A fashion show of embroidered women from Luhansk Region with authentic embroidery patterns, which are an important component of preserving our local identity, took place as part of the forum "Ukrainian Luhansk Region: Creating the Future Today."
Traditional embroidered shirts, as well as shirts reflecting a modern vision of the cultural identity of a certain territory, were presented by 12 communities of the region.
Aydar community: pattern and ornamental motifs – floral garland of roses, small flowers and leaves. Ornament in red and blue colors (red roses, blue elements of leaves and small inflorescences).
The Bilovodsk region presented a men's embroidered shirt made of homespun unbleached linen. A typical material for everyday and festive clothing for eastern Ukrainian lands. The ornament is geometric, without plant motifs. The embroidery is located on the "guardian" areas of clothing (neck, chest, wrists), which traditionally needed symbolic protection the most.
Bilokurakynshchyna: the central place on the shirt is occupied by large red poppies, symbolizing memory, beauty, courage and indomitability of the Ukrainian spirit. The upper part of the ornament is decorated with purple asters with golden centers - a symbol of wisdom, hope and autumn abundance. Spikelets of wheat emphasize the fertility of the Slobozhansk land, prosperity and connection with ancient traditions.
Blue cornflowers complement the bouquet, representing the purity, fidelity, and boundlessness of the Ukrainian sky. Cotton floss was used for the embroidery.
The Kreminsk city community presented the author's cultural project "Embroidery of the indestructible Kreminsk region". The ornament consists of geometric and plant elements that symbolize the continuity of life and the strength of the Ukrainian family. The arrangement of the ornaments is of particular importance: the collar performs a protective function, the patterns on the sleeves symbolize work, protection and the continuation of life, and the central composition personifies the spiritual unity of a person with his native land.
The Lysychansk community created its own version of the embroidery pattern, as the authentic one has not been established to date. The sleeves of the shirt feature an image of the community symbol – a fox, and the front is decorated with a floral ornament using elements familiar to the territory of Slobozhanshchyna and Prydintsi region.
Siverskodonetsk community: presented two embroidered shirts that combined the all-Ukrainian traditions of embroidery with modern symbols of invincibility, memory, unity, and faith in the revival of their hometown.
Women's - with an ornament of large red poppies. The symmetrical arrangement of the floral ornament corresponds to Ukrainian embroidery traditions and symbolizes harmony, unity and continuity of life.
Men's shirt, where the embroidery is focused only on the most important elements of the shirt - the collar and the chest cut. This arrangement corresponds to the tradition of men's clothing in Slobozhanshchyna and Luhansk regions, where the decoration was more restrained than in women's shirts, but had a protective meaning.
The Milivska community has provided a modern interpretation of the traditional Ukrainian women's shirt, which retains the characteristic structural features of folk clothing. Ornamental motifs also correspond to local tradition. The combination of stylized plant compositions with small geometric elements is characteristic of the folk embroidery of the Luhansk region.
The Krasnorychensk community impressed with a stylish men's shirt from the last century (embroidered in 1968) decorated with traditional geometric and geometric-vegetable ornaments, which corresponds to the general tradition, where floral ornaments predominate, made with a cross stitch using polychrome coarse thread, which creates a characteristic effect.
The Novoaydar community recreated an authentic women's shirt from the village of Mykhailivka, which is kept in the museum collection "Folk Costume of the Novoaydar Region of the Late 19th - Early 20th Century."
Like the original, the reproduced shirt is decorated along the shoulder line with a complex "cutting" technique, complemented by "white on white" embroidery, and all the details are connected with an elegant lace. The product is given special symbolism by ancient Kolochava buttons, which harmoniously combine with the traditional cut and embroidery, as if combining the cultural heritage of different parts of Ukraine in one product.
Kolomyichka community: cross-stitch embroidery in red and black colors typical of the Slobozhansk region was done on separate pieces of linen fabric that were taken to the territory controlled by the Government of Ukraine during the occupation of the community. Later, these pieces of fabric were cut and sewn into a shirt.
The performance became a vivid demonstration that Luhansk's cultural heritage is closely connected with Ukrainian tradition, significantly complementing and diversifying it.
