Polina Kadilnikova is a graduate of the BA program at the London art and design college Central Saint Martins (CSM). In addition to the CSM award, she received the L’Oréal Professionnel Young Talent Award for her graduate collection, which is dedicated to Ukraine and its occupied territories
The designer’s collection is titled ‘Casualties’. In it, Kadilnikova explores how war causes people to lose their ability to remember places, and how some of those places survive only in our memories.
‘That is why the collection features so many prints. They depict occupied cities — places that may no longer exist’, the designer explained in a comment for Asthetik Magazine.
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In addition, Kadilnikova integrated traditional silhouettes, drawing exclusively from Ukrainian cultural references. The designer says she wanted to create the collection as ‘a hopeful vision of Ukraine’s future — and the future of Ukrainian culture’.
Central Saint Martins is part of the University of the Arts London and is considered one of the world’s most prestigious institutions for fashion education. Its alumni include Alexander McQueen, John Galliano, Stella McCartney, and Jonathan Anderson.
