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Today, we delve into the journey of a Ukrainian designer Ksyusha Danicheva, whose passion for art and fashion has shaped her career. From her early days of sketching dresses as a child, nurtured by her artistically inclined family, to founding her own brand, LA MUSA. With wealth of experience working with iconic brands like Patrizia Pepe, Gucci, Givenchy, Calvin Klein, and Hunkemoller, styling global superstar Dua Lipa and navigating the challenges of war-torn Ukraine, we gain insight into the heart and soul behind the brand LA MUSA.

Your background that nourished creativity in design and art?

I am from a very artistic family. Since childhood, I have been drawing dresses. Moreover, I was drawing them how I wanted them to appear. Fashion and art were the only things I was interested in. When I was tiny, my grandma educated me about art and now, when she is almost 80, she is still doing tapestry. I always knew that this would happen, that I would start my fashion brand. In every step of my education and career in the fashion industry, I knew that one day I would create my brand. I have two degrees in Art and Fashion Design. The latest one I got was at Instituto Marangoni, Milan, and the first one was at Kharkiv State Academy of Art and Design.  So, after achieving the second degree and years of experience working as a designer in fashion companies, such as Patrizia Pepe, Gucci, Givenchy, Calvin Klein, and Hunkemoller, I moved back to Ukraine (motherland) and founded LA MUSA in 2019.

Tell us about your work as a designer for large fashion brands. How does it feel to design for them while remaining in the shadow?

Since I always knew that I would have my own brand, my experience of working in big companies was mostly needed for understanding the inner process of the business I was going to be building. The first, longest, and most exciting experience of working in a big company was at Patrizia Pepe. It started with an internship in the styling and photography department. Working as a stylist and being an artist and designer helped me to gain new knowledge and open my imagination even wider. Working at Patrizia Pepe, I learned everything about the presentation of the collection, selecting the theme of the shoot, its location, choosing suitable models, make-up, hairstyle, and a lot more about technical and organizational things. For example, how to organize the shooting in another part of the country, how to do a product shoot, how to manage a team of up to 70 people, or even how to set up the light for the shoot considering the conditions for receiving the needed result. All this was a new experience for me, but this did not stop me from growing in the company. Moreover, to this day, I am utilizing these skills, but already in my brand. Due to this work, I had a chance to move to Florence from Milan. Since Florence is the city where the Renaissance era began, the experience of living in the city of art was precious for me, considering my passion for art.

Your work as a stylist with Dua Lipa and her team, what did you like, or better yet, what didn’t you like about working with them?

In the year that I started my career as a stylist for Patrizia Pepe, they have signed a contract with Dua Lipa as their main ambassador. In my first year of working there, we released several different music clips with Dua Lipa wearing Patrizia Pepe styled by my team. Working with such a big influencer and celebrity was such a one-of-a-kind experience. Moreover, it gave me a real understanding of how fashion is close to the music and film industry. Currently, I am working with different influencers and singers to understand how to style their looks correctly to the idea of their performances.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by DUA LIPA (@dualipa)

As an artist, do you have a studio or place where you paint?

My first teacher at an art academy said: that the real artist doesn’t need any special brushes or equipment, you can create a masterpiece with even a banana. My life is active and spontaneous, I travel all the time, sometimes even more than I expected or planned. So I usually create my designs and even art everywhere where I feel inspired. But before 2022, when I was living in Ukraine, I had a beautiful space with different sectors where we had an atelier, an office for the LA MUSA team, a photo studio, an art studio, and, obviously, my creative space for design. That was great, but I can tell that I rarely left this space. It was in the heart of Kharkiv and had a breathtaking panoramic view. So I always felt inspired to create there. Unfortunately, this space was destroyed by missiles in February 2022.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ksyusha (@art_yourmusa)

How did the war affect your business?

Due to the war in Ukraine, I had to move my team and rebuild production in Poland. Then I moved to London to be able to integrate my brand with the fashion industry. For me, it was important that the LA MUSA team and all the employees would remain united, no matter the conditions. So when a full invasion happened for me, it was important to help and save everyone I could. So I found a space in Poland and helped my empties to move and accommodated them there. Moreover, we are hiring Ukrainian refugees, providing more workspaces, and supporting Ukrainian women who had to leave their homes.  Part of each order of LA MUSA items is donated to a Ukrainian humanitarian charity. For me, it is an important statement and I hope that when this war is over I will be able to build a new space, but already in Ukraine, where people can live safely with no fear and danger.

How do you combine many different roles in your work: an artist who creates paintings to order, a clothing designer, a master class teacher, an entrepreneur who makes pop-ups and helps other brands, and a production manager? All of these roles are quite different and require emotional investment and time. How do you combine it and not burn out? Which role is your favorite?

At the moment, I am working on five different projects. The brand LA MUSA will be the main focus, but I am also supporting other brands and giving them the possibility to produce in a sustainable atelier in Europe, in LA MUSA production. I am also currently working on creating a woman-founded multi-brand marketplace and making pop-up boutiques around the world under this concept. I assist brands with styling for their editorials and shooting organizations as a stylist and producer. As art is always a big part of me, I am also presenting my art in galleries and working on commissioned artworks. Moreover, I am also doing expressionism open-air masterclasses around the world. I like to be active and keeping myself busy is inspiring and proving me sometimes how strong we can be as a woman. Obviously, like every person, I burn out. Sometimes, when this happens, I take one or two days off when I do nothing, for example, going for the weekend to the coast and reading books and meditating, going to an art gallery and spending an entire day there, or even going cycling for long distances. Doing anything that will unwind my mind. But the most important thing is switching my phone off. Then I am fully recovered, inspired, and strong, getting back to work with new energy and ideas. It is hard to say what would be my favorite, since all of these businesses are so creative and interesting.

What’re 3 favourite Ukrainian brands and why?

One of my very favorite Ukrainian brands is Ruslan Baginskiy. First, I am in love with the design of his hats and I find hats such a timeless piece of wardrobe. The different branding representation makes the brand even more sophisticated.

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Ruslan Baginskiy (@ruslanbaginskiy_hats)

Guzema is a brand renowned for its exceptional design, meticulous craft skills, and charity projects. At Guzema Fine Jewelry, we reimagine the classics, ensuring our designs transcend time and circumstance, embodying elegance and sophistication for generations to come. Moreover, with the quality of their jewelry, pieces can compete with only Tiffany or Cartier. But this brand is made in Ukraine, and I am so proud of it!

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Guzema Fine Jewelry (@guzema_jewelry)

A very young fashion brand, Maria Kulieva, born, raised, and standing in Kharkiv, Ukraine, was created by fashion designer Maria Kulieva, my classmate from the art academy.

I find this designer very brave unconditionally inspired and professional. Her last collection was created during the full-scale invasion of our country.

The next project is a space in the market for women-owned brands. Tell us more about this.

The first conceptual multi-brand marketplace of woman-founded brands is my new and biggest project. The idea came from integration with different brands founded by women. Every brand has its meaning and concept. I am so inspired by different stories of foundation brands by women and how many difficulties they meet in their careers. So I would love to build a place where women support each other and share creative energy. This is going to be an online platform for creators to represent their work and connect with different businesses regarding their requirements. For example, build collaborations, find new sources of inspiration, or even find a new production. But, for the customers, this platform is a great opportunity to support inclusivity and sustainability, which makes consumers buying behavior more conscious about their purchasing habits. Moreover, an important part of the marketplace is pop-up stores around the world. It is such a great opportunity for brands to create even stronger brand awareness and test their products in different parts of the world, which will expand their consumer geography. I am very excited about launching this project in 2025.