Paris Fashion Week: Russian designer Valentin Yudashkin removed from schedule amid Ukraine crisis

Ralph Toledano, the president of the fashion body, told Women’s Wear Daily: “We have a firm stance against the initiative taken by the president of the Russian Federation. We have nothing against Russian [people], but we will not support or accept to have in our calendar those who support his position.” Addressing the removal of Yudashkin, who designed Russian military’s uniform back in 2008,  he said: “Our team wanted to verify the position of Valentin Yudashkin. If he had doubt about the war in Ukraine, it would have been hard to remove him from the program. That was not the case. It became clear that he is an affiliate of the regime. As such, I consider that he doesn’t have a place in the calendar.”

Yudashkin’s brand is based out of Moscow, and he has been featured in multiple esteemed fashion publications, as well as in the Metropolitan Museum of New York. He is one of Russia’s leading and most well-known fashion designers. His removal comes at a time when even world’s leading fashion houses are temporarily closing their stores in Russia.

In 2008, the Russian government commissioned Yudashkin to make 85 uniforms for the air force, navy and army, which he unveiled to the Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to an interview he gave to Reuters at the time. “This is a modern uniform more understandable to a young man who goes into the army, and I hope it will be loved,” he said in the interview.

This year’s Paris fashion Week saw designers paying tribute to Ukraine, with the most poignant show coming from Balenciaga’s Demna Gvasalia who was himself a refugee during an early 1990s conflict in his native Georgia. Earlier, Toledano, too, had addressed the war, saying, “As the greater fashion family gathers for Paris Fashion Week war has brutally hit Europe and plunged the Ukrainian people into fear and upheaval. Creation is based on principles of freedom, under any circumstances. And fashion has always contributed to individual and collective emancipation and expression across our societies. Given the present context, the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode encourages you to experience the shows of the coming days with solemnity, and in reflection of these dark hours.”

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