On May 30, 2025, the final show of the XXV International Competition of Young Designers “Pecherski Kashtany” took place. The concept and motto of this year’s Competition is “Environmental friendliness, ethnocentricity, innovation – a new vision of design”.
The competition was founded at Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design in 1955 under the name “Silk Ball.” This year, it celebrates its 70th anniversary. The Competition of Young Designers “Pecherski Kashtany” is held with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine and was granted international status in 2001.
Celebrating its 95th anniversary, and despite the challenging times for our country, KNUTD continues to demonstrate professionalism, innovation, and creativity. Today’s students carry on the tradition of creating beauty and fashion in Ukraine, while past participants of the “Pecherski Kashtany” competition have become renowned professionals shaping contemporary fashion trends. Thousands of young designers have taken their first creative steps through this competition, which has long served – and continues to serve – as a gateway into the exciting and expansive world of fashion, beauty, and design.
The competition is a relevant platform for creative expression of young designers and highlighting important aspects of the present through creativity. Participants have the opportunity to present fashion collections that reflect the author's vision of the problems of our time. This year, the competition "Pecherski Kashtany" brought together more than 250 young designers and fashion industry professionals from many countries around the world: Ukraine, China, Georgia, Moldova, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Latvia. The works were evaluated by members of the international jury from Germany, Italy, Great Britain, USA, Albania, Greece, Belgium, Moldova, Romania, Latvia, and Ukraine.
The President of the Competition, Ivan Gryshchenko, Rector of KNUTD, Doctor of Economics, Professor, Academician of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, Honored Educator of Ukraine, and Laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in Science and Technology, delivered a welcoming speech at the opening of the final ceremony.
Among the invited guests of honor at the International Competition of Young Designers “Pecherski Kashtany” this year were: Oleksandr Sokolovsky, entrepreneur, founder of the group of companies "Textile-Contact", president of the All-Ukrainian Association of Light Industry Employers, member of the Presidium of the Federation of Employers of Ukraine, member of the Supervisory Board of KNUTD; Ihor Polovnikov, president of the Ukrainian Technological Academy, Honorary Doctor of KNUTD, member of the Supervisory Board of KNUTD; Viktor Lishchuk, CEO of “Chynbar”, Doctor of Technical Sciences, laureate of the State Prize of Ukraine in the field of science and technology, member of the Supervisory Board of KNUTD; Golda Vinogradska, designer, head of the National Industry Partnership Fashion Globus Ukraine; Oleh Pivovar, CEO of the Scientific and Production Company "HYDROSTYL"; Khrystyna Bobkova, designer, founder of the fashion clothing brand “BOBKOVA”, multiple participant of Ukrainian Fashion Week; Bohdan Kass, designer, entrepreneur, founder of the KASS brand, owner of the Factory KASS garment production, teacher at the Kyiv Professional College of Applied Sciences; Iryna Makhinko-Dumih, director and artistic director of the branded clothing studio “i-CHEF by Irina Makhinko”; Oleksiy Kraievsky, designer, fashion historian, lecturer at the educational platform “MODEISME”; Yulia Yermolaieva, stylist, influencer, blogger; Volodymyr Podolyan, designer, owner of the clothing brand “PODOLYAN”; Maryna Polikarpova, designer, head of the design bureau “Design Laboratory”; Oleksandr Bondar, shoe manufacturer, founder and director of the shoe factory “Prime-shoes”; Oleh Zaremba, shoe manufacturer, founder and director of the shoe brand “Zaremba”; Mykhailo Kucherenko, Director of LLC "SURIKAT UA"; Iryna Daus, company “Intelltex”, representative of developers of fashion design programs Style3D and Assyst in Ukraine; Anna Grydasova, founder and creative director of Ariamo Fashion Group; Olha Zaritska, clothing brand “CREATORE”; Yulia Danylko, brand manager of women's clothing brand “FloveTouch”; Oleksandr Golotko, director of company “Ecotapok”; Viktor Drychyk, head of the material support standards development group of the Administration and Standardization Department of the Central Material Support Development Department, and other distinguished guests and partners of the University.
The head of the jury of the Competition is Ivan Frolov, designer, founder of the fashion brand “FROLOV”, member of the Expert Committee of the Ukrainian Fashion Council, PhD, Ukraine.
The international jury of the Competition “CLOTHES” was represented by:
Angela Scripcenco – PhD, Associate Professor, Faculty of Design, Technical University of Moldova, Moldova;
Eugen Reabenchi – fashion designer, stylist, head of the Department of Decorative Arts, Ion Creangă State Pedagogical University of Chișinău, Moldova;
Cornelia Brustureanu – PhD, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Design, Faculty of Visual Arts and Design, George Enescu University of Arts, Romania;
Mara Binde – fashion designer, lecturer at the Latvian Academy of Arts, Latvia;
Natalia Rozhyn – lecturer at Birmingham City University, Great Britain;
Nadiya Kudryavtseva – costume designer, representative of the company “FILM-UND-THEATER AUSSTATTUNG”, Germany;
Bohdan Kass – designer, entrepreneur, founder of the KASS brand, owner of the garment production Factory KASS, lecturer at Kyiv Vocational College of Applied Sciences, Ukraine;
Jean Gritsfeldt – designer, founder of the fashion brand “JEANGRITSFELDT”, Germany;
Golda Vynogradska – designer, head of the National Industry Partnership Fashion Globus Ukraine, Ukraine;
Anna Grydasova – founder and creative director of brand “Ariamo Fashion Group”, Ukraine;
Yulia Danylko – brand manager of the women’s fashion brand “FloveTouch”, Ukraine;
Oleksiy Kraievsky – designer, fashion historian, lecturer of the educational platform MODEISME, Ukraine;
Dmytro Kuriata – designer, theatrical costume designer, Ukraine;
Iryna Makhinko-Dumih – art director of the corporate clothing studio “i-CHEF by Irina Makhinko”, Ukraine;
Lesia Malyuta – director, Company “PROMOTEX”, Ukraine;
Kalyna Pashkevych – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, member of the Union of Designers of Ukraine, Dean of the Faculty of Design of Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, Ukraine;
Natalia Ostapenko – Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor, Member of the National Union of Artists of Ukraine, Member of the Union of Designers of Ukraine, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Fashion of Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, Ukraine;
as well as experienced teachers of the Department of Art and Fashion Design, the Department of Fashion and Style from Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design.
The international jury of the Competition “FOOTWEAR and ACCESSORIES” was represented by:
Fabio Regosa – CEO of company RIF-1, trademark “INBLU”, Italy;
Marcel MrSan – Professor, footwear designer, chief moderator of the international footwear forum “FootwearMakers Forum”, USA;
Bill Bird – footwear manufacturer, lecturer at De Montfort University, founder and chairman of the company “Bill Bird Shoes”, Great Britain;
Hartmut Zeidich – fashion designer, master, owner of the production of personalized and orthopedic footwear, lecturer on shoe design and modeling at the Academy of Crafts in Düsseldorf, Germany;
Tetiana Spahiu – Professor at the Polytechnic University of Tirana, Albania;
Lela Kiknavelidze – Professor at the Akaki Tsereteli State University, Georgia;
Mila Bagriy – footwear designer with experience working in the companies “Michael Kors”, “Anne Klein”, “Vera Wang”, USA;
Raphael Lensan – designer, founder and creative director of the fashion brand “Adult-Antwerp”, Belgium;
Oleksandr Bondar – shoe manufacturer, founder and director of the shoe factory “Prime-shoes”, Ukraine;
Halyna Duhnich – chief production technologist, shoe company “Vicelli”, Ukraine;
Oleh Zaremba – shoe manufacturer, founder and director of the shoe brand “Zaremba”, Ukraine;
Yuriy Pavlik – shoe manufacturer, director of the shoe factory “Palaris”, Ukraine;
Mykhailo Kucherenko – director of company “SURIKAT”, Ukraine;
Svitlana Shestak – director of the company “Aligo Group”, Ukraine;
Artem Kicha – director of the boutique of exclusive shoes “Santoni”, Ukraine;
Tymofiy Lypskiy – shoe manufacturer, founder of the brands “Lypskiy” and “Litini”, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of the Department of Fashion Technology of KNUTD;
and experienced teachers of the Department of Fashion Technology and the Department of Fashion and Style of the Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design.
More than 200 works were submitted to the “FOOTWEAR AND ACCESSORIES” and “CLOTHES” Competitions – collections of shoes, bags, accessories, clothes, hats, made in different styles from various materials. About 100 works were submitted to the “TEXTILES” Competition – these are fabric drawings, sketches and ready-made models of accessories and jewelry, projects of 3D objects, interiors, made in modern programs, textile products (tapestry, dolls, embroidery, etc.) by young designers from educational institutions of Ukraine and the world. Members of the international jury evaluated the works of young designers and determined the winners of the Competition.
The winners of the "FOOTWEAR and ACCESSORIES" Competition were link.
The winners of the "CLOTHES" Competition were link.
The winners of the "TEXTILES" Competition were link.
Oleksandr Bondar, shoe manufacturer, founder and director of the “Prime-Shoes” shoe factory, and Bohdan Kass, designer, entrepreneur, founder of the KASS brand, owner of the Factory KASS garment production, presented diplomas to the winners of the "FOOTWEAR and ACCESSORIES" and "CLOTHES" Competitions.
Speech by Oleksandr Bondar
Bohdan Kass presents diplomas to the winners
Students from partner universities actively participated in this year's Competition, namely: Shaanxi University of Science and Technology, China; Kyiv College of Qilu University of Technology, China; Hebei Academy of Fine Arts, China; Akaki Tsereteli State University, Georgia; Hunan International University of Economics, China; New Bulgarian University, Bulgaria; Birmingham City University, Great Britain; International Hellenistic University, Greece; Technical University of Moldova, Moldova; Ion Kriange State Pedagogical University, Moldova; Latvian Academy of Arts, Latvia, and other educational institutions in Ukraine and the world. Young designers and their managers from Lutsk, Odessa, Chernivtsi, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Kharkiv, Zinkov, Podolsk and other cities of Ukraine visited KNUTD to participate in the final show of the Competition.
The Grand Prix in the “Clothing” Competition was awarded to Artem Pugach, author of the women’s clothing collection “Death of the Artist”, Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design, Ukraine. The Grand Prix in the “Shoes and Accessories” Competition was awarded to Natalia Kuzina and Veronika Parfeniuk, authors of the “PINcode” handbag collection, Odessa Technical Vocational College of Odessa National University of Technology, Ukraine.
Rector of KNUTD Ivan Gryshchenko solemnly presented diplomas to the winners and congratulated everyone on their victory.
Special prizes were awarded to the participants of the Competition by: Iryna Makhinko-Dumih, director of the corporate clothing studio "I-CHEF by Iryna Makhinko", Maryna Kozhushko, HR director of the company "PROMO-TEX", Bohdan Kass, designer, entrepreneur, founder of the fashion clothing brand KASS, Ivan Skorokhodov, head of the social projects department of the company "Softorg", Lina Alatorskykh, production manager of the company "Odyssey", Yulia Danylko, manager of the women's clothing brand "FloveTouch", Liudmyla Balashova, deputy director of "TK-FURNITURA", Mykhailo Kucherenko, director of the company "SURIKAT", Yulia Yermolaieva, stylist, blogger, Olha Zaritska, clothing brand "CREATORE", Tymofiy Lipskyi, director of the Ukrainian trademark "LITINI".
Iryna Daus from the “Intelltex” company, the representative of the developers of the “Style3D” and “Assyst” clothing design programs in Ukraine, presented the winner of the grand prix in the “CLOTHES” Competition with a free license for a program for 3D clothing design; Oleksiy Kraevskyi presented gifts from the perfume companies “Guerlan” and “DIOR”, Alyona Cherepanova, executive director of the company “NanoCeramica”, presented the winner of the “Textile” Competition (interior design projects) with a trip to Spain to visit the Porcelanosa Grupo factories on behalf of the company.
Iryna Daus presents a certificate to Artem Pugach
Alyona Cherepanova presents a certificate to Diana Petrosyan
The moderators of the Competition were: Natalia Chuprina, Director of the Student Center for Fashion and Creativity, Doctor of Art History, Professor, Kalyna Pashkevych, Dean of the Faculty of Design of the KNUTD, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Professor; the director of the final show was Serhiy Chudovsky.
Students, members of the student government of the KNUTD – Tetyana Sinkevych, Viktoria Stepanets, Daria Karpenko, Yevhenia Naidenko, Daria Kushnir, Yelyzaveta Hladun, Mykhailo Pelepeiko, Olha Havryliak, Vilena Myroshnichenko, Sofiia Milich and others took an active part in the preparation of the final show.
Talented young people found themselves in the midst of extraordinary events enjoying friendly communication and the exchange of experience. Participation in the Competition – preparing for the final fashion show, attending rehearsals, and waiting for the results – will remain in the memories of young designers as one of the brightest beginnings of their professional journeys. The final gala show of the Competition was filled with the creative ideas of young designers, creating an atmosphere of celebration and inspiration.
The final show of the young designers' collections was broadcast live and gathered viewers from Ukraine, China, Georgia, Moldova, Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, Great Britain, Latvia and other countries of the world.
Kyiv National University of Technologies and Design sincerely congratulates the winners of the International Competition of Young Designers “Pecherski Kashtany”!
We thank the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the opportunity to live in a free country and to hold creative competitions for youth to support young talents!
02.06.2025
