By Shirley Farmer 
“It's like laughing through tears,” sums up Darja Duniz's experience working in fashion during wartime. He is one of three designers from Ukraine who came to Portugal to present their creations, on Sunday, at ModaLisboa, which will be held in the Pátio da Galé, as part of a protocol with the Ukrainian Fashion Week, which has not been held since the Russian invasion. , two years ago. It is strange that the creator sought refuge in Portugal due to the conflict, a country where there are many shells and fish, which are the distinctive feature of her clothes. In addition, pieces by Omelia and Nadja Dziak are presented. “All of them were produced in Ukraine under sirens of air raids and missile attacks,” said DN Yelizaveta Ushka, head of international communications at Ukrainian Fashion Week.
“Working with fashion in times of war is a challenge,” he admits. Over the past two years, through the Ukrainian Fashion Support Initiative, 69 Ukrainian designers presented their collections at 10 fashion weeks in Europe and the USA. Now it's Lisbon's turn to see the three creators' proposals. “I would say that it is unpredictable how designers can reflect the difficult war reality that we Ukrainians live in today,” he comments.
Darja Duniz, one of the creatives who presents her Fall-Winter 24/25 collection on Sunday on the Pátio da Galé platform, promises to maintain the romanticism, femininity and sensuality that characterize her work, “with details created at home and new features invented here”, in Lisbon, where He took refuge almost two years ago.