Ukrainian Vyshyvanka Day 2025: How traditional embroidered shirt changed during war
How Ukrainians are reinterpreting embroidered shirts (photo: Getty Images)
Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the meaning of the embroidered shirt for Ukrainians has changed significantly. Many people stopped considering it as a festive attribute only and began to see its deeper significance. In an interview with RBC-Ukraine, designer and founder of the brand GAPTUVALNYA, Nataliia Herheliuk, explained how attitudes toward embroidery have transformed.
"Interest in the vyshyvanka has grown rapidly, and I see more and more people looking not just for something beautiful, but for meaning. They want to know which region the ornament is from, what the symbols mean, and why this particular color palette," she says.
This reflects a new level of awareness. People recall the stories of relatives who were persecuted for wearing an embroidered shirt, and now invest their own identity into it.
"Because when you put on an embroidered shirt today, you’re not just wearing it. You are carrying your identity into the world," the designer says.
The vyshyvanka is not just clothing (photo: designer’s archive)
This is especially noticeable among young people, who are integrating traditional clothing into everyday outfits. According to Nataliia Hergeliuk, youth are discovering the vyshyvanka not as an obligatory dress code, but as a part of themselves.
Modern Ukrainians combine embroidered shirts with denim, basic clothing, and casual elements, thus creating a new fashion language.
"They combine it with modern items, creating a new language of fashion that tells the world: I am Ukrainian, and I’m proud of it," the designer adds.
Vyshyvanka is worn with contemporary fashion (photo: designer’s archive)
The vyshyvanka is not about the past, but about connection
According to the designer, the Soviet regime imposed a negative attitude toward the vyshyvanka, associating it with "disloyalty" or peasant clothing. Today, Ukrainians are restoring its dignity.
"I often say: tradition is not about the past. It’s about continuity. About a connection that does not lose strength over the years," she adds.
It is this understanding of connection, in the designer’s view, that is the main meaning Ukrainians now place into embroidery.
The vyshyvanka is a connection between past and future (photo: designer’s archive)
Earlier, we wrote about the 10 most expensive Ukrainian embroidered shirts.
