Yulia Yefimtchuk +: Ukrainian minimalism

IN THE WEEKLY RUBRIC "NEW MARK" Wonderzine presents young designers and tells where and how you can buy their things. Our hero this week is Yulia Efimchuk, another young and promising Ukrainian girl who conquered the fashion and photography festival in Yera with things that say “Labor”, “Peace to the World” and “Every day it's more joyful to live”.

Julia Efimchuk - artist of decorative and applied arts with a diploma from the Kiev Institute named after M. Boychuk. The girl began with an internship with designer Fedor Vozianov in 2009, and then participated in competitions for beginners. Since 2010, Efimchuk has been working in the studio of Lilia Pustovit, one of the most reputable designers from Ukraine. They say that Pustovit invited her to work after one of the contests, that is, she immediately saw the young talent. However, she didn’t want to remain in the shadow of the big name Julia - and launched a personal brand of women's clothing, which she combines with Poustovit. Since 2012, Yulia Yefimtchuk + has been shown on the famous Kiev Fashion Days - the brainchild of our contributor Darya Shapovalova, who works wonders in the field of PR designers abroad. At the same time, Efimchuk developed in a couple of other directions, for example, she participated in the competition of young designers Be Next in Tbilisi, organized by the notorious talent-scout Sofia Chkonia. From the first collections, it was clear that Julia was inclined to minimalism and utility - among her favorite designers was Karl Lagerfeld and Yoji Yamamoto. We suspect that the design of the 80s and 90s is close to the girl. In the Efimchuk collections, pure forms and unequivocal colors like white and black and a rich shade of red always prevailed.

The last six months have become a turning point for Efimchuk. The designer, who ate the dog at specialized contests, submitted an application for participation in the festival of fashion and photography in Hyères, which revealed to the world the very same Viktor & Rolf. And she reached the final. Of course, heightened interest in Ukraine played its role - even the jury of the competition admits this. But Julia really showed a very strong collection. These were shirts with a lot of large pockets, voluminous white blouses tied crosswise with red ribbons, and ankle-length skirts. Attention is drawn to the inscriptions on the clothes, reminiscent of posters about labor exploits: "Labor", "Peace - Peace" and "Every day everything is happier to live." They, like the cut and colors (white, scarlet, dark blue), refer to the images of Soviet workers, to whom the designer appealed. Based on this collection, Efimchuk created a debut perfume: for young designers, this is an unaffordable luxury, but the development of its perfume is one of the bonuses of the Jersky festival. As planned by the Ukrainian, the fragrance should resemble the famous "Red Moscow". Obviously, the collection and the fragrances of Yulia Efimchuk will sell Opening Ceremony in the fall: at Hyères-2014 she received a grant from the store, which was represented personally by its creators Carol Lim and Umberto Leon. And things the girls liked the other members of the jury. For example, the actress Chloe Sevigny, who is already adorning herself in a Yulia Yefimtchuk + shirt.

This season I participated in the Yeersky festival of fashion and photography. The responsibility before the jury was immense: in 15 minutes it was necessary to show the collection, tell about it and myself, answer the questions - in general, do everything to be remembered, and still be yourself and smile. Of course, this is a great experience. After this contest, I realized what else to work on, and met many people, they learned about my work. Of course, interest attracted attention to Ukraine, but I do not recognize such a thing as "Ukrainian fashion"; for me, fashion is a global concept. Our designers can have a great future if they work hard, come up with something new and interesting, well, or beautifully interpret the old. Personally, I am not afraid of experiments and make clothes the way I wear it myself. I think that is why people can like it - they will feel some kind of positive energy.