Ukrainian brand GASANOVA has announced a partnership with the Biathlon Federation of Ukraine. The first result of this collaboration is ceremonial outfits for the national biathlon team. DTF Magazine spoke with the brand’s founder, Elvira Gasanova, and takes a closer look at the suits
About the start of the partnership
According to Gasanova, the collaboration started with a ‘long-held dream of creating uniforms for the Ukrainian national team for the Olympic Games’, but ‘the path to it unfolded quite differently from what they had imagined’. The partnership with the Biathlon Federation became possible thanks to personal connections.
‘The President of the Biathlon Federation of Ukraine (Ivan Krulko — ed. note, DTF Magazine) is our client, and together we decided that our athletes deserved ceremonial uniforms worthy of them. So we started with the biathlon team’, Elvira recalls.
She also notes that this is not the official ceremonial uniform of Ukraine’s entire Olympic team, as some members of the audience may have mistakenly assumed, even though it was presented during the Winter Olympic Games.
‘Usually, Olympic ceremonial uniforms are selected through a public tender. But this year, for the first time in nearly 30 years, no tender was announced. This is an important context that explains why we focused on uniforms for the biathlon team rather than on the official Olympic uniforms for the entire team’.
About the suits and the ‘Tree of Life’ — the central ornament of the ceremonial uniforms
GASANOVA designed a classic navy two-piece suit for the team. It was complemented with gold embroidery featuring a stylized ‘Tree of Life’ — a traditional Ukrainian ornament.
Elvira Gasanova explains that it was important for them ‘to create a meaningful uniform, not just an aesthetic suit’ — one that would represent the country.
‘The ‘Tree of Life’ is not just decorative embroidery. It is about continuity, roots, the power of life, renewal, and the connection between generations. That is why this element was fundamentally important to us — as a symbol of a country that continues to live, fight, and grow’.
The collection was complemented by footwear from the Ukrainian brand Emmelie Delage.
‘We have known the brand Emmelie Delage for over ten years, so the collaboration process was clear and highly professional. It was important to us that the footwear harmoniously complement the overall concept of the uniform and match the level of the entire project’.
The lookbook for the ceremonial uniforms was shot in Austria during the athletes’ preparation for the Winter Olympic Games, where the suits were styled with white outerwear that is not part of the collection.
About the challenges behind creating the uniforms
According to Gasanova, the team faced no difficulties in terms of the uniform’s design; however, ‘the biggest challenge was the timeline’.
Speaking about potential restrictions, GASANOVA says: ‘We worked within all the necessary requirements. At the same time, our original idea was fully realized in the final design. We managed to preserve the meaning, symbolism, and aesthetics while meeting all the necessary standards’.
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Read more about the official Olympic uniforms of 18 countries, including Ukraine, in our article.
