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A Polish vogue model is doing what it could to chop by the chaos on the border as refugees stream into the nation from war-torn Ukraine. The corporate is producing distinctive, easy-to-spot hooded capes for volunteers engaged on the bottom with the refugees on the border crossing in Medyka, Poland.
The challenge is a collaboration between RISK Made in Warsaw and Belarusian-Polish activist-artist Jana Szostak. RISK has a historical past of creating statements with its designs: In 2014, The Instances of Israel reported on the then-new model’s daring Jewish satisfaction line prominently that includes Jewish symbols and sayings printed on gray sweatshirts and different sportswear.
Co-founded by Antonina Samecka and Klara Kowtun in 2011, RISK got here up with a prototype for the cape and is now within the course of of manufacturing dozens of those clothes for Stewardesses of Peace, one of many many volunteer teams working with the refugees from Ukraine pouring into Poland. Over 1.4 million refugees had crossed into the nation, in response to the United Nations.
The designers are utilizing considered one of RISK’s current prints for the capes. The print, titled “Dreamworld,” seems to be like summary clouds in calm blues, greys, greens and browns.
“It’s our hottest sample, however it really isn’t clouds. It’s the contours of landmasses, with the concept of a world with out borders. You possibly can simply spot the Norwegian shoreline, for instance. We had been impressed by the lyrics of John Lennon’s iconic track ‘Think about,’” Kowtun defined.
The print has been transferred to a thick sweatshirt-type materials for the hooded capes, which may simply match over the heavy winter jackets needed for the area’s late-winter bitter chilly climate. The designers added three colourful stripes: Two down every of the sleeves and one down the entrance zipper. They signify the flag of Ukraine, the flag of Poland, and the purple and white flag utilized by opponents of the Lukashenko regime in Belarus.
“That final flag was essential to Jana, as a result of she is from Belarus,” Kowtun mentioned.
That is the third collaboration between RISK and Szostak. Samecka and Kowtun beforehand designed for Szostak a purple and white gown she wore to protest the Russia-aligned authorities of Belarus. Szostak additionally commissioned from RISK a custom-made gown from materials printed with the pictures of two,000 prisoners of the Lukashenko regime, which she wore to a serious gala.
RISK has arrange a particular part of its e-commerce web site dedicated to Ukrainian aid. The corporate will donate 50 złoty ($11.50) from the proceeds of every merchandise bought from its “Wolność” (Freedom) line to the “SOS UKRAINE” marketing campaign of Polish Humanitarian Motion.
Throughout a Zoom interview with The Instances of Israel, Kowtun turned her pc’s digital camera to indicate how RISK’s workplaces, on the second ground of its retailer in Warsaw, are being transformed into a snug shelter for 10 adults and a number of other youngsters.
“It needs to be prepared by tomorrow. We’re partnering with the JDC on this,” mentioned Samecka, referring to the worldwide Jewish humanitarian and aid group, the Joint Distribution Committee.
Samecka and Kowtun are additionally working exhausting to maneuver up the launch of a brand new marketing campaign developed in cooperation with Russian-Belarusian-Polish educator and activist Marina Hulia that they’d initially deliberate to unveil in April for Passover, Easter and Ramadan. The marketing campaign, RISK for Actual Individuals, options refugees and immigrants from Chechnya, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Russia, and Afghanistan modeling RISK designs.
“We invited these folks to do a photograph shoot, and a lookbook of the images ought to go up on our website very quickly. We realized we needed to strike whereas the iron is sizzling, when Poles’ hearts are open proper now,” Kowtun mentioned.
Samecka defined that the marketing campaign goals to ship a message that everybody needs to be welcome in Poland, and {that a} united, multicultural Polish society is fascinating.
“Poland shouldn’t be a really tolerant nation. We wish folks to take an excellent take a look at the individuals who come right here and provides a lot to Polish society, and who should be welcome right here,” Samecka mentioned.
Like most companies, RISK suffered setbacks in the course of the COVID pandemic. Kowtun and Samecka had huge plans to take the model worldwide in 2019 and 2020 after having attended commerce exhibits in Europe and New York. They had been scheduled to go to China in 2020.
The model pulled by the final two years by persevering with to have strong on-line gross sales. RISK is thought for its gentle, snug and light-weight jersey supplies. The materials are used for all their designs.
“There is no such thing as a query that the gown code modified resulting from COVID. However our garments are snug like a sweatsuit, but additionally modern. Individuals may put on our garments whereas caught at house, and each really feel good and look good,” Kowtun mentioned.
When RISK launched a decade in the past, it bought solely gadgets — from hoodies to ball robes — produced from heather, or gray sweatshirt materials. The model later branched out and added prints to its repertoire, together with ones that includes flowers of Poland, birds of Warsaw, and nonetheless life oil work.
“We’re are not solely concerning the gray hoodie. We realized that we and everybody else wanted some coloration in our lives,” Kowtun mentioned.
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