‘Between dreams and reality’: PASKAL on her debut SYKY Drop

Today, there’s less raving. Instead, the designer heads up PASKAL, her eponymous luxury label founded in 2013, from a studio in the Black Sea City of Odesa. It’s from here that she conjures up her sought-after collections. Shown at London and Paris Fashion Weeks (PASKAL was the first Ukrainian brand on PFW’s official schedule ) and stocked in name-droppable stores like Dover Street Market and Collette, the label is recognised for its creative use of laser-cutting techniques and fusion of art and fashion, architecture and emotion.

That blend of function and feeling is encapsulated in PASKAL’s SYKY Drop. Titled Butterflower, the limited collection of handcrafted leather key cases feature a debossed Love Is The Key message, which has long been a mantra for PASKAL, and a SYKY-branded butterfly. Each is made from recycled materials, and has its own unique color and pattern.

In a first for the label, bespoke digital pieces accompany its physical creations. The merging of virtual and physical is an exciting prospect for the designer, who recognises blurred worlds as a place where her self-described “reality and dreams” approach to fashion can come to life through technology. With her Drop now live and plans for a mixed-reality show at Paris Fashion Week under way, we caught up with PASKAL to find out more.

Can you talk us through PASKAL’s aesthetic and how you developed it?

Julie Paskal: Free, fun, fantasy. The aesthetic is playful yet sensitive, which makes sense to me as a way of expressing what I’ve discovered about life. I was raised in a family of scientists and I’m a trained architect, so PASKAL unites my romantic, naive side, my childlike vision, with my mature, more grounded self, which is interested in pushing boundaries, exploring and inventing something new. My dream is to create this imaginary world and share it as truly and fully as possible. 

With my personal aesthetic, I’m a mess. I’m constantly changing. I love eclectic styles and how clothes can give you a special attitude. Since I go through different states, and as a mother of three, I look for more casual items, while sometimes coloring my hair pink and wearing a kimono.

Where did the inspiration for this Drop come from?

Julie Paskal: This is the first time I’ve made an accessory. I wanted to start with something simple and small and work it to perfection. I’m always in a rush so it’s kinda practical to have a key holder. As I was approaching the project, what was most important was that it would speak loudly to PASKAL’s aesthetics. 

Having the flower and butterfly, symbols of transformation that have been crucial for the brand since the start, tells that story. That they connect with SYKY feels like a perfect coincidence – a moment when everything is ideally intertwined and balanced. 

Do you have a favorite design detail from Butterflower?

Julie Paskal: I love the butterfly, which is made from recycled materials by an Odesa-based studio. They’re based in a building that’s been revitalized from the old Soviet industrial complex with other small production companies.

And the note on the flower key case – Love Is The Key – is very special. It came about accidentally, as most of the best things usually do. I was already working on a key holder and heard it on the radio. For me, life is the most precious thing. And love is the key to a happy life. 

What have some of the highlights been from the process of creating the Drop?

Julie Paskal: It was a true collaboration with a lot of freedom and creativity, which gives space for imagination. Otherwise it would be just production.

We worked with laser to create a durable, quality piece, and the butterfly is made from recycled materials, as we are always aiming towards more sustainable solutions. We were working with a shorter time frame, so I was deeply involved and extra proactive every step of the way.

What's one piece of advice you'd give to any aspiring fashion designer – digital or otherwise? 

Julie Paskal: Dream freely and work hard. I don’t know how or why it works, but when you have a dream you believe in, focus on it and the way forward usually appears. I dreamt of having a PASKAL show at Paris Fashion week, and in a year that dream came true. PASKAL became the first brand from Ukraine on the official schedule of Paris Fashion Week. Not that it was easy… I worked on four collections and was in production for 12 hours a day to make it happen.

What's the most exciting thing about creating digital fashion?

Julie Paskal: Everything is possible. Literally. In digital, physics works in a different way than it does in the physical world. You can create what you can imagine and it doesn’t have to correlate with reality. It’s kind of daydreaming –but digitally.

What's next for your brand?

Julie Paskal: A PASKAL fashion show at the intersection of physical and digital for Paris Fashion Week. The idea behind it is that you don’t need to be attached to a specific location and that the classic Fashion Week formula can be recreated. 

I want to present a (sur)real show; to craft a moment in time and space where everything is possible, existing between reality and a dream – and to help others carry that moment within them. 

SYKY Drops are limited capsules created by boundary-pushing designers, handpicked for their vision by SYKY Artistic Director, Nicola Formichetti.