Photos: Lever Couture

At last week's Oscar ceremony, one of the most talked about celebrities was the Nigerian singer Tems. She appeared on the red carpet in a Ukrainian brand Lever Couture dress. Tems is not the only celebrity who chooses a fantasy outfit from this brand. We tell you what you need to know about the brand worn by Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga, and Milla Jovovich.

The brand Lever Couture was founded by designer Lesya Verlinghieri from Odessa, who has come a long way from her first dress to star clients known to the world. "From early childhood, I was interested in sewing thanks to my grandmother from the village of Bilyne, Odessa region, where I spent a significant part of my childhood. She was the first to show me how to sew by hand. And later, my mother gave me her sewing machine and taught me how to use it . Probably, then I realized that this is really something special and close to me."

After Odessa, the young designer went to Bavaria, where she began studying at the local Institute of Design. It was then that she decided she was ready for her own brand. "The work was colossal: all my relatives, friends, and even neighbors from Odessa participated, who collected our traditional Ukrainian handkerchiefs all over the city. A wonderful dress was created from them. I presented it in a small gallery at an event for young artists, where I noticed and offered to participate in the Berlin show".

This show became extremely important for the Ukrainian because there she met the star stylist Nicola Formichetti, the creative director of Lady Gaga. Gradually, other stars began to pay attention to Lever Couture's fantasy outfits.

"Each dress is unique in its own way and requires extraordinary attention, maximum concentration, and patience. Speaking of time, on average it takes me one to three months to create a dress. The most important thing for me is to feel happy in the process because the final result depends on it."

The complexity of these dresses and their unusual designs played a crucial role in popularizing the brand. Star stylists are always looking for something interesting for their clients. Lesya Verlinghieri herself understood the importance of being close to them, and decided to move from Germany to Los Angeles — the city with the maximum concentration of celebrities per square meter. "The American market is very important for us. We need to be closer to the film industry, music, art and be able to follow the dynamics of development and change, which, in fact, allows us to create new masterpieces that are clearly a manifestation of courage and going beyond the limits of comfort."

This decision turned out to be justified. Today, on Instagram of the Lever Couture brand, you can see a wide variety of stars wearing the brand's clothes - Milla Jovovich in Cannes, Michelle Yeoh in a shoot for the Hollywood Reporter, Cardi B on the cover of Essence, Jennifer Lopez on the stage of the show "The Voice", Katy Perry in Spotify ads and Lady Gaga in the music video for the soundtrack of the film "Top Gun: Maverick". Cooperation with the latter can generally be called mutual feelings. The designer says Lever Couture has worked with the artist for 13 years.

The brand also uses its recognition for the benefit of Ukraine, constantly drawing attention to the war, which is not over yet and cannot be forgotten. The latest initiative of the Lever Couture team is "Love Letter".

The "Love Letter to Ukraine" project was born a year ago, when we thought about how to show the huge number of famous and ordinary people around the world who support, cheer for Ukraine, believe in our indomitable spirit, and express solidarity! The project attracted much attention.

In particular, Hollywood stars, Ukrainian by birth — Milla Jovovich! Milla wrote a touching letter to Ukraine and actively supports Ukraine and the Ukrainian people on her Instagram, - Lesya Verlinghieri tells the details. - We also created a digital dress, which eventually turns into a real one thanks to all the love letters we have already received. And we expect even more soon. You can see this dress with your own eyes soon in one of the galleries in Kyiv, and later it will be transferred to the Olena Zelenska Foundation." The face of this project was the Ukrainian singer Tina Karol, another fan of Lever Couture fantasy dresses.

Preparation for the Oscar ceremony has been intense in recent months, but the result was stunning. The image of Thames - a singer who was nominated for an Oscar along with Rihanna in the category "Best Original Song" - caused an extraordinary sensation. Ahead is detailed work on a new collection and new, unusual projects that you will like. So don't forget to follow us - and we promise it will be interesting."