Spurred on by the spirit of self-preservation in the face of war, Artem Pylypenko’s Hatton Labs debut constitutes the light at the end of a long, dark tunnel. The Central Saint Martins Jewellery grad has been unable to leave his native Ukraine (owing to the country’s strict martial law) since February, but he hasn’t let the conflict stop him from establishing his own label in the process. 

After taking on an assistant design role at the aforementioned design studio, based in London, he found himself in a blackhole of carabiner motifs – those reflective clips used in any-and-all rope-intensive sports, as well as on every festival fanny pack this summer. Discovering that ‘carbine’ is also the name of a long-barrel gun, the designer set about distorting these forms into spliced open infinity signs and curved hoop cuffs, trying to strike a balance between the life and death significance of his favoured climbing equipment with clean lines and minimalistic touches.

Pylypenko has even ventured into apparel-making for the collaboration, whose proceeds will be donated to Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital, producing a striking graphic print that is immensely symbolic to the designer, dotted with biblical motifs and directions for his travels ahead. Pylypenko tells us the inspiration behind the piece was to remind himself that even if he lost himself by taking the wrong turn “[I] can always find a way out and follow the sun.”

And bringing the designer’s work to life in brash outdoor terrains is sculpture artist and photographer Thomas Albdorf, whose still-life shoots are anything but. Often bristling with wobbling objects that threaten to topple after escaping your peripheral, or bright, shiny forms that almost breathe with charisma, the two come together to animate these pieces on windswept washing lines, smouldering boulders and distorted wire fences. These pieces aren’t interested in mere survival, they exist to prove the tenacity of the Ukrainian people, and that creativity will flourish no matter how adverse life curveballs can be.

Artem Pylpenko x Hatton Labs drops on Ukraine’s Independence Day, August 24th