September 12, 2023 |
Even more so than its last spring/summer collection – which took place at New York’s Spring Studios – Kiyv-based brand Bevza kept it plain, white and simple for SS24. Opting for a focus on cut, flatteringly loose pants with perfectly fitted waists, sharply tailored shirts and even geometric bra tops paired with boxy blazers. Many of the ensembles had an air of papier-mâché about them; crisp shirting was subtly crinkled while skirts and vests were carefully pleated in place. Billowing across the runway, there was also a series of sleek, satin and viscose slips for a touch of sexiness. Some had plunging v-necklines with mesh panels to compliment the body’s natural curves; others featured square-cut bustiers or cowled drapes, but all were effortlessly lightweight, as if they might simply float away.
Svitlana Bevza is known for playing into the precise edge of white – which she did with gusto this time around – but a print inspired by bouquets of carmine marigolds peeked through in a few places. Those marigolds are a vivid incarnation of the designer’s memories of her grandfather, as they were his favourite flower. “In honour of his memory, for 20 years on my balcony in Kyiv I used to replant the seeds he gave me. I was forced to leave my home in Kyiv, but I kept his memory with me. I want these flowers to sprout everywhere,” she relays in the show notes. Its been nearly two years since the tumultuous institution of the Russian invasion and seemingly inconceivable fully-fledged war on Ukraine – its indiscriminate blitzkriegs, its commission of barbarous war crimes, the atrocities and horrors of Bucha and Mariupol, its utter ugliness – began. When the war started, Bevza fled her home without much more than her children and the clothes off her back to live in New York, and as you might imagine, she’s found that holding on to her roots has never been more important. Bevza recalls her grandfather’s love of marigolds through a vibrant red and orange marigold print, lacing it throughout the collection as cummerbund and a simple, square slip veiled by another translucent white dress with distinct panelling.
In Ukraine, marigolds (or ‘Chornobryvets’ in Ukrainian) are a historic flower that have been adored by people, writers and poets for centuries as a symbol of optimism and revival. Where you plant a marigold, it will most certainly sprout. Where you plant Bevza, beauty will bloom.
Photography courtesy of Bevza.
