Yuliya Martynova and Roman Trilo-Denysiuk have set up an alumni group in Ukraine. Yuliya studied at London College of Fashion (LCF), graduating in 2010, and Roman graduated from London College of Communication (LCC) in 2017, having studied the MA Interaction Design Communication. We spoke to them about they’ve joined up to start the group, and how you can get involved.
Yuliya Martynova
What made you choose to study in London, and at London College of Fashion in particular?
It was probably like 6 years before I came to study in London College of Fashion. I was reading Russian Harper’s Bazaar and I read the editor letter which was by Shahri Amirhanova. She was one of the youngest editors ever and she wrote her personal story. It was about how she really enjoyed studying at LCF and that it was one of the most beautiful times in her life. She described how much knowledge she gained there and now she’s the editor. Everyone admits that she was truly unique. And I thought “Wow! That’s amazing. I wish one day I would go to study there as well”. In Ukraine, there is no good education in fashion, styling and design until today. So, LCF is one of the best in the world and it became my dream to go to study there.
What do you do now?
Now I work as a stylist and I am running styling courses for different segments. After LCF I joined a company called Colour Me Beautiful. It’s a British based company and I exclusively represent them in Ukraine. I use the training programs to educate stylists and colour advisors. So, right now I’m running those courses plus mainly I’m working with private clients. Also, I do corporate training for luxury shops and educate shop-assistants, buyers and merchandisers about styling and colours.
What is your proudest achievement so far?
The achievement which I really proud of is that I run training courses for the best luxury shops in Ukraine including Gucci and Burberry. It’s called Helen Marlen Group and Asthik Group. There is nothing better than this in Ukraine and I’m proud to say that I educated their staff. They use my programs to educate the next generation of assistants in their shops. And it was very, very successful.
Why did you set up the Ukrainian Alumni Group?
I would like to be in touch with London, with people who graduated and to be part of it, to initiate different activities. Regarding what group should achieve: now Ukraine is a fast-developing country especially in fashion and creative design areas. Consequently, there are a lot of young designers and stylists. So, first of all, we will get more professional and more educated people. Because a lot of them just didn’t learn it anywhere. They think it’s born in tools to be a designer or a stylist. So, I hope they’ll understand how important an education is. That’s first. And, secondly, we can do interesting projects and it will be successful with new ideas and Ukrainian point of view.
What is next for the group?
Next what I think is to try to arrange the non-formal meeting with all the graduates and to see how many of them are in Ukraine. We can understand, first of all, how many of them are here and what we can do with this. Moreover, it could be some interesting events for the people who considering studying at UAL.
Roman Trilo-Denysiuk
What made you choose to study in London, and at London College of Communication in particular?
The quality of British education is arguably the best in the world because of its focus on research and foresight practice. And I simply love London’s atmosphere.
As for LCC, it was the only place which had the course which sounded like a perfect option for me.
What do you do now?
Interface design and interactive art. I have never thought about being an artist before UAL, but I found there that the world of interaction is much bigger than just interfaces.
What is your proudest achievement so far?
I do what I like.
What do you like most about being part of the UAL Alumni community?
Hard to say so far. Since it is the largest creative community on the planet, it might be an extremely useful platform to find like-minded people and potential collaborators.
Why have you set up the Ukrainian Alumni Group?
People who graduated UAL have another perspective on the opportunities around us. I would like to make Ukraine a better place to live in and together we can achieve more.
What do you hope the Ukrainian Alumni community will achieve?
We will see 🙂
What is next for the group?
Let’s get to know each other.
If you’ve got an idea for an event, or know of a great space to hold an activity, Yuliya and Roman would love to hear from you. You can follow the group on Facebook or send them an email.
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