S/S 25 "Sneaker Riot" on Berlin Fashion Week
Kick-off of Berlin Fashion Week: Streetwear label PLNGNS impresses with the “Sneaker Riot” collection
Berlin, July 2, 2024 On yesterday’s first day of Berlin Fashion Week, the Ukrainian label PLNGNS (Palingenesy) presented its Spring/Summer 2025 collection. Under the title "Sneaker Riot" and above the rooftops of Berlin, designer Mitya Hontarenko once again demonstrated in an
impressive way how sustainability and craftsmanship meet contemporary fashion. Over 500 pairs of shoes were upcycled for the 22 elaborately constructed streetwear looks.
The "Sneaker Riot" collection clearly focuses on the popular PLNGNS shoes and complementary streetwear. These were presented in 22 looks to an international audience of over 250 guests at the Lobe Block Berlin. The dominant colors of the show were khaki, brown and black - tones that have
accompanied the designer and his team through current events for over two years now. The focus on certain styles also reflects everyday reality and influences. "Unconsciously, we have mainly developed vests and tight-fitting jackets this season. Symbolically, they stand for protective clothing - items that accompany us day in, day out," says Mitya Hontarenko. He is particularly proud of his team, who have developed the process of deconstruction even more detailed and innovative. Similar to collage work, the original product is examined in detail and broken down into numerous individual parts using complex manual work. New designs are developed together that impress with their complex cut construction and architecture and reflect the zeitgeist. This season, for the first time, all shoe elements - from the logo application, the sole to the laces - were used and reassembled. The PLNGNS Ballon Jacket W, which consists exclusively of shoe tongues, required over 50 hours of work. The shoes of the new collection were created in collaboration with sneaker designer Gianluca Pegola.
In total, the brand refurbished around 500 pairs of used shoes and used them to create a new streetwear collection.
"Our main concern is to draw attention to how much waste the clothing industry produces and that you always have a choice. Upcycling clothing and creating a more sustainable future is important and essential for all of us," says Mitya Hontarenko.
With his creations for PLNGNS, Mitya Hontarenko bridges the gap between wearable art and commercial relevance. He impressively shows how, through skilled craftsmanship and contemporary intuition, an upcycling concept is not only sustainable, but also marketable.
The show concept was selected and awarded a prize money as part of the "Berlin Contemporary" competition run by the Senate Department for Economic Affairs, Energy and Public Enterprises and the Fashion Council Germany.
F/W 24 "Ain‘t it different?' on Berlin Fashion Week
As part of Berlin Fashion Week, Mitya Hontarenko and his label PLNGNS (Palingenesy) presented a full-look collection for the first time. The Ukrainian designer is known Known for his elaborately constructed upcycling sneakers. In his new collection, sustainability and craftsmanship meet contemporary designs, and he impressively demonstrates how something new and unique can be created through the recycling of shoes and clothing
Ain‘t it different? – a resonating collection
The inspiration behind the collection titled "Ain't it different" is based on the designer's longing to change the approach of large fashion companies towards their production and associated waste behavior. With PLNGNS and the 17 presented looks, he demonstrates how upcycling processes can be implemented in a relevant way: oversized leather jackets paired with utility pants, a pink pleated skirt with a matching shirt and XXL cap, as well as tracksuits made from flowing materials styled with a Balaclava. Each piece showcases the intricate upcycling process and the skilled craftsmanship of the designer.
ITS Footwear Award powered by Fondazione Ferragamo
Dmytro Hontarenko, the designer of the Ukrainian footwear brand PALINGENESY, has won the International Talents Support (ITS) contest in the Footwear Award nomination supported by Fondazione Ferragamo. The award ceremony took place at the ITS Arcademy Museum of Contemporary Art in Trieste, Italy. The jury said that Hontarenko had “combined research, craftsmanship and attention to sustainability in his project, embracing the challenges of our present time not as obstacles but as incentives, with the spirit of the true creative, like Salvatore Ferragamo”.
Vegan Fashion Week LA
The negative impact of the fashion industry on the environment is, unfortunately, unpleasantly impressive. It is possible to overcome the current crisis by starting cooperation in the matter of preserving the Earth's ecology as soon as possible.
Vegan Fashion Week is an event that promotes the exchange of experience in this direction. This year, over three days in October, this event turned Los Angeles into the capital of sustainable fashion. Ukrainian Fashion Week became one of VFW's partners. As part of the "Support Ukrainian Fashion" initiative, UFW presented the images of 11 Ukrainian designers. Among them was the conceptual shoe brand Palingenisy. All participating brands are cruelty-free and sustainable.
Ukrainian Fashion Week х Epson Digital Fashion Lab
During the Ukrainian Fashion Week FW22-23, twenty graduates of the Epson Digital Fashion Lab educational project presented collections of their own brands.
A new era of young Ukrainian designers is rising to the top of the increasingly saturated fashion industry. Each of the 20 participants of Digital Fashion Lab, a joint project of Epson and Ukrainian Fashion Week, presented their original printed collections.
PLNGNS x RIOT DIVISION
Bring an old pair of sneakers and participate in the development of unique recycled shoes for RIOTDIVISION.
In August 2021, we installed a box to collect used shoes in the RIOTDIVISION concept store, which were disassembled and will be used in our future works, and as part of the campaign we created two pairs of sneakers that were used by RIOTDIVISION.
The finale of this collab is a raffle of sneakers among the audience of the brand, but unfortunately, due to the full-scale invasion of the russian federation on February 24, 2022, this did not happen, so we hope that the collab will be finalized in the future.
