No Surrender
Katya Lysenko, founder/designer of My Twenty Five, reveals how the Ukrainian label continues to fight the fierce fashion fight. By Greg Dutter to leave their homes in nearby Bucha and Brovary. So we’ve moved our stock SINCE LAUNCHING MY TWENTY FIVE in 2016 in Kyiv, Ukraine, founder/ to Europe and are trying several new factories in Italy. I met them at Micam. designer Katya Lysenko has been living out her dream of creating shoes that enable women to feel both “confident and comfortable.” From the get-go, Could you pause operations? I feel better doing something, instead of being her company grew steadily, but then came the pandemic and the Russian sad or angry. I feel almost happy when I fall into my work. I also feel inspired invasion—a one-two punch that could KO the strongest of businesses. But helping friends and customers. Not shutting down is a source of great pride. not Lysenko’s. She is adapting—for instance, temporarily shifting production It’s our little way to show Ukrainians and the world that from Ukraine to Italy—and fighting tooth and nail for life goes on—just like our country has shown the world survival. She’s worked too hard, and loves her work too how brave and strong we are. We know we’ll win this war much, to surrender. against the dark side. It’s a struggle for truth, freedom, Take the overall theme of My Twenty Five’s upcoming beauty and life. fall collection, for example. It’s called Inferno, in reference to Dante’s vision of hell. “It’s a mix of tragedy, punishment What is My Twenty Five’s overall design aesthetic? My and sexiness in one bottle,” Lysenko says. “Our brand is Twenty Five means you can never have enough. It takes at ‘made in Ukraine’ and we’re facing a real-life hell. The least 25 pairs to quench our customers’ thirst. That recipe huge tragedy cannot be forgotten, so we decided to create mixes passion, smart sexiness and a dash of drama—all something emotional.” That translates to inspirational ingredients of modern women. Feeling confident in our design elements such as bullets, chains and cobras. “It’s shoes is key. Comfort is also key, which is why we researched all about metal constructions, snakeskin, vinyl and sharp hundreds of women’s feet to get precise measurements. edges,” she says. “Hell can also be interpreted as a kind Our last enables women to spend eight hours-plus in of punishment with shades of sexiness, which aligns our heels and still feel comfortable. Her feet are worth it. with our DNA.” My Twenty Five’s DNA dates to Lysenko’s childhood shoe Who is the My Twenty Five woman? She’s a self-made obsession that involved her spinning in front of a mirror in businesswomen in whatever field she chooses. She’s her mom’s high heel pumps—a black suede pair with gold confident and courageous. She doesn’t have to prove details and a white napa pair. “I don’t remember anything anything, to anyone. She knows the perfect combination that could make me so happy,” she says. That love was of style, quality and price. rekindled 25 years later, following a failed shoe shopping trip with her girlfriends. “We were looking for the perfect In what ways has the pandemic impacted your busiNew Year’s Eve shoes and discovered there were only two ness? Not as much as many might think. First off, I options: Italian brands that we couldn’t afford or cheap believe deep inside every woman’s soul, they can’t wait and uncomfortable ones,” she says. “From that moment, I to dress up again. That’s why I added more celebratory decided to start my dream to make women feel confident details, like Swarovski crystals on some styles. I wanted and comfortable in beautiful shoes.” my customer to celebrate life, even if it was just going out While Lysenko has no previous design experience, she to dinner, the best way she could! I also consider heels to credits her 15 years working in sales and marketing as be a woman’s inner anchor. The pandemic, if anything, helping get My Twenty Five off the launch pad. Plus, a lot revealed that more than ever, as heels are now trending of old-fashioned grit. “My main teacher in this business, across a variety of categories. as in life, is working hard and following my dream,” she Katya Lysenko embraces says. “I never stop learning and ensure that every pair is Dante’s Inferno for Fall ’20. Who are some designers you admire? I’m totally in love made of love!” with Saint Laurent—the whole aesthetic of the brand. The lines, details and, most of all, daring character in rather strict styles. How are you dealing with the war? Personally, I was in the U.S. when it began, thank God! But my sister’s family stayed in Kharkiv, and my mother What is the perfect shoe? The one that makes you feel yourself. and grandfather are in Zaporozhye, my childhood home. I try to help any way I can. I donated my car to our army and give as much money as I can. Meanwhile, What do you love most about designing? Seeing and hearing how happy it gets worse each day. It’s hard to explain my feelings when my mom sends a my customers are. That means everything to me. I also love spending hours message that there are 10 air raid sirens a day, there might be no internet and choosing materials, imagining how they’ll work with various accessories and she’s hiding in a bomb shelter. Business-wise, we stopped work at our Kyiv facoutfits. It’s like a game. I want each style to be both signature and ready-to-wear. tory. The elder couple who own it had no choice, as some of the workers had 34 footwearplusmagazine.com • june 2022
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