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In 2011, a clothing brand called Frolov was officially launched in Ukraine. For some, this name means nothing, for others, it is a synonym for liberation, sexuality and self-expression, but in the context of this article, it is the name of the brand’s founder, designer and creative director, Ivan Frolov.

Ivan was born in Kyiv in 1993 and has been drawn to fashion design since he was a child. He recalls that he first drew a sketch at the age of three on a candy wrapper. When he was six, he took up sewing a dress for his sister’s graduation, and at 14 he sold his first dress for $130 online.

Thus, at the age of 16, the young designer entered the Kyiv National University of Technology and Design. At the same time, he worked on television on the ‘Star Plus Star’ program, where he met many celebrities and their stylists. In particular, his perseverance and desire to develop pushed him to discuss his first collection with Vasilisa Frolova’s stylist, Yuri Zhuikov. As a result, Vasilisa herself walked the catwalk in the final of his show during the student competition.

We can say that she was the first star to wear the Frolov brand. Now it is a clothing brand that is worn not only by our stars: Jamala (her dress for the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest, which was later exhibited in a museum in Stockholm), Yulia Sanina, Tina Karol, Monatic, Tvorchi, Olena Zelenska, but also world-famous Beyoncé, Måneskin, Sabrina Carpenter, Megan Thee Stallion, Rita Ora, Dua Lipa and Gwen Stefani.

“Frolov is an intellectual provocation! Our hallmarks are corsets, semi-transparent dresses and models with deep necklines, often complemented by hand embroidery and inlaid crystals and beads,” Ivan Frolov describes the aesthetics of his brand.

Over the years of the brand’s existence, Ivan became the youngest Ukrainian designer to participate in Ukrainian Fashion Week; in 2014, he received the Best Fashion Awards in the ‘Discovery of the Year’ nomination, five times in a row he received the award for the best fashion performance (2015-2019), and in 2016 and 2020 he won the ‘Breakthrough of the Year’ nomination. In 2023, he won the Vogue Talent Prize in the Resilience and Social Impact category for his active volunteering.

In particular, it is the brand’s philosophy and way of working that really captivates the audience. Frolov notes: “Since the first collections, my team and I have been actively supporting the idea of zero waste production, as well as the KyivPride and HeForShe. Once a month, we donate the leftovers to orphanages to make toys and clothes. We also support the SpanBond medical aid fund, and in 2020 we were engaged in sewing protective suits for doctors.”

For Ivan, jobs and the company in Ukraine are a matter of principle. In particular, in 2022, they launched a limited collection of sweatshirts and T-shirts with embroidered hearts, which led to a 30% increase in their staff of embroidery craftspeople, and the proceeds from sales go to the Serhiy Prytula Foundation.

Ivan Frolov and the Frolov brand are not only about fashion, style and a bunch of famous stars wearing the brand’s clothes, but also about social responsibility, the desire to help and change the world for the better through the prism of the fashion industry.