A Feel for Fashion: Ruslan Baginskiy

Since 2015, Ruslan Baginskiy has been “building a solid universe for hat lovers and converts alike” with his namesake hat brand, which is based in Ukraine. For all the challenges and risks, he and his team remain in Lviv, and manage to present their collections in Paris four times a year. Applying his seemingly boundless imagination to the various constraints of hat design, Baginskiy continues to expand his range with a mix of functional, fashionable and whimsical creations – from furry buckets to cool balaclavas. He has conceived hat accessory kits with interchangeable jewels and stylised Houtskas that reinterpret traditional hood scarfs. It’s no wonder the hats have attracted a range of boldface heads – Madonna, Miley Cyrus, Bella Hadid, Blackpink and even Queen Elizabeth II, who was presented with a Ruslan Baginkskiy piece shortly before her death. Referring to Paris as a second home, he and co-founder Petro Yaskinskiy are expected to reveal a forthcoming project with local label, LAHSSAN.

What creates an emotional response for you in fashion today?

So many things in the world in general —j and in the fashion industry particularly — are done specifically to get an emotional response from people. But I believe that today, the only thing that works is genuineness. You can do crazy things, you can be shy, you can be eccentric -- it’s all ok as long as it’s the real you and the things you create express your personality. In short, I appreciate talent and I appreciate sincerity.

Often we see several designers arriving at a similar idea during a season. How do you explain this creative intuition?

Of course, I think a lot about this; I guess every designer has faced this kind of situation and we have all been on both sides. Sometimes you think that you created something very unique, and then in a month you see almost the same product made by someone else. Or the opposite. Often it’s even a matter of release time, and it’s likely that the things were created at the same moment in time. I have an explanation I really like. It’s a theory of Ukrainian scientist Vladimir Vernadsky. Simply put, it’s about the interaction of human minds. Ideas are all around us, and if you’re curious, if you’re brave, and if you work hard, they will simply find you.

How do you feel about designers expressing or interpreting their worldviews in their collections?

I really appreciate that, and I applaud all designers who do that. Fashion is not about trends and sales. All the people in fashion who inspire me have a voice, and they are not afraid to use it. Fashion has the power to talk about the things that matter with a visual language. Through beauty, through performances, through pictures. We all refer to something when creating a collection. Why don’t we refer to something that’s really important right now and that can influence the world around you. It’s one of the easiest ways to reach minds. I’m from Ukraine, and when the full-scale war started, I was in Kyiv. It was February 24th, the middle of the Milan Fashion Week, and I was waiting for a reaction from all the designers. I mean, when such a big country is being destroyed, and such a big tragedy is happening, you expect people to speak about that. Especially when you have such a big audience. And I’m really thankful to everyone who did use their voice at that time and does so now. Fashion can be a tool for change, or at least it can reflect the time we live in. On our end, of course we talk about the war – then and still today. Our social media transformed into an informative platform during the first months of the invasion. We used it to explain what was happening in Ukraine and we still talk through our projects and everything we do.

How would you like to see fashion evolving this year?

I can't say that I would like to see something specific from fashion, but it would be great to see something unexpected, something that will motivate. I hope I will also make something that will change the industry – in one way or another.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.