designers showed their collections alongside the pret-a-porter ones, but of other countries as well, and are liked well enough to be purchased, not only looked at when they are shown on the catwalk.
4. Ukrainian Fashion Week
Autumn 2007 is the 10-year anniversary of the Ukrainian Fashion Week. Creation of the National week of pret-a-porte is an integral part of fashion business of any country. Following the best world standards, Ukrainian Fashion Week is a guarantee of stable social attention towards Ukrainian fashion, increase of trust of Ukrainians towards the label "made in Ukraine".
Second half of the 90ies of previous millennium... Svitlanka entered the 9th form, Andriyko became the freshman of a textile college, in Lvov and Kyiv Olenka and Irinka are getting prepared for the following examination... Ukrainian public world is getting used to pronounce the phrase "week of pret-a-porte". 2007. Svitlana Bevza made a debut with an independent fashion show, Andre Tan backs up his popularity by the TV project, Helen Dats' has added to her victories on international competitions presentation of luxurious collections on the national podium, Iryna Karavay is working on her 9-th collection... Ukrainian public celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Ukrainian fashion.
During these 10 years Ukrainian Fashion Week and the designers became much more than the cultural barometers of society: from participation in an inauguration of the President to creation appearances of Eurovision's winners, from the garments of the heroes of popular TV shows to partnership in the movies of Roman Balayan and Kira Muratova, from the covers of magazines to participation in high-ratings TV projects, from being among the judges (judging) of Miss Europe to foundation of the European Council of Fashion - the influence of the Ukrainian fashion and its heroes on the life of the country can be hardly overestimated.
"Ukrainian week of pret-a-porte is the first among series of such actions, it will be held periodically, twice a year, the main objective of it is the popularization of national fashion and its producers. The Ukrainian Fashion Week is a cultural action of national importance, which, in course of time, can grow into commercial, as it is accepted all over the world. The action is planned as a domestic analogue of annual weeks of "pret-a-porte", which take place in Paris, Milan, London, New York and other capitals of the world. It will stimulate designers to produce new collections not from time to time, but systematic, in accordance with development of new directions and styles" - so sounded the quotation from the press-release of the first Ukrainian Fashion Week, which took place in November, 1997 in the apartment of Kyiv's Karaim's kenasa.
In 10 years the country has a chance to analyze the results of these theses being fulfilled in real life. One can say confidently, that today Ukrainian Fashion Week is the professional action of national importance, which fully meets the standards of the European weeks of fashion.
Let us remind other projects which were born within the framework of Ukrainian Fashion Week. The project founded in March, 2003 "New Names" - shows of the best talented young designers - became a flight bar for many designers already known for today.
The project "Fresh Fashion, founded in October 2006, gave a possibility to young designers, who are already well-known but whose business only starts to develop, to declare about themselves.
Appearance in the official schedule of the Week a separate day of male fashion "Man's fashion day" let thousands of men of the country be involved into fashion process, now their right to be elegant and fashionable is protected by collections of designers.
In March, 2006 Ukrainian Fashion Week gave a start to the project Trade Mark Defile. It introduces defiles of leading trade marks of clothes, presented on the Ukrainian market. In September it took place for the fourth time and was special in the way that, except traditional participants, the second lines of designers (Oksana Karavanska, Anna Babenko, Svitlana Tegin, Helen Oliynik) were presented.
For a festive year the hero of the occasion prepared itself and the country a few presents: in May Ukraine became a co-founder of the European Council of Fashion, in June the annual Holiday Fashion Week was founded, in March of the coming year Artek Fashiоn Day's will be held.
Collections of the Ukrainian designers, each of whom has atelier or studio, become more accessible for users. Those, who love and want to purchase clothes of known Ukrainian brands, can find them both in monobrand and in multibrand shops. In Ukraine there are: 21 shops in Kyiv, 3 shops both in Lvov and in Odessa, 2 - in Kharkov, Donetsk, Dnepropetrovsk and a 1 shop in Kherson. Ukrainian designers' brands can be found also in Russia. There are two shops in each Moscow and Saint Petersburg and one shop each in Saratov and Ekaterinburg.