Who is: Halyna Yaroshenko

The Ukrainian-born designer on listening to the material, fringing 150 zippers by hand, and why texture is a form of freedom.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Halyna Yaroshenko, a final-year fashion student at the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås. I found her the way I find most of the designers I end up writing about: on my Instagram explore page, between everything generic, there was a white dress that looked like it was made of endless strips of fabric. I fell in love instantly. Turns out it wasn't fabric. It was zippers. About 150 of them, every single one stripped down by hand.

Walk me through how a textile becomes a garment for you. Do you start with the material and follow where it leads, or do you see the finished piece first?

"I try to listen to what the material wants and let that guide me. I avoid molding it into a pre-decided form. I'm just an observer who makes it come to life. Once the material is mostly developed, I work on the garment and the textile simultaneously, bouncing back and forth until I'm satisfied. Sometimes the idea for the shape just comes in the process and I go with it. You never really know."

Your work is all texture. Fringe, feathers, layers of fabric strips. What draws you to the element of textures? Is it the feel? Is it the movement of the fabrics in motion?

"It started as something intuitive, but after some time I realized that through texture I am free to make whatever. I'm not restricted by what the fabric store has to offer. I can make something completely new, something that feels most me. Texture also adds dimension and movement. The pieces I develop are not flat or still objects. They're more like moving, living forms, and they are experienced best through wear and in motion."

What does being a fashion student at the Swedish School of Textiles actually look like day to day? What would surprise people the most about it?

"Our schedule is quite flexible. We work independently a lot, so everyone chooses how to use their time. I prefer to start early, because that's when I feel sharpest. What would surprise people is how many places within the school you can be in one day. Sketching at my desk in the morning, then printing fabric samples, then the knit lab, then a computer class, then the sewing lab. Every process happens in a different place.Mostly we work in the labs, surrounded by other students. When you work on your own thing for a long time, you lose the objective view of it. It's nice to hear someone's feedback, not necessarily to do what they say, but to say your fears and doubts out loud."

As a student you design with total freedom and almost no budget. What has that combination taught you that the industry never could?

"The norm in the industry is to develop the idea first and then find the materials. My best work came from doing the opposite. I love to work with what I have and what is available to me at that moment. That's how the zipper dress came to life. There were huge rolls of zipper ribbon at one of the labs at school. That was the starting point, and then I thought about how to use it in a new, unexpected way that is true to my design language."

How has your culture and upbringing impacted your design and textile use?

"I feel deeply affected by what my country, Ukraine, has been going through, so naturally it affects my work. I often design with it as an anchor point, a tribute to my background. Ukrainian culture is being actively erased on a daily basis, so I feel it is my duty to embrace my heritage and use it in every way possible to contribute to its existence.

My paper dress is an example. It was inspired by wheat, a strong symbol of Ukrainian identity, and specifically the harvest season and the traditions around it. Making that dress was an act of preserving my culture. I also miss my home, and I process that through my design work."

When do you feel most like a designer? In the lab, at a fitting, or somewhere else entirely?

"The moment when things start to materialize and come together. Tweaking, adjusting, perfecting. Time just flies by. Seeing it on a model is incredible. I feel especially happy when people wearing my designs start to move in a certain way. Somehow they always catch the mood I intended for the garment. I think texture has a lot to do with that."

There's a white dress on your feed that looks like it's made of endless fabric strips. What was the most tedious part of making it, and what keeps you going through those hours?

"That dress is actually made entirely from zippers. I fringed the woven part of each one by hand, removing the warp threads, and I couldn't find a way to optimize it. There are about 150 zippers in it. It took countless hours just to prepare the material.

People literally called me crazy for doing this, even my teachers. And I was like, nope, I'm gonna do it. I saw a lot of potential in the technique. Honestly, I don't mind something repetitive like that. After a while it becomes muscle memory, and my mind rests. There's something extremely therapeutic about it."

Where do you see yourself in five or ten years?

"My near-future plan is the graduate collection. I have big plans for that. After that, it's not defined yet. I'm still debating whether to go back to Ukraine, stay in Europe, or go somewhere else entirely, which is why I started my internship in Ukraine now.

I want to work for a brand first and see how the industry works from the inside, but keep working on something personal on the side. People see my designs, they like them, they want them. So maybe I have something that would make this whole thing work."

Halyna designs by listening: to the material, to the way a garment wants to move, and to a heritage she refuses to let be erased. It shows up as fringe that turns a dress into a living thing, 150 zippers stripped by hand because she could see where the technique was going, and a paper dress built around wheat as an act of preservation. With her graduate collection ahead, Halyna is, without a doubt, an innovative and upcoming designer to keep your eye out for.

Follow her on Instagram at @halya.rosh to see what she designs next.