Ukrainian designer Ruslan Baginskiy first entered the world of fashion in his student years. Although he studied geography in his hometown of Lviv, the western city of 720,000 residents located 540 kilometers west of Kyiv, after classes he worked as a stylist.
At first, Baginskiy created hats to order and collaborated with Ukrainian designers as he continued to work as a stylist. However, he started getting so many orders that he changed his profession.
So around two-and-a-half years ago, Baginskiy moved to Kyiv, where Ukrainian Fashion Week takes place and where the country’s glossy fashion magazines are based.
Baginskiy and his team decided to get famous people involved. They contacted stylists and fashion bloggers, introducing them to the products. It worked. When Russian model Lena Perminova posted a photo of her wearing a straw boater hat on her Instagram page, which has 1.8 million subscribers, and tagged Baginskiy, the brand started winning fans from all over. Then the situation reversed — stylists messaged Baginskiy to order his hats — straw fedoras, felt gamblers, leather berets and his famous baker boy caps.
Baginskiy’s hats now supplement the wardrobes of many celebrities and fashion divas, such as Madonna, Bella Hadid, Pamela Anderson, Natalia Vodianova, Paris Hilton, and Khloe Kardashian.