Why does the first lady of a country at war need a stylist?

Written by Vanessa Friedman

On Tuesday, dozens of world leaders arrived for the NATO summit in Washington. Among them was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whose appeal to the international community for continued aid in his country’s war with Russia was a key topic under discussion. Making a rare appearance with him was his wife, Olena Zelenska, who in 2022 became the rare first lady to address Congress.

At that time, Zelenska dressed for the moment in a suit carefully calculated to draw attention to the plight of eastern Ukraine, then under heavy Russian attack. This time, surrounded by numerous other NATO spouses, Zelenska was again dressing with purpose. Or so said Natasha Kamenska, a designer, co-founder of Gunia Project, a Ukrainian brand, and, since mid-2021, stylist to the first lady.

Below, Kamenska explains how she and Zelenska have used fashion to create an image of what it means to be first lady of a country under siege and how clothes can affect the perception of the watching world.

This conversation has been condensed and edited.

Q: Why does a first lady in a country at war even need a stylist?

A: For us, fashion is one more tool to speak about Ukrainians, designers and talent. It’s a light way to speak about much more serious things on big public occasions, when the first lady needs to use every detail to support her cause. During the normal week, she can’t leave her compound. She can’t go shopping. She can’t go from her house to her office. Even if she is on some business trip, it is just airport, hotel, meeting. Otherwise, it’s too dangerous.

Q: And that’s where you come in?

A: Yes. On this trip we tried to include as many different Ukrainian brands as possible, to show resilience and to show that brands continue to work and develop under shelling and blackouts.

Q: How many Ukrainian brands is the first lady wearing in Washington?

A: At least nine. When she visited the Holodomor Memorial on the first day, she wore an embroidered shirt called a vyshyvanka by Gaptuvalnya. It was important to include a vyshyvanka for such an event as it is the epitome of Ukrainian cultural codes, and the black embroidery emphasizes the painful symbolism of the memorial. Her skirt is by AMG, a brand based in Kyiv.

Then, on the second day of the trip, she wore a three-piece suit by Article Blazers, a young but already popular brand. The blue color of the suit is contrasted with a golden brooch, to give a hint of our flag’s colors. The pin, by Ruslan Baginskiy, is called the Wormwood, Yevshan-Zillya brooch. According to interpretations of an old legend, the fragrant smell of wormwood leads people to the path that will guide them back home. Those are a few.

Olena Zelanska with her stylist, Natalia Kamenska (Source: Natalia Kamenska/Instagram)

Q: The black and white dress Zelenska wore for the social dinner was pretty severe.

A: We chose it on purpose, to highlight the combination of refinement and femininity with strength all the women in Ukraine possess. It is from the Coat, and the founder of the brand, Katya Silchenko, also embodies those features.

Q: How much time do you have to prepare before a major foreign trip?

A: Maybe a week. It’s all about security. But we also need to speak through the clothes. So I call designers and say, “OH, MY GOD, PLEASE RUSH.”

Q: How did you and Zelenska come to work together?

A: When her husband was elected, there was a new feeling in the country about this couple, and they wanted to express that. She was originally working with two stylists, but it’s really hard to work with the first couple. You never know when they will ask you to come. So one of the stylists asked if I was interested in taking over.

Q: What was your first impression of her?

A: We had a Zoom interview, and then she invited me to dinner in her house. All I could think was “Oh, my God, it’s the first lady and president. What should I wear?” But I arrived, and she’s wearing a hoodie, jeans and sneakers. She gave me a tour of the house and showed me her animals — guinea pig, two dogs and a parrot — and then she just took some steaks in the kitchen, and we ate. The president came in after work to say hello. It was such a human life.

Q: What happened once the war began?

A: For the first few months, Olena decided she didn’t want any stylist or makeup artist. It was not the time for that. It was the right decision. My husband, who is a film director who works a lot in Berlin, took our daughter and went to Germany, but I felt I needed to be in Kyiv, both for Olena and for Gunia. We have production people, craftspeople we are responsible for. We are working, paying salaries, paying taxes, talking about Ukraine through our products.

Q: When did Zelenska decide fashion could play a role in the war effort?

A: When she started to meet with people outside again, with politicians. First, we decided to work with the wardrobe we had and only with really calm clothes — nothing too colorful or playful or feminine. Mostly with suits because, in my opinion, suits make us stronger. They are like a shield, and Ukrainian women are in a fight every day.
The most important thing in this work is that the clothes support her. When she had to address the U.S. Congress, we started to work with outside designers and prepare outfits. We wanted to use every detail to make her speech even stronger.

Q: Did people in Ukraine traditionally care much about what the first lady wore?

A: Before, no one cared. Olena is our first first lady to express her identity using contemporary Ukrainian designers during her public appearances, not just wearing traditional clothes on Independence Day.

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