5 Belarusian clothing brands in exile

You can take a Belarusian designer out of Belarus, but Belarus never takes it out of it. Doberman.media talks about 5 cool clothing brands created by Belarusians in exile.

Znivien

The Znivien brand describes itself as Belarusian merch. In fact, each thing is a marker by which a Belarusian can be distinguished in a crowded emigrant crowd. Znivien was created by designer Volodymyr Malyavko (who is also the creator of the art project "Photo Negatives") together with his colleague from Krakow. 

Each print plays with a well-known and close to most Belarusians theme. The success of the brand was brought by T-shirts with the inscription Make Belarus Zaebis Again. Further - more. Over the year (from 2023 to 2024), the brand has increased sales by 60-70%, and the prints have become more diverse and juicy.

The brand creatively plays not only with the political agenda, but also with the cultural context. For example, Znivien recently released a series of hoodies and T-shirts with the Jakub Kolas print, made in the style of Coca-Cola. Another cool print is the inscription "Long live Belarus! Long live forever", made in the form of an infinity symbol. 

Symbal.by

A cult Belarusian store and clothing brand repressed in Belarus. The creator of Symbal.by Pavel Belous Sentenced to 13 years in prison, accused of treason against the state. The store in Minsk, and Pavel's whole case in Belarus, was closed. 

Now the brand operates in Georgia and Poland, and the delivery of things is carried out all over the world. Symbal.by is an island of Belarusianism in the world of the Internet, where you can order nationally-oriented things, from car stickers and passport covers to T-shirts and hoodies. The store's website has a huge selection, there are even T-shirts with the image of Zyanon Poznyak, who recently turned 80 years old. 

10motifs

A brand famous for its hand embroidery with red hearts. Brand T-shirts could be seen on the musicians of the NaviBand band and on journalist Nikita Melkozerov. 

"Since Belarusians have dispersed all over the world, I wanted to unite and identify them in this way," Told the founder of the brand Oleksandra Zhuk in an interview with Nasha Niva.

10motifs showrooms operate in Vilnius and Minsk. The story of the store in Vilnius with Alexandra Zhuk happened after the protests of 2020, when she was forced to leave the country. 

The concept of the brand is built around getting emotions in detail. 10motifs is primarily about aesthetics, where everything is beautiful, from packaging to hand embroidery of individual details. 

"Immortal"

The author's brand of photographer Karolina Polyakova, inspired by the aesthetics of Minsk. Initially, T-shirts and sweatshirts were produced in Russian. Karolina came up with them when she peered at the expression on the houses on Victory Square - "The feat of the people is immortal." After that, the photographer played with the famous inscription, making a feminist statement - "Immortal".

"I thought about this inscription: if the feat of the people is immortal, then it is about the collective, and if it is "immortal" on one person, then it is about the individual. And this is a completely different conversation about the communist legacy," Karolina said in an interview with Nasha Niva. 

The T-shirts went off. Karolina was not ready for such a stir, but she coped. After that, there were things written in Belarusian Latin. Also, Karolina, together with the politzek.me project, released merchandise dedicated to Belarusian political prisoners. 

Czarnushka

The brand, created by ex-journalist Taisia Chernukho, also plays with the Belarusian reality and its context. One of the most popular products of the young brand is the Čumny Miensk T-shirt. The print depicts the well-known plague doctor with a white-red-white flag against the background of the famous Minsk towers. 

Another cool product of the brand is a T-shirt with the names of Belarusian bands made in the form of a heart. Inside it, there was a place for everyone: Loop of Passion, RUR, Lyavon Volsky, Port Mone and many other Belarusian musicians.