Introducing: Ukrainian designer Dina Lynnyk

With an admirable educational background, and plenty of early experience and ambition, Dina Lynnyk started her brand, It's Me, in her native Ukraine in 2011. It was then she won a Harper’s Bazaar young designers “Fashion Forward” contest and got herself an internship at Kate Malandrino’s in New York, which only added to her extensive experience. Dina is inspired by many designers but in particular Raf Simmons and J.W. Anderson.

It's Me is a Ukrainian womenswear brand, headed by designer, Dina Lynnyk.

With an admirable educational background, and plenty of early experience and ambition, Dina Lynnyk started her brand, It's Me, in her native Ukraine in 2011. It was then she won a Harper’s Bazaar young designers “Fashion Forward” contest and got herself an internship at Kate Malandrino’s in New York, which only added to her extensive experience. Dina is inspired by many designers but in particular Raf Simmons and J.W. Anderson. She uses her sketchbook as a moodboard, where she loves to draw pencil drawings of the people she admires.

Lynnyk is currently thought of as one of the most promising young Ukrainian designers and has held the spotlight for consecutive seasons. Her pieces are available at selected online stores and progressive showrooms in the USA and Ukraine.

Around half of Dina's designers come across as androgynous, leaving the rest with a very feminine vibe. Lynnyk has already found her signature, which is color blotting on the fabric she uses. It is usually placed randomly below the breast line or just below the shoulder, or simply in the middle of the skirt. These blotches are always contrasting and have already become a favorite pull for Dina's customers.

Dina has unruly curly hair of a deep red color; she says she’s been trying to tame it for as long as she remembers. When it comes to the creative arts, Lynnyk, on the contrary, tries to shake off all the binding stereotypes – to look beyond the trodden path. “The fashion industry has seen so many revolutions so far... Sometimes I think it is becoming impossible to surprise people. But, then again, a combination of both high quality and a couple of fresh ideas always works to my benefit”, she admits with a cunning smile.

Earlier in her career, Lynnyk was very fond of printed items. She clearly enjoyed experimenting with patterns and, last season, she returned to a signature technique which includes layering prints.

One of her latest pursuits has been an approach to collage which forms prints. The collages often depict young women with androgynous looks and sullen faces– their portraits are not wholesome, but assembled from a variety of images: the eyes, the forehead, the nose and the chin seem to sit separately. This is where contemporary art and fashion collide.

For some, Dina Lynnyk prints resemble the work of Junya Watanabe of Marni – others find an echo of a Renaissance Dutch art school. The young Ukrainian experiments not only with graphic forms but also with artistically shaped cuts on the fabric: diagonal cuts below the breast line on her tops, for instance, or long slits at the side of skirts.

Dina’s talent for geometry and artistically vibrant techniques has not gone unnoticed: her portfolio now includes collaboration with Bershka, Vogue Japan, and applauded Ukrainian designer, POUSTOVIT. Her “healing wounds” color options and techniques recently provoked additional interest in her as both a designer and a brand.