This Ukrainian Brand Is Making Bedding That Symbolises Ocean Escape

On 20 February – four days before Russia invaded Ukraine – Natalya Ishchenko, the co-founder of Ukrainian bedding label Sea Me, travelled to Kiev from her home in the seaside city of Odessa, to celebrate her birthday with friends. She was surprised by the carefree mood of people in the country’s capital, which would in the weeks following the invasion become a focal point of fighting. “It felt like there was no threat and we could breathe,” Ishchenko says. “It smelt like spring”.

Returning home feeling energetic and inspired, one day before the invasion, Ishchenko threw herself into work, devising new colours for her brand’s soft, organically dyed duvet covers and pillows, and new shapes for her pyjamas, which span lightweight summer styles and kimono-inspired sets. Marketing campaigns and photoshoots were top of Ishchenko’s mind. Three days later, she’d fled the city and country she was raised in – after a stint spent paralysed in her apartment, transfixed by the news of the first wave of Russian bombings – and was travelling west to Moldova on a minibus. “My friends started calling me saying they were heading to the border, and I needed to leave right away.”

Keywaylock
20/03/2023
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