You have a preview view of this article while we are checking your access. When we have confirmed access, the full article content will load.How War Reshapes Street Style in UkraineIn Kyiv, military-inspired fashion can be seen everywhere. Soldiers and civilians alike say it’s a show of solidarity, not a fad.How War Reshapes Street Style in UkraineIn Kyiv, military-inspired fashion can be seen everywhere. Soldiers and civilians alike say it’s a show of solidarity, not a fad.Credit...Listen · 6:59 min May 28, 2026On the streets of Kyiv, it can be hard to tell who is a soldier and who isn’t.Young men and women in olive-colored, army-style vests and pants walk past camouflage-patterned trucks idling at stoplights. Many of them carry cross-body bags emblazoned with military patches; some bags have tourniquets attached, as casually as keys on a carabiner.Some of these people are veterans or soldiers on leave. But most have no actual ties to the military. They are I.T. workers, university students and other urbanites who have absorbed the visual language of war into their daily dress, a marker of how the conflict has reshaped life in Ukraine’s capital.Soldiers and civilians alike call it a show of solidarity, not a shallow trend.“Fashion is a way to show that the army is our new elite,” said Artem Vulkovskyi, 30, an I.T. specialist who was discharged from the army in 2023 with a serious hand injury. “This is not about arrogance, but about respect.”Hundreds of thousands of soldiers like Mr. Vulkovskyi have rotated between the front lines and home during four years of war. People in Kyiv say this new street style came from them. “When they return, they bring the experience back, not as fashion, but as a lived experience,” said Danylo Sliusar, a 32-year-old theater director with connections in the fashion world. “Veterans have become the real influencers today.”VideoThe streetwear brand M-TAC’s production facility in Kyiv. Its new fashion line is modeled on tactical clothing and uses veterans in its advertising.CreditCredit...A number of Ukrainian streetwear brands have developed the look. One is M-TAC, whose army-inspired clothes are sold at a high-end Kyiv department store alongside Maison Margiela and Celine. Another is Riot Division, whose shop on Reitarska Street is a fixture of the Golden Gate neighborhood, the closest thing Kyiv has to New York’s garment district.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT