How did this collaboration come along?
A background story...
Mariana had to leave her native country due to the war starting back in February, between Ukraine and Russia. She’s had to leave her husband and family there to continue building a future for herself. Moving to the Netherlands on her own has been, to say the least, a challenge.
We got in contact with Mariana, and saw a lot of similarities between her and Atalyé. She has worked for over 10 years in tailoring and pattern making. And of course, she’s an extremely courageous and creative woman.
We, therefore, saw an opportunity to use fashion as a force for good to raise awareness and funds to help her and other Ukrainians that have had to uproot from their native country and build a new future for themselves from scratch.
This photo is referencing the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag. The horizontal colors in the flag represent the fields of wheat and blue skies in the country. Mariana’s photo is also capturing this scenery but with the weight of war in the color tones and overall mood of the photo.
The photo printed on our Mariana top is a photo Mariana took a few weeks before leaving Ukraine. The land seen across the water is Romania, symbolizing a bordering land of peace and hope in this instance.