SEEDS OF HOPE: Despite the ongoing destruction that is being caused throughout Ukraine by Russian military troops, the Ukrainian bridal company Vladiyan Royal is using beauty to mark the promise of spring.
While others were commemorating the two-year anniversary of the start of that conflict in more somber ways, the bridal brand focused on real flowers for a one-time project.
The husband-and-wife team of Yurii and Liudmyla Vladiyan are carrying on a family-run business. He handles the strategic and financial side of the business and she is in charge of design, including choosing the fabrics and meeting with brides-to-be in the company’s showroom. Far from a mom-and-pop operation, Vladiyan Royal has more than 75 employees and produces more than eight collections. The bridal company has distribution in more than 100 retail partners.
Liudmyla Vladiyan created a wedding gown that required the use of 435 flowers and 525 pieces of greenery. With the help of a team of florists and professionals, the dress was created after six hours of assemblage. They adorned the gown with hydrangeas, delphiniums, roses, peonies, carnations and eustoma. The big reveal took place on the designer’s social media channels at the end of last month as a reminder of the anniversary and to welcome the promise of spring.
To develop content for its social media channels, Vladiyan Royal had its photo shoot at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University in Chernivtsi, which is also the bridal brand’s hometown. It is one of the leading universities in Ukraine and is housed in the Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans. Built between 1864 and 1882 for an Eastern Orthodox metropolitan bishop, the university is located in a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Like many other Ukraine-based businesses, Vladiyan Royal continues to operate from its homeland. Designers, creatives and business owners have been encouraged by Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska to keep working to the best of their abilities in retaliation of the Russian invasion.
Although the dress is not available at retail, it is meant to deliver inspiration, a touch of levity and the reassurance of nature to others beyond the brand’s social media followers. Lyudmila Vladiyan said the “dress is our way of paying tribute to the female spirit and nature that inspires us every day.”
It was also created to highlight the brand’s distinctiveness and charming fairy-tale, dream-like aesthetics. The design also reflects Vladiyan Royal’s reputation for embellishments that require the work of 12 to 15 craftsmen. After the social media content was created, the hundreds of flowers were given to the production team, including the photography crew and florists, as a symbol of gratitude for their work.
