The animated 3D project “Mavka. The Forest Song” began the collaboration work with the Ukrainian Institute of Fashion History

The Ukrainian Institute of Fashion History experts joined the creative team of the feature animated 3D project “Mavka. The Forest Song” led  by the head Maria Kvitka.

The collaboration’s aim is to create an original costume for the film characters using sign elements and details of the traditional Ukrainian clothing.

“It is a pleasure for our team to join such an iconic project. Our goal is to bring popularity to Ukrainian traditional clothing and Polisya clothing in particular. We want to impress people with archaic image, its ease and elegance. Authentic things from private collections - embroidered shirt, homespun annuals, wool edges, linen handkerchiefs, fulled scarves, braided sandals - will inspire you to create unique cartoon" - says Maria Kvitka, Director of the Institute.

Specialists of the Institute will work on the implementation of the concept of clothing in the film along with Olga Navrotska, the well-known Ukrainian designer and the costume designer of the project. Olga has an idea to rethink the national and historical clothing and accessories so that they are naturally getting into the fanciful, mythical story about Mavka. In her work, the designer often turns to ethnic motives, so this task seems ambitious but close for her.

Olga together with other specialists of the Institute have already started work on the Mavka’s outfit, a dress and a wreath for the first teaser of the film, which will be in February 2017.

"Mavka is a delicate girl, who is the personification of the forest, the guardian of its customs and secrets. So her costume consists of gifts of nature and enriched with symbols. The material of the dress is a combination of a fragile spider web and the ornaments consist of patterns of the forest and flowers. The consultants advised us to weave a wreath of mallow, because it is a symbol of love, the roots of man and fidelity to the spiritual heritage of the ancestors," - Olga Navrotskaya says about the history of the dress of the Mavka, in which she appears in the teaser.

Subsequently, based on the rest of the developed images for the project the thematic collection of clothes and accessories is planned to be publish.

Ukrainian Institute of Fashion History is the country's first interactive center of historical and modern clothing. The Institute defines its mission not only to demonstrate and preserve the unique artistic artifacts, but also to unite designers, scientists, restorers, craftsmen, researchers, artists and collectors.

"Mavka. The Forest Song" is a feature-length film for the whole family, based on the works of Lesja Ukrainka. The project aims to discover the unique world of original and amazing Ukrainian culture to the viewers all around the world. The release of the animated film "Mavka. The Forest Song" is scheduled for the end of 2018.