At this year’s Fashion Week, in early September, the models who attracted the most attention were not the thinnest or poutiest but those who had lost limbs. Often, they were former soldiers.
Of the more than 50 designers who showed off new lines, at least 10 highlighted models who were missing limbs.
In a country where tens of thousands of people have lost at least one limb, it makes sense to create outfits tailored to models with prosthetics.
This was the first Fashion Week for Nadiia Oksiuta, 32. Before she appeared on stage, she said, she felt as if her heart was pounding out of her chest. It was how she felt before her wedding.
The mission was “to inspire other people who have scars not to be ashamed of them and not to hide,” said Ms. Oksiuta, who suffered debilitating burns when a helicopter crashed. Her daughter was also hurt.
Mr. Tereshchenko, whose right leg was amputated after he was injured in a battle in the eastern Luhansk region in March 2023, wants to become a professional model. He said that the night before the show, his newborn baby kept him awake. But his nerves were fine.
At Fashion Week, the war was ever present, even with an abundance of sparkling wine.
An air-raid alert delayed the Andreas Moskin show on Saturday, and Russia launched a record 810 drones into Ukraine that night. The alerts continued into the following day. Models took cover in a basement and had their make-up done outside a bomb shelter entrance.
Still, the show went on. And models with artificial limbs got the coveted last walking spots of new collections.
Kristina Sanina, 29, an army captain who lost both her legs, received a standing ovation when she came down the catwalk during the Juliya Kros show wearing a striking mauve dress with zippers, flanked by the clothing line’s director and the dress designer, who both steadied her. Some people in the audience were in tears.
While the Ukrainian military will not say how many soldiers have lost limbs to war, one nonprofit that provides prosthetics estimates a total for both soldiers and civilians of about 80,000.