Some winter nights in Kyiv, the power out and the city pitch dark, you make out strangers on the streets just by the bobbing of their torches, Lilia Litkovska explained by way of starting point for her fall collection, dubbed “Firefly,” which marked her first official runway show on the Paris calendar.
Referencing the notion of inner light and warmth and the need for protection, comfort and connection, she sought to envelop and protect the body yet embrace fragility in her designs, which she has made the decision to continue to manufacture in war-torn Ukraine, despite a multitude of challenges affecting both logistics and manufacturing, with power cuts at the factory common.
Each model sported a headlamp, while guests were encouraged to do the same, and the finale was accompanied by the raining down of ash-like black confetti.
Litkovska shaped and curved her fabrics into ballooning, cocoon-like forms suggestive of parachutes, gathering them at the neck and waist, or widening them at the ankles in the case of dresses with cloud-like bottoms gathered with cords.
Layered asymmetric silhouettes and spliced, deconstructed tailoring — a Litkovska signature — took on rounded shoulders, new curves and intriguing pleated waves that radiated out of the body, as on a pair of vivid red coats that were among the few bright silhouettes in a collection dominated by architectural, urban tones. “It looks cool, but well-covered,” the designer summed up, adding that the lineup reprised elements of her early creations.
Softness came by way of outsized sky blue mohair pieces with looped fringing and distressed details done by hand, while leather bags gave a contemporary spin to the Besahy, a traditional double-sided bag carried over the shoulder in Ukraine and useful for keeping essentials to hand.