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In February of this year, my team at Ienki Ienki and I were preparing for a sales campaign in Milan. It was a good time for the brand. We had recently crossed 160 wholesale accounts. Our pre-fall campaign was a success. And with major collections coming up, it looked like we were about to celebrate our best season yet. The team was full of energy.
Then, on February 24, Russia launched a massive military attack on Ukraine. The country plunged into war and business came to an abrupt halt. The market was paralyzed. No one talked about business during the first month. Instead, we were focused on our team of 120 people, spread across Kyiv and Cherkasy, making sure everyone was safe.
For some of them, the word was literally about physical survival. One of our team members was stuck in Bucha, hiding in a summer kitchen, while Russian soldiers occupied her family home. Our head of commerce went to Gostomel, another small town northwest of Kiev that was captured and brutally destroyed by the Russians, to help his parents escape. We didn’t hear from him for three long weeks – until they managed to escape to Kiev.
The next couple of months were about picking up the scattered pieces of the business and trying to put things back together. We moved our offices and warehouses to the western part of the country. In June, we restarted the sampling studio in Kiev. Our head office reopened in August. Today, running the company is mostly a virtual experience – managing a team spread across Ukraine, but also in Italy, Spain, Canada and the USA. Thanks to Covid, we were prepared for this.
As the whole world watched the horrors unfolding in Ukraine, we got a mixed response from the wider industry. Amid the avalanche of statements claiming support, the industry became very wary of working with Ukrainian brands. How would we produce? Will we be able to deliver on time? Would we survive at all? Our Rainbowwave showroom was great in helping us through the turmoil. We negotiated with each client and made sure our commitments were met. The trickiest part was convincing international suppliers to put our orders back into production. We have about 30 of them and rely heavily on each one. I have spent countless hours on Zoom. With some we had to travel to factories just to prove that the business was here to stay.
Making the product is hard, but getting it to customers is even harder. Due to delayed shipments, our direct-to-consumer sales, a major source of cash flow, are suffering. Customers increasingly prefer to buy from our retail partners, which is faster and easier for them.
“Every designer I know in Ukraine is dealing with a constant stream of disasters waiting to happen.”
This season, we missed our sales forecasts by 30 percent. But we are fulfilling all our obligations. And aside from two or three accounts that canceled their Fall/Winter orders, we’re back in the game. As I write this, our team is preparing two pop-up projects planned to launch later this year, one with a UK department store and another with a concept store in Asia.
And yet the sky is no longer the limit. There is no doubt that, these days, running a Ukrainian fashion business is an extremely bumpy road. Every designer I know in Ukraine is dealing with a constant stream of disasters waiting to happen. Ukrainian retailers are also under scrutiny. With shipments shrinking, they are choosing to sell their old stock to those who remain in the country. It may sound surreal, but for many people, shopping is one of the few sources of joy left.
But with brutal challenges come opportunities. The last two months I’ve been traveling in Italy, talking to big people in major manufacturing companies. They are all impressed by the resilience and flexibility of Ukrainian businesses, as well as our commitment to providing high quality at reasonable prices. This has been my biggest discovery of this difficult period.
In the face of skyrocketing price inflation across Europe, keeping production costs down is essential and international companies are keen on alternative suppliers. This is where Ukraine can benefit. When the war is over, there is so much potential for the country to emerge as a major manufacturing hub for the luxury industry and not just mass market players like Inditex and H&M.
Ienki Ienki is 100 percent manufactured in Ukraine to the highest standards. With our hardworking people and the know-how to create and produce high-quality clothing, Ukraine could one day become a valuable manufacturing base for Balenciaga, Fendi and Thom Browne.
The last six months have been difficult, but I am positive that Ukraine will prevail. Our main goal now is to win this war. Then we will win over the industry.
Dmitriy Ievenko is the founder of the Ukrainian outerwear brand Ienki Ienki.
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