Litichevskaya: Love Is A Calmness

Artist Sonja Litichevskaya

Words Christian Ruess

Sonja Litichevskaya is a fashion designer from Berlin, who works on the border between art and fashion. She graduated from Esmod Berlin International University of Fashion, with the collection Reconstructed Contrasts, which received the European Fashion Award FASH.

With her unisex label Litichevskaya she is taking inspiration from the Russian avant-garde, Perestroika art and Soviet space exploration. The collections are dominated by geometric forms from the Russian avant-garde and Perestroika culture with symbols of revolution and slogans featuring elements such as 80s cuts, application and prints.

“Love is a calmness, your own safe space. Love is pure and strong.”

What is a safe space for you? 

It can be anywhere – a place or time with someone who makes you feel accepted as you are, free from any fears, radiating an inner peace on you – the feeling of having arrived. 

We all love inspiration. And we all could use a little splash of it right now. Where do you get your ideas? And in what ways does your creative process have an effect on your daily life? 

My inspirations can come from everywhere because as a creative / designer I’m always confronted with my own environment. Now, most of my inspirations are coming from old books, for example books on Russian posters of the 1920s. In general I find graphic design extremely challenging, but inspiration can also come from a movie, music video or interesting talk provoking something in me, which I want to visualize later. 

Building a brand and creating new products is always part of the daily creative engine. What should never be missing in your creative process? 

Two things: a cup of really good coffee and some thorough well-founded research, without which no project could function properly. 

For us love is diversity — of sexualities, colors, genders, something that smashes the container. So what is love for you? 

Love is a calmness, your own safe space. Love is pure and strong… 

Be honest, what would you rather like to do instead of answering these little questions…? 

I’d like to be able to move freely again and travel to a country which I never visited before and be inspired by new impressions. 

Photography Lara Ohl