Designing for the stage brings with it its own sense of responsibility. Besides a beautiful costume, it has to fit the brief, read well from the back row, survive three acts under hot lights, and still carry the weight of the character wearing it. Dariia Bila has spent seventeen years mastering this craft, dressing productions of La Traviata, Carmina Burana, and Cabaret for some of Ukraine's most celebrated opera houses. Then she took it to another level:: a fashion label sewn from natural fabrics, numbered by hand and finished with a silk label she writes herself.

MY THEATRE made its Paris Fashion Week debut this spring, in a more performance format than runway show, with past collections restaged as acts and a new one, Collection №6, built around Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. It is, in some ways, exactly what you'd expect from a costume designer: clothes that behave like characters. However, what comes as a surprise is the rest of Bila's world; a plush ‘Mr. Pillow’, who has become a book series, an animated character, and by her own account, something closer to a childhood memory she still loves. 

Bila works from Kyiv, where she has continued to create through some of the most difficult years in her country's recent history, and where, she notes, theatres still sell out in minutes. In conversation with L’Officiel Arabia, Bila talks about what it means to create, be it couture gowns, comfort objects or children's stories, for a world that needs both beauty and comfort now more than ever.

 

Delna Mistry Anand: Like a truly creative person, your world dabbles across design, fashion and your children's book project. Of these, what's the single creative instinct that ties it all together?

Dariia Bila: What unites every aspect of my creative work is the desire to create, the excitement of discovering something new, and the constant drive to make something that has never existed before, whether it's costumes, stage sets, unique details or new textures. That creative curiosity is what has always driven me in every form of artistic expression.

DMA: MY THEATRE takes theatrical costume and turns it into something a woman can wear every day. But what works under stage lighting, for an audience thirty feet away, is not typically what works on a body up close. How do you handle that shift?

DB: Everything is very intuitive for me. I see a shape, I see a mood, and I begin from there. I think what connects my stage costumes with my fashion brand is the way clothing makes a person feel, how it shapes their identity, creates a sense of self and enhances their emotional state.

Of course, my brand allows me to explore things that are impossible in theatre. It is built around an extraordinary level of craftsmanship, delicate fabrics, and refined combinations of materials. What fascinates me most is working on an intimate scale, where every tiny detail matters. The brand is deeply rooted in artisanal craftsmanship - from buttons created by jewellers to the combination of different silks and the use of exceptionally delicate artisanal techniques.

DMA: In an ever changing fashion landscape, why does it matter to you that a single garment still carries history in its details?

DB: I'm deeply fascinated by the process of exploration. For me, it's these details that ultimately create the entire image. The way a fabric is treated, every seam, every stitch, every handcrafted element, it's this extraordinary level of craftsmanship that creates an atmosphere and gives each piece its character. This is the DNA of my brand: the belief that every detail matters, that every element has its own purpose and its precise place. Nothing is accidental. For me, it's not only about how something is made or the refinement of its craftsmanship, although that is incredibly important, because you can immediately see it and, more importantly, you can feel it. It's also about the memories a garment gathers while being worn.

DMA: Mr. Pillow began as a comfort object and grew into storybooks, plush toys and pyjamas. What did you feel about what a child actually needs, not necessarily materially, but emotionally, that shaped this project from its very beginning?

DB: The Mr. Pillow project is incredibly special to me. Whenever I create it, I return to my childhood. I write these books as if I were writing them for my younger self. The feeling of peace, comfort, warmth, and being embraced, none of that is about something material. It's about an emotional experience. And, like all of my creative projects, Mr. Pillow was created very intuitively. I always begin with myself...with my own emotions, experiences and needs. Perhaps I needed a friend like Mr. Pillow when I was a child, and maybe I still do today. That's how he came to life, in books, animated films, colouring books, and even pyjamas. Everything we create around Mr. Pillow is connected by one thing: the character himself. He is infinitely kind, sincere, and comforting. At the same time, he becomes whoever you need him to be. Every child has their own Mr. Pillow. In my books, I tell the stories of my own Mr. Pillow. But whenever I meet children - whether during workshops or simply in conversation, I always tell them that each of them has their own Mr. Pillow, one who is exactly the friend they need.

DMA: You've built this career through some of the most difficult years in Ukraine's modern history; from the opera houses of Dnipro, to Ukrainian Fashion Week, to the Frankfurt Book Fair. What does it mean to create from Ukraine right now, and what do you want the world to understand about the creative spirit coming out of your country?

DB: Creating from Ukraine today means transforming our experiences, our memories, and our culture into art. I want the world to understand that Ukrainian creativity is not only about resilience. It is about talent, craftsmanship, emotional depth, and the ability to create work that carries genuine emotional meaning.

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