Chester’s inaugural Fashion Event, Cheshire Fashion Week, is scheduled to take place at Chester Cathedral in Chester on Saturday, 5th November 2022. Thousands of fashion enthusiasts will attend this year’s events, which are taking the initiative to display Ukrainian fashion talent to show solidarity with Ukraine.
The invasion of Ukraine has resulted in over 1.7 million Ukrainians fleeing and joining communities worldwide, among them those in the fashion and creative design industries. Cheshire has a large Ukrainian population, most of whom are models, photographers, hair and makeup artists. Newcomers from Ukraine are being welcomed into Cheshire’s communities through Cheshire Fashion Week in a move that allows those with talent in fashion to be able to take advantage of Fashion Week to achieve their dreams.
Several Ukrainian fashion creatives have been identified among those who have relocated and are seeking community involvement in working with local authorities in Cheshire, who assist Ukrainian refugees in finding employment and matching them with local jobs. Models, photographers, and fashion stylists from Ukraine are participating in Fashion Week this year.
Claire Namukolo Raven, Cheshire Fashion Week CEO said:
In our role as a global fashion week, we strive to express more direct responses to the war in Ukraine, which has not received a public response from British fashion weeks. Being the largest fashion week event in the North of England, we feel a responsibility to provide an outlet for expression. Through cultivating the talents of those uprooted from their homes, careers, and dreams, we are showing solidarity with Ukraine in the fashion industry who have integrated into our communities.
Our initiative to engage Ukrainians who have moved to Chester, Cheshire, and are skilled in the fashion industry serves to encourage the many UK Fashion Week organisers and corporate organisations to utilise the platform and to remember that as an employer, businesses can show solidarity by hiring Ukrainians, full-time, part-time, and as volunteers”.
Cheshire Fashion Week sponsored by Chester Land Rover is expected to attract thousands of fashion industry professionals. With its large following on Instagram, it has already gained the attention of many Instagram followers and participants. This enables event organisers to use the platform to raise awareness of those who are now living in Cheshire from Ukraine and to show solidarity with them.
Through the global Fashion Week event, the initiative will help Ukrainian fashion talent to maintain their dreams, and provide a platform for those who have fled to express themselves, while reducing the feeling of isolation among those whose dreams haven’t been realized.
Among the businesses Ukrainian participants will benefit from engaging with on a runway is luxury high street retailer Jigsaw Clothing, with looks styled from their local store in Chester and independents from around the UK, Eden Keshia Bridal, Noa And Rain, Harry Sutton, Alexandra Novacki, Ryan Nyambe, A.T.K Fashion House, Just Conceited, Victoria Owens, as well as Nigerian designer Medinah of Fab Apparel By Mo, who has travelled from Nigeria to show at Chester’s annual Fashion Week in Chester.
You can find out more about Cheshire Fashion Week and the schedule at https://cheshirefashionweek.com/
