Yulkka Vozniak, founder of the LONDI brand, stands next to her products in one of the largest shopping malls in downtown Kyiv, in May.Photography by Olga Ivashchenko/The Globe and Mail
For Yulkka Vozniak, Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine was not going to deter her from opening her own business. She had already been developing her own underwear and loungewear brand.
“I started with research and found out that on the market we have beautiful underwear that is uncomfortable or it is comfortable but very basic. That pushed me to create underwear that is both beautiful and comfortable, while also being eco-friendly. We prepared two designs. Then war started,” the 24-year-old said.
The start of Russia’s full-scale invasion forced Ms. Vozniak to put her idea on ice for 10 months. But she didn’t give up on her business plan. And when big international brands left Ukraine, the gap provided local producers and businesspeople with an opening.
Ms. Vozniak’s newest collection, under her LONDI label, features blue and white underwear with swans, created in collaboration with a Ukrainian artist. She sells her products online and through partner shops in Ukraine as well as in Warsaw, Paris, Tokyo and Indonesia.
She is also preparing to open her first showroom in Kyiv in the coming months. She learned how to manage her own business as a child, watching her father run his small electronics shop.
Ms. Vozniak collaborated with a Ukrainian artist to create her newest collection.
It’s not easy, however. “We are working on the international market with one target audience, but the reality in which we create our products is totally different. We are competing with companies which don’t have wars,” Ms. Vozniak said.
The regular blackouts have often forced production to come to a stop, and deliveries to partner shops have been delayed when roads are damaged or littered with debris after a Russian attack.
“All of us adapt to the realities,” she said.
When Russia launched a large-scale missile and drone attack on Kyiv on May 24, Ms. Vozniak’s office was partly damaged. Windows needed to be replaced. But that did not stop her from working on her designs.
She is motivated to keep going by the feedback she gets from customers. “We are receiving a lot of messages on social media from women who tell us that our underwear helps them to love themselves,” she said.
Her customers endure explosions at night and are living with the daily stress of war. Wearing pretty underwear brings joy and self-confidence, even in the darkest of times. It changes the way women feel in their bodies − and to Ms. Vozniak, that’s a victory.
She says her business is about caring − for herself, her 18-month-old daughter, her husband and her team. She has learned to live under the constant burden of war, but also to live life fully.
“I dream that Ukraine will be known via things which we are creating. Because in any condition we can create. And our strengths and values are in the things which we are creating,” she said.
The founder sells her products online and through partner shops in Ukraine as well as in Warsaw, Paris, Tokyo and Indonesia.
Other young Ukrainians are opening their own businesses, too, launching new ventures despite the war.
Two months ago, Ilona Voronina, 25, and her friend Yevhen Ursuliak, 27, opened a bubble tea place in Kyiv. Tuta Tama is located in an old garage decorated with bright yellow and violet accents.
“Our parents helped us with repair, and our friends with decor,” Ms. Voronina said.
She lived abroad during the first three years of the war, working in the service sector and bars, but decided to return. “I can see more sense in my actions here, in Ukraine,” she said.
Ilona Voronina at her shop in Kyiv’s Podil district, in May.
Before opening the place, Mr. Ursuliak tested the idea on his friend and sold bubble tea at festivals.
Without him, Ms. Voronina would have found it difficult to operate the place. But one month after Tuta Tama opened, Mr. Ursuliak was drafted by the army.
“I didn’t think that I would do it alone,” she said, but she persevered.
As with Ms. Vozniak’s office, the bubble tea shop was damaged during the May attack on Kyiv. “The main thing is that our equipment is not destroyed, but we will need to replace the windows and door,” Ms. Voronina said.
Yustyna Rakmanina shows a shop window shattered by a Russian missile.
They reopened the morning after the attack. After all, they needed to pay rent and staff salaries.
“When you are living in Ukraine, you understand that your place could be destroyed by explosions. Of course, it was a surprise for us that the tea place was damaged, but you understand that it could happen sooner or later. Compared with our neighbours, we are lucky,” Ms. Voronina said, referring to the nearby fire station and Chornobyl museum, which were badly damaged.
Opening her own business is about building a new kind of lifestyle, she said, and a way to prove that success is possible no matter what.
“When we just opened the place, we didn’t think that it would be so popular among young people. Then, when the attack happened, people also came and asked how they could help or bought tea to support us. This shows the supportiveness and strength of Ukrainians.”
“Your ideas deserve the freedom to flourish,” she said, standing at the counter of the bubble tea shop and looking through a broken window.
Ms. Voronina says opening her own business is a way to prove that success is possible no matter what.