Meet The Ukrainian Designer Bringing The Party At Kiev Fashion Week

As Kiev prepares for fashion week, Culture Trip brings readers the next in our Behind the Seams series and gets the inside scoop from emerging talent Daria Moskalenko, the designer behind MONSTRA, about the fashion scene in Kiev and standing out.
In a turbulent political and economic climate, fashion in Ukraine has emerged as a means of escaping – as well as commenting on – the state of domestic affairs. This has been helped by the rise of brands such as the Georgian label Vetements and Russian Gosha Rubchinskiy, who have brought fashion design from eastern Europe to the global catwalks. And while the sub-cultures and streetwear aesthetics have become vehicles of protest and cultural awareness, harnessing angst and rebellion, there are also designers for whom the escapist, whimsical nature of fashion offers a greater creative outlet in times of uncertainty. Daria Moskalenko is a part of this latter response and is using her brand, which she sums up as ‘super sweetie MONSTRA’ to provide light relief with seriously cute, bright and playful designs.

Only a year old, MONSTRA came about after Daria opened the embroidery and decoration ‘MONSTRA workshop’ three years ago. After interest in the craft heightened, they decided to step it up a notch and create their own brand. The renewed interest in appliqué and embellishment is a trend that has been prevalent across collections of international designers: English designers such as Clio Peppiatt and Matty Bovan, for example. MONSTRA, with its bright, bubbly aesthetic, couldn’t have launched at a better time. ‘The bright imagery and embroideries means that MONSTRA has acquired a lot of popularity in Ukraine already,’ Daria adds, noting that unlike many brands who struggle to find their audience, it has been surprisingly easy for them to find and grow an audience. Whether it will be as easy to launch the brand internationally, with heightened demands on production and distribution, remains to be seen. For now there’s Mercedes-Benz Kiev Fashion Days to look forward to, with the opportunities to meet potential new customers and gain further attention for the brand.

The new collection will elaborate Daria’s preoccupation with colour and texture, playing with loud juxtapositions to ensure maximum effect. The new collection is ‘a bitmad, but it’s about bringing happiness and making the world more beautiful.’

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.