Ukrainian fashion brand unveils collection at Lavra Refectory Church
Another secular event at the holy site: a presentation of designer silk scarves was held at the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra’s Refectory Church.
Ukrainian fashion brand OLIZ unveiled its new silk scarf, “Burshtyn” (Amber), at the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Reserve announced on Facebook.
The scarf features eight-pointed sun symbols and floral patterns inspired by fifth-century mosaics in the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna, Italy. The organizers therefore chose to present the new design “in the very space that inspired it.”
The Burshtyn scarf is the latest addition to “Lavra,” a joint collection by the brand and the reserve that already includes scarves and narrow silk twilly scarves. Guests were also shown these designs, while a tour guide gave a lecture on the history of the Refectory.
OLIZ founder Khrystyna Zboroshenko described the partnership with the reserve as “a great honor,” saying the designers had drawn on “a thousand years of history and culture, our roots” in creating the collection.
Kateryna Yehorova, deputy director general of the reserve, said such collaborations “bring the Lavra’s artistic treasures into contemporary fashion.” She suggested that scarves featuring motifs from the monastery’s decorative paintings could become “elegant accessories” for fashion enthusiasts or serve as official gifts for foreign delegations.
Following the lecture, the Burshtyn scarf was sold at a charity auction. According to the organizers, the proceeds will go toward supporting the reserve.
The Refectory Church – where religious services were held for more than a century – has thus once again hosted a secular event, this time combining a fashion presentation with the sale of designer merchandise.
On January 5, 2023, the Ministry of Culture took control of the Dormition Cathedral and the Refectory Church of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra away from the UOC.
Just weeks later, on January 22, 2023, a “patriotic” rock concert was held in the Refectory. At the time, reserve official Kostiantyn Krainii claimed that the concert had taken place in the Refectory Chamber – “a place where monks ate, not prayed” – and insisted that it was supposedly “not a church.”
In December 2024, an episode of chef Yevhen Klopotenko’s cooking show was filmed in the Refectory. Reserve Director General Maksym Ostapenko stated that the chamber was not a church and that using it for educational events complied with the law.
However, in May 2025, Volodymyr Shornikov, a department director at the Ministry of Culture, acknowledged that such an event should not have taken place at the Lavra and that its management had made “obvious mistakes.”
Earlier, the UOJ reported that members of the OCU’s so-called “brotherhood” at the Lavra had participated in the National Unity Dictation at the Refectory Church.
