The Spark
January 2012 became a turning point in my life.
Five months after graduation, I still hadn’t found a career path that felt right. IT wasn’t inspiring me, and nightclub promotion was clearly not a long-term future.
One evening, my mother called and invited me to join her on a business trip to Odesa. She thought a change of scenery would do me good, and I agreed.
The following day, we visited the famous 7th Kilometer Market. Markets had never been particularly interesting to me, but that day was different. While walking through one of the streets - if I remember correctly, it was called Bankivska - I came across rows of leather bags that immediately caught my attention.
I couldn’t stop thinking about them.
A few days later, I returned to Odesa, purchased my first batch of bags, and brought them back to Donetsk. I had no business plan, no experience in retail, and no clear idea of how I would sell them. But I knew one thing for certain: I had to start.
I began small, selling through a market stall, online marketplaces, and a friend’s shoe store. The first sales came quickly and gave me confidence that I was moving in the right direction. Soon, however, the challenges appeared. Working with market-based suppliers meant inconsistent quality, delayed deliveries, and little control over inventory. Building a stable business under those conditions was extremely difficult.
Searching for Stability & Taking Risks
Determined to find a better solution, I started looking for reliable manufacturing partners. Eventually, I discovered a producer in Kharkiv.
The facility impressed me immediately. It was a professional, high-quality manufacturing operation producing leather goods right here in Ukraine. We started working together, and sales began to grow rapidly.
But growth created new challenges. The factory was overloaded with orders, and production lead times stretched to four or even five weeks.
That was the moment I seriously began considering launching my own production facility.
For nearly a year, I studied the industry, manufacturing processes, materials, and equipment. Then I decided to take the leap.
I rented a workshop in Donetsk, sourced equipment from suppliers at the 7th Kilometer Market, and assembled a small team. Step by step, the vision was becoming reality.
Then came 2014.
War and Starting Over
The events of 2014 changed everything.
The Revolution of Dignity, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and the outbreak of war in Eastern Ukraine created uncertainty in every aspect of life and business. Donetsk became occupied, sales collapsed, and nearly all of my capital was tied up in production equipment.
The future suddenly became impossible to predict.
A few months later, I made one of the hardest decisions of my life: leaving my hometown and relocating to Kurakhove, a city in the Donetsk region that remained under Ukrainian control.
At that point, all I had left was an online store, some remaining inventory, and the equipment I had managed to preserve.
So I started again.
I rented a modest 45-square-meter workspace and began rebuilding the team. By the end of 2014, production was running again with six employees: three seamstresses, two cutters, and one materials preparation specialist.
Within a year, the team had doubled in size.
Growth and Momentum
In 2016, we participated in our first international trade exhibition at Kyiv’s International Exhibition Center.
That event became a major milestone. It introduced our products to a wider audience and significantly increased demand. Soon, our biggest challenge was keeping up with growth. We needed more space, more equipment, and more skilled professionals.
In 2018, I made a major investment in the future of the company.
We invested approximately $70,000 in purchasing our own production facility and another $30,000 in automated sewing equipment. These investments allowed us to increase production capacity, improve efficiency, and maintain the quality standards we believed in.
A New Chapter in Kyiv
On June 17, 2019, we relocated our operations to Kyiv.
This move marked the beginning of a new stage of growth. Our team expanded to more than 20 specialists, production capacity increased, design processes became more advanced, and quality control systems grew even stronger.
Today, we not only create our own leather collections but also manufacture products for 15 Ukrainian fashion brands.
Our products are available in:
- Brussels, Belgium
- Paris and Lille, France
- Düsseldorf and Cologne, Germany
More Than a Business
What started as a simple purchase at a market in Odesa eventually became a company built on resilience, determination, and a deep respect for craftsmanship.
We have faced war, relocation, and the challenge of rebuilding from scratch. Yet every obstacle strengthened our commitment to moving forward and creating products we can proudly stand behind.
This story proves that successful businesses do not always begin with perfect plans or ideal circumstances. Sometimes they begin with a simple idea, the courage to take a risk, and the determination to keep going no matter what challenges arise.
Warm regards,
Semen Anastasov
September 15, 2020
Your next favorite leather piece is waiting for you.