It influences the creation process itself a lot. Kiev is full of talented and determined people who are creating outstanding work. The environment that arises through that ambitiousness is very competitive and you become more demanding of yourself in such conditions. Due to self-doubt, you push yourself to dare more.

I would definitely get my body tattooed if I was sure that all these pictures remained relevant to me in a year. I only got a little heart on my arm in honour of my grandma. Once, during a meeting with my friend and her boyfriend, tattoo artist Ien Levin, I realized how free he felt being completely covered in tattoos. I admired that and offered him a small collaboration ‘tattoosweaters’. The idea behind was the creation of clothes for our creative colleagues who wanted to dare more without committing to a lifetime with tattoos. An exchangeable second skin, which makes you feel comfortable and fierce. We created the first samples and sent photos to Collette in Paris. They immediately made an order. But honestly speaking, I never planned to establish a clothing brand and to develop it in such a serious way. 

We are rather attracting attention to the problem of self-acceptance. I believe that almost every person doesn’t mind changing his or her appearance from time to time. During my research for the design process, I explore the moment when and how a person makes a decision to decorate their body with a tattoo. The euphoria of the tattooing process itself, the awareness of choosing the drawing, the dedication of your tattoo artist – all coming together in a momentum. I want people to experience at least some of these emotions by wearing TTSWTRS.

I’m so glad you asked this! We’re working on it for our upcoming Fall/Winter 2019 collection.

I am just happily surprised that I’m succeeding with doing what I love more than anything. My challenge is to make my work more interesting from season to season and act with no fear.

I want our customers to feel the freedom of choice, to experience this feeling of greatness when having tattoos. Tattooed people attract my attention and I, personally, perceive them as unique. I, therefore, want my customers to experience a reaction similar to mine when I look at tattooed people – excitement and admiration.

Recreating the concept of tattoos, to a certain degree, destroys individuality. At the same time, it enables a sense of freedom, the sensation of being in the present. With my designs, I want to bring this energy into the fashion world.

During conversations with tattoo masters or simply by just looking at their work, I imagine the ‘bodies’ that would wear those artworks. But more often, I have a particular idea in mind and our team is searching for the artist with that specific style.

We are currently working with fantastic artists such as @tattoo_sinyak and @rostislaw_ts. I personally wish to work with @moganji. I'm in love with his minimalistic style and how he draws animals using simple lines. It's fantastic! Also, I can imagine collaborating with @_dr_woo_. He has a realistic style of drawings with an incredible sensitivity for the use of shadows and lights. 

We’re currently finishing our Fall/Winter 2019 collection. Also, we started a new project called The Body. Within this concept, I’m looking for a way to interpret the idea of acceptance of our body and us as a whole.