Changing the skyline

We are happy to present a new continuation of the virtual capsule story created by designer Olena Dats’ with a help of modern technologies. Photography by Dmytro Komissarenko. The model are Olena Dats and Evgeniy Yovenko!

3D printed elements are fragments of Ukrainian embroidery, which is an original talisman and some kind of conceptual complement skillfully woven into the idea of every dress by Olena Dats’ brand.
Powerful elements of Ukrainian symbols exist in our DNA, they live and grow out of our skin.  Corsets in the form of a woman’s breast were scanned from the designer’s figure, printed on a 3D printer and decorated with additional elements – a peculiar response to the prehistoric times of matriarchy and the cult of the ancient Goddess.  When the wild tribes returned “to the smoke” – “to the home”, to the family fireplace, being guarded by the woman Beregynya – the Goddess, who was eventually transformed into a God. Now sadly, families are divided, but they have left their soul particles in each other.

Flashback:

“I consider October 2008 to be my most significant season. As it is the year when Olena Dats’ brand and Olena Dats’ Gallery were founded.
After being recommended by Ukrainian Fashion Week, I premiered my Summer 2008 collection in the showroom during Paris Fashion Week.  I have always been passionate about new technologies in clothes and fabric design.  For that collection, I had chosen a tiny element of Ukrainian embroidery, out of which a new big modern collection was born.  In 2008 we used it for the first time to create a fabric print design and since then it has been a kind of talisman.  In the following collections, the element became a part of the tag which can be found on every stitching label of our garments – a kind of guardian angel for our clients.

Since 2008, this element has evolved into a very successful one! Finally, in 2021 we had it 3D-printed in three dimensions.  The collection was presented in the Ukrainian pavilion at EXPO Dubai 2022.  In 2022, we went even further and the element is now virtual.

Everyone can try on the blue and yellow dress at Dressex.com.  This virtual amulet was introduced in May 2022 during the Cannes Film Festival in the DPA Cannes gift showroom at the JW Marriott Hotel.

The dresses created by the designer look like imaginative sculptures.  They bring new meaning to the space within which they appear. They are representations of those who know how to adapt to the turbulence of the modern world and have the courage to outline their own horizons.
Each choice is an opportunity to advance to a further level and welcome the changes we dream of in our lives.  3D printing is a time-tested environmental technology that has allowed me to extend the boundaries of space and general methods of designing and creating garments in my new collection.
I have always been interested in the spatial impact of form, the effect it creates and how the condition affects behaviour, the environment and perhaps even our destiny.

While working on this collection, I experienced the magical and mystical moment again, as sculptural dimensional figures emerged from the surface of the woven canvas.  The time when you create a subtle structure, without which applied artwork is simply impossible, is perhaps one of the most precious experiences one can have as an artist.


The chosen technology has given me a certain independence.  After all, fantasy has no limits, although it often encounters obstacles dictated by those who help realise the artist’s visions.  We have already seen that the virtual world is endless.  However the tactile sensations remain basic for me, I have enjoyed finding and adding new twists to them.  Most of my dresses, as if they had been ripped off the ground, lack gravity.  The fabrics are volatile and leave plenty of room for being natural.  It is the dynamics that become the basis of the relationship between the elements of the dress.
PS.  “The mimicry of creativity in neural networks is defeated right where the artists have added themselves” – Maria Sharlai.

Designer: Olena Dats’ @olena_dats_official
Photographer: Dmytro Komissarenko @dmytrokomissarenko
Models: Olena Dats’ @olenadats, Evgeniy Yovenko @liakaniy_