UKRAINIAN GLOSSY EDITORS TALK ABOUT LIFE AND WORK DURING THE WAR IN UKRAINE

The war changed the life of every Ukrainian. Today, glossy editors, who previously reviewed fashion shows and interviews with world stars, write first aid materials, rules of conduct during the shelling, and publish reports from destroyed Ukrainian cities. Especially for Ukrainian Fashion Week, the editors of VOGUE, ELLE, MARIE CLAIRE, L’Officiel and Wonderzine talk about life and work during the war in Ukraine.

Violetta Fedorova, editor-in-chief Vogue UA
www.instagram.com/vogue_ukraine

How did you find out about the beginning of the war?

The beginning of the war found me, like millions of Ukrainians, in a warm bed. I woke up to a call from a friend who lives in my house: she said that they had started bombing Boryspil. Before that, we had an agreement that if something started, we would leave Kyiv together. In 15 minutes we met near the house, jumped in the cars and went to their country house in the village near Gostomel. We spent a day there, but the military actions near the local military airfield forced us to move on – the next morning we left for Transcarpathia. After 30 hours on the road we finally got there, now we stay here.

How do you spend your day now?

Now I’m trying to get back on my usual schedule so as not to undermine my health. After the first week of the war falling asleep in the morning, it was difficult to do. I continue to work, we have a full working day. Every day I try to go outside for an hour in order not to sit at the computer all the time. I write materials for international Vogue publications about the situation in Ukraine. I also joined the volunteer movement in Uzhgorod.

How has changed the subject of the materials?

From the first day of the war, we repurposed all our content. Now it is divided into three blocks – useful information that will help you survive in wartime (from the rule of two walls to the Red Cross memo on how to apply a tire, stop bleeding, etc.). The second block is the stories of Ukrainians whose lives have changed in these two weeks. We have already talked to volunteers from Kharkiv, girls from territorial defence and Kyivans who spend their nights in the subway. The third block is information about the way the world is helping us now.

Do you have a connection with foreign colleagues?

Yes, we are constantly in touch with all Conde Nast family – we prepare materials about the situation in Ukraine for various Vogue, Vanity Fair, Glamor, GQ. Colleagues are also trying to help us with their resources to provide editorial activities.

How can we support you?

We are on the information front, which is still ongoing. That is why I call on everyone to support our army and refugees.

Iryna Tatarenko, editor-in-chief Marie Claire Ukraine
www.instagram.com/marieclaire_ua

How did you find out about the beginning of the war?

I was not ready for this news. I did not believe it till the last minute, even before the Russian attack I spoke to my mother on the phone, and reassured her that everything would be fine and it was worth thinking about the pleasant, not chatting about crazy grandfather from the kremlin.

I did not hear the morning explosions. I slept soundly. When I woke up, I saw missed calls and messages from all my relatives and friends from abroad. Of course, I understood why everyone called and wrote to me.

I didn’t panic, I was in despair – I had an “anxious suitcase”, but I didn’t have any medicine or even cash in my wallet, because I used to pay by card.

The seriousness of the situation I realized when journalists from Suspilne warned that radio broadcasting could be interrupted if there was a threat of airstrikes. The speed of events was changing rapidly – the next day we had to go down to the shelter five times a day.

How do you spend your day now?

I have become a “news maniac”. (I think, like many of my colleagues.) I am working on news and materials for the Marie Claire Ukraine website and scrolling through the news feed during breaks.

Do you continue working? How has changed the subject of the materials?

We continue working. Of course, considering the challenges of wartime. Now Ukrainian women have a lot of questions that Google is not able to answer. We also create materials in which Ukrainian women can share their own experience – again, the experience that Google does not have.

ur fashion editor Anna could not leave, she and her family stay in Kyiv. Now she is forced to spend time mostly in the shelter with her family. Our photo editor Valeriia lives with her family in an area of ​​the city where there have been serious power outages for some time. So they baked bread for themselves and others. Beauty editor Olga signed up for territorial defence, volunteered, donated blood for the injured ones. Our photographer Lisa weaves camouflage nets. They share ideas for materials, but, unfortunately, on a forced “military” schedule.

Has the topic changed?

We focus on topics that are important in wartime. Today, for example, an article was published about the “Symptom of the Phantom Siren” and yesterday we published a great article about women who had to give birth in the first days of the war – under the cannonade of shots and explosions. We have not written about it before. In that, Marie Claire has always focused on current issues and demands of women. The same requests have changed.

Some will criticize that the news about celebrities is out of time, but we are posting news about famous people who support Ukraine – Margaret Atwood, Demna Gvasalia, David Lynch and others. Or, for example, Ukrainian designers. Andre Tan changed his profile and sewed ammunition for the military, Serge Smolin weaves camouflage nets with his own hands. “Svitske” has created an important website to search for missing people. Andriy Khlyvnyuk, Fagot and many other yesterday’s heroes of secular chronicles joined the ranks of the Defense Forces and volunteers. It is important to know that the world is watching us and understands that Ukraine is not in a political conflict, but in a war waged by putin’s russia. That Ukrainian opinion leaders are unanimous.

I follow the proven channels of current Ukrainian news and check the sources of information. (For example, we did not post the news of DiCaprio’s generous contribution to Ukraine’s needs, because we did not find the source of such good news.) I communicate a lot with my colleagues from the media, both domestic and foreign. Sometimes I rely on a sense of empathy – because today we, Ukrainians, are worried about similar problems and issues. We ask people or specialists directly for comments if the material requires a thorough response from a psychologist, doctor, etc.

Do you have a connection with foreign colleagues?

Yes, colleagues from France and Hungary on the second day of Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine asked us to comment on the events in our country. Personally, I am very grateful that these were questions of various kinds. Such as whether there are cases of forced conscription into the Armed Forces. (In my memory, there were only cases of men asking for a bribe to get into the Defence and the Armed Forces. Because there is a queue now. Although, I understand the power of aggressive putin’s propaganda. I am very grateful to the foreign media for the opportunity to tell what is really happening in Ukraine. We are currently preparing material on “racism” in Ukraine together with colleagues from SumDu (where many foreign students study at different faculties). We are going to share the material with our foreign colleagues to refute fakes.

I understand that there are many political and economic nuances and subtleties, due to which the sky over Ukraine is still not closed and Ukraine is not in the EU. I understand that the tough sanctions have just come into force and we must wait for their irreversible consequences. However, I can not but ask for the close of the sky in Ukraine and the accession of our state to the EU.

From the simplest – please, support Ukraine in information. Draw attention to the horrors of war, which would seem simply impossible in the 21st century. By joint efforts, we will be able to win.

Kateryna Popova, editor-in-chief ELLE.UA
www.instagram.com/elle_ukraine

How did you find out about the beginning of the war?

24.02.2022 We will never forget this day! I did not think that I would ever wake up in my native Kyiv at five in the morning from the phrase of my relatives “Get up, Katya, the war has begun.” Yes, war, not a special operation, as it is called in russia. The aggressor country has launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. The occupiers are firing on civilians, the cities are suffering from missile strikes – not only military facilities but also housing infrastructure. There are not enough words to describe all the pain for what the occupiers are doing to our native Ukraine.

How do you spend your day now?

Constant shock, sirens, explosions, shelling, fear of losing everything – life is now divided into “before” and “after”.

It seems that my day does not begin or end, and all the painful days of the war have become one.

I can’t sleep at night because of the air alarms when I have to run to the shelter, because I am afraid to miss something very important and at 3 a.m. I read what is happening at the front. At 7 a.m., I start working and selecting news for the site and work until late at night. When we hear the sirens, we run to the shelter, then we go out and I continue to work.

It is our duty now to work, because the word is also a weapon, and journalists are now at the forefront of information.

Do you continue working? How has changed the subject of the materials?

Our ELLE editorial office is actively working on the site and writes about the most important news on the diplomatic front, as well as important applied materials that help citizens to act properly in times of war.

We are now working very quickly and disseminating only verified information from official sources to be of maximum use to people. We also created the Telegram channel ELLE UA, where we share all the important information today.

And each of us dreams of how we will write about our victory!

Do you have a connection with foreign colleagues?

Yes, we are now actively communicating with colleagues from ELLE around the world, they are actively supporting us. Sonia Zabuga and I also gave an interview to ELLE Netherlands and ELLE France, where they told the truth about what is really happening in Ukraine, how we survived the first day and the first week after the Russian invasion of our lands.

Maria Migotina, editor-in-chief of L’OFFICIEL.UA
www.instagram.com/lofficielukraine

How did you find out about the beginning of the war?

At 5:15 my phone rang off the hook. The night before I could not sleep I had a wild incomprehensible overwhelming feeling of anxiety. At 3 am I even booked a house in western Ukraine (but on March 7, why?). So I barely fell asleep at about 4 and seemed to fall into a liturgical dream. My boyfriend called: – Well, what? Why so early? – Mash, well, it’s all started. – What started? – war!

How do you spend your day now?

I sleep just a little. I don’t know what day it is, I live by counting. The second week of the war. And it feels like a year has passed. When I wake up abruptly, I check all the chats, check as friends and relatives who remained in the hot spots. I watch news and telegram channels about night events. My main job – the site is now in second place. The first includes coordination work and volunteering, assistance in finding money to buy ammunition for the military and medicines for doctors. Constantly head to your phone or laptop from morning till night. It seems to me that I have never in my life communicated with so many strangers. Thank God, the Internet works and thanks to it (Instagram and Telegram) it solves issues of planetary scale in a matter of hours.

Do you continue working?

That’s how we work. We completely switched to the Ukrainian language at once. Prior to that, we worked on creating a bilingual version and due to technical problems, we could not add the Ukrainian language to the website. But on February 24 we just didn’t care. We have no Russian language in principle. We are working now who, how and where can. Someone in between sirens, someone at night, someone on the road. The most important thing now is to save your life and your relatives. Of course, our subject matter has changed – we missed 2 Fashion Weeks (Milan and Paris). To be honest, it seems they were in a past life. We write only about how and what is happening in our country and since we are not a socio-political publication, we prefer practical and useful materials, as well as write about the support provided by the world, tell about the activities of volunteers, useful funds etc. From the beginning, we teamed up with the Vogue team and called on the world’s most famous brands to impose an embargo on russia (I will never write the name of this country with a capital letter again!). As this week showed – it worked! We also wrote an official appeal to the russian media.

Do you have a connection with foreign colleagues?

Yes. L’Officiel teams from different countries also supported us! I have already been interviewed by several international publications about the events in Ukraine.

How can we support you?

We will be glad if you give money for the ammunition of the Armed Forces and the Defense Forces or for the support of doctors. Or sincerely help anyone who needs it now. Our strength is in unity!

Anna Hayetska, editor-in-chief Wonderzine Ukraine
www.instagram.com/wonderzine.ua

How did you find out about the beginning of the war?

I found out about the beginning of the war like most Kyivans – I woke up from the explosion at 5 am. I immediately realized that the war had begun. I opened Facebook, saw a tape where everyone was writing about the explosions. I took the emergency backpack and went to the shelter.

How do you spend your day now?

Now we have started to work harder, we are doing more texts than usual to make Ukraine heard and to support our citizens. I wake up at 8 am, monitor the news feed with the editors and write articles.

Many journalists joined us on a volunteer basis. This is very gratifying. So we have the opportunity to volunteer, substitute each other and produce content. We finish work at 8 p.m. We wish each other good night, it has become extremely important now. So far we are working without days off.

How has changed the subject of the materials?

The subject of the materials has changed dramatically. If before it was feminism, gender equality, sex, now all the materials are about the war and how the world supports Ukraine. We take materials from Telegram channels and foreign media.

How can we support you?

As Wonderzine Ukraine is an independent media, we have no sponsors, investors, grants and we only make money on advertising that has been suspended due to the war, we can be supported now through donete.

Special thanks to Roman Timofeev, head of PR department UFW
www.instagram.com/romantimo3
www.instagram.com/ukrainianfashionweek_official